Shaler notebook: Titans swimmers hope to make late push to WPIALs

By: Josh Rizzo
Wednesday, January 29, 2020 | 10:23 PM

Time is running out for the Shaler Area swimmers to earn times needed to reach the WPIAL Class AAA championships.

Titans coach Keith Simmons would have liked to see some of his swimmers hit the times earlier, but he said sometimes it takes an extra sense of urgency to push the swimmers to their best.

“We always see some pretty good swims at the last-ditch meet,” Simmons said. “When they know it is their last gasp, some of the adrenaline will kick in more. I’d like to get these cuts out of the way during the first few meets of the year. That way we could pick what events to focus on and be more competitive at WPIALs.”

Shaler junior Lydia Nebiolo recently qualified for WPIALs in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. Justin Adametz reached the time in the 100 butterfly.

Shaler sophomore Jacob Bacasa is close to qualifying in the 500 free.

The Titans are hoping to close the gap and get several more relay teams through. While Shaler still is working on qualifying more athletes for the individual championships, the girls team has had success in dual meets.

The Titans are 6-3, including a 97-63 win over Woodland Hills on Jan. 23.

“We don’t have enough competition in the water to push each other like Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon or North Allegheny,” Simmons said. “They have much larger teams, where they have 24 girls and boys on the roster. We’re starting 13 points down against every team we swim against. That means for us to win, we have to finish in first and third in every event.”

Indoor track

Eloise Facher broke her school records in the 60- and 200-meter runs at a TSTCA meet at Edinboro, finishing with times of 8.05 and 27.34 seconds, respectively.

Facher’s time in the 60 meter is the 17th fastest in Pennsylvania.

Andrew Dadowski broke the school record in the 200, and Tyler Paszkowski, Josh Maida, Ryan Paris and Dalton Kalbaugh teamed up to break a 13-year-old record in the distance medley relay.

Tags: Shaler