Records set on Day 2 of WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 2, 2018 | 1:43 PM

Three new records, numerous other fast swims and closely contested races highlighted the first session of the WPIAL Class AAA championships Thursday at Pitt's Trees Pool.

Friday's action continued that trend as the region's fastest swimmers battled for top finishes, personal-best times, top-eight medals and trips to states.

The session started with a bang in the 100 freestyle.

Gateway's Olivia Livingston defended her girls 100 free championship with win in a time of 49.57 seconds, just four one-hundredths of a second off her record time set last year.

Livingston also won her second consecutive 50 free title Thursday.

Then it was Penn Hills junior Kimani Gregory's turn to make history.

Gregory set a new WPIAL record in the boys 100 free with a time of 44.09, adding this title to the 100 butterfly gold he won Thursday.

He outdueled defending 100 free champion Mason Gonzalez, a senior from North Allegheny. Gonzalez finished second with a time of 44.14, faster than the record-setting time of 44.17 he established last year.

The Tigers had all four of their entries medal in the 100 free as junior Jack Wright, junior Joel Songer and sophomore Josh Galecki finished third, fifth and seventh, respectively.

The second and final Class AAA Day 2 record came in the final event, the boys 400 free relay. The North Allegheny quartet of sophomore Rick Mihm, Galecki, Songer and Wright swam to a record time of 3:02.12, breaking the WPIAL record of 3:03.20 set by the Tigers just last year.

The girls 400 free relay title also went to North Allegheny as senior Kristine Mihm, freshman Molly Smyers, junior Lila McGrath and sophomore Torie Buerger won in a time of 3:28.87.

Smyers also made her mark in her WPIAL 500 free debut as she bested the field by breaking five minutes at 4:58.32.

On the boys side, Mihm, runner-up last year in the 500 free, captured the championship this year with a time of 4:28.89.

The 100 backstroke also was a North Allegheny sweep as senior Andrew Zhang (49.28) and Buerger (55.80) added to the Tigers' championship haul.

Upper St. Clair freshman Josh Matheny joined Smyers as a champion in a WPIAL debut as he won the boys 100 breaststroke in a time of 54.94, only 12 one-hundredths of a second away from the WPIAL record (54.82).

Butler sophomore Laura Goettler struck gold in the girls 100 breast as she clocked a time of 1:02.89. She placed second in the event last year.

Goettler added the 100 breast title to the 200 IM championship she won Thursday.

The North Allegheny girls won their 10th consecutive team title with 327 points. Upper St. Clair finished second (255), and Mt. Lebanon took third (252).

The NA boys won their seventh team championship in a row by a wide margin. The Tigers finished with 440 points to runner-up Upper St. Clair's 253. Central Catholic took third (217).

The PIAA championships are March 14 to 17 at Bucknell. The top three individual and relay finishers in Class AAA earn automatic berths to states.

The PIAA also will make a number of at-large selections based on times recorded at each district or regional meet.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Gateway, North Allegheny, Penn Hills