Freeport’s Kira Schrecongost reclaims gold in 100 butterfly at WPIAL Class 2A championships

By: Michael Love
Thursday, February 29, 2024 | 8:50 PM

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Freeport junior Kira Schrecongost and South Park senior Katie Jackovic have developed quite the WPIAL rivalry in the girls 100 butterfly.

Schrecongost won her first WPIAL 100 fly title two years ago. Jackovic was second.

Jackovic returned the favor last year, edging Schrecongost for the title by 13 one hundredths of a second.

At the WPIAL Class 2A championships Thursday at Pitt, Schrecongost reclaimed the crown, besting runner-up Jackovic and the rest of the field with a winning school-record time of 55.37. Jackovic touched the wall in 55.95.

They most likely will be racing again in a couple of weeks at the PIAA championships at Bucknell University.

“It’s honestly a lot of fun. We both really push each other to get to where we want to be in the race,” Schrecongost said. “I was really excited (to win) knowing that I didn’t do what I wanted in the 200 IM (fourth, 2:07.81). So it was a little bit of redemption coming off of that.

“I honestly was a little bit upset last year not being able to retain my title (from freshman year). There’s always so much more room for improvement to prepare myself again. I really took that into consideration, for sure.”

The Freeport girls 200 medley relay combination of Kira Schrecongost, freshman Kasey Schrecongost, senior Caitlyn Brennan and junior Mary Anne Altman was not far behind champion Mt. Pleasant to kick off the meet.

The Vikings recorded a time of 1:47.23 to rally past the Yellowjackets, who finished second with a school-record 1:47.84.

Kiski Area junior Justin Tucker also captured silver as he bumped up from the No. 3 seed and cut 3 seconds from his seed time to finish in 1:54.45.

He hopes to be at the top of the podium Friday as he owns the No. 1 seed in the 500 free (4:41.81).

The Kiski Area girls 200 free relay of senior Eliza Miller, senior Abigail King, junior Paige Kunkle and freshman Leah Kunkle placed second with a season-best time of 1:40.10.

The Cavaliers quartet originally was third, but Gateway, who touched the wall first, was disqualified for having one of its swimmers leave the block early.

A trio of A-K Valley swimmers added thirds at the Class 2A meet.

Miller lowered her seed time (1:52.72) in the 200 free to 1:51.86 and also held her seed placing. Mt. Pleasant junior Lily King bettered her own WPIAL record with a 1:46.01, and Northgate senior Elise Nardozzi dropped nearly three seconds from her seed time and was runner up (1:48.15).

Knoch junior Giona Lavorini sliced more than 7 seconds off her seed time in the 200 IM and captured bronze with a time of 2:06.80.

Kiski Area junior Riley Yute held his seed place and lowered his seed time in the 50 free. His 21.66 put him third behind North Catholic junior Luke Lamb (20.50) and Riverside senior Joseph Roth (21.15).

Quaker Valley leads the Class 2A girls standings with 149 points. Defending champion Mt Pleasant is second with 120, followed by Kiski Area (113) and Indiana (112).

The Indiana boys (175) own a 42-point lead over Mt. Pleasant, and Northgate is third (100.5) and Latrobe fourth (92).

The WPIAL championships continue Friday with the 100 free, 500 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breast and 400 free relay. Class 3A begins at 9:45 a.m, and Class 2A starts at 3 p.m.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Freeport, Kiski Area, Knoch