Trip to WPIAL meet sparks Penn Hills swim team

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, March 10, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The Penn Hills swim team took a much bigger contingent to Pitt’s Trees Pool this season for the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships. What made Indians coach Morgan Bush excited for next season was the prospect of seeing all of her swimmers turn in their best times of the season at the championship meet.

Penn Hills will be losing eight seniors from this year’s team but will bring back three of its four swimmers from the boys team that qualified in the 200 free relay, 200 IM relay and 400 free relay.

Luke Hoolahan, who also qualified for the 50 freestyle and finished 25th in a time of 23.01 seconds, is the only member of the relay team who will graduate. Bush said that Elijah Flowers, an alternate for the WPIAL meet, hopes to fill the spot in this lineup.

“He started to swim last year,” Bush said. “He has vastly improved and wants to take Luke’s spot. He said he wants to swim at Rosedale in the summer. He wants to keep up with the other boys and keep getting better.”

The other Penn Hills boys swimmer who qualified as an individual was Anthony Sipple. He placed 19th in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.53 seconds and also placed 22nd in the 100 backstroke by finishing in 58.11.

Penn Hills senior Lauren Sipple was the Indians’ lone female qualifier. She finished in 15th place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:09.72.

Anthony Sipple also teamed with Clarke Leonard, Anthony Collins and Hoolahan to compete in three relay events.

“I think they did amazing,” Bush said. “They all bettered themselves. The kids did a phenomenal job. They all ended on a high note. Each individual bettered their time and saw their hard work and dedication pay off.”

Penn Hills resident and Serra Catholic freshman Emily Ruperto qualified for the PIAA Class 2A meet. Ruperto hit the qualifying times for the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke.

Ruperto finished 10th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:17.22 at WPIALs and placed eighth in the 100 breaststroke by finishing in 1:08.89.

Ruperto practiced with the Penn Hills team this season and swam as an independent swimmer at the Indians’ meets.

“Going into this year, we weren’t sure if states were going to happen because it was her freshman year,” Bush said. “Her thought process was to get to WPIALs and see what happens. She did really well. Since she is an independent swimmer, she is self-motivated.”

Tags: Penn Hills