Westmoreland athletes of the week: Hempfield’s Dominic Falcon, Mt. Pleasant’s Lily King

By: Andrew John
Saturday, February 5, 2022 | 9:39 PM

Previous Next

Dominic Falcon

School: Hempfield

Sport: Swimming

Year: Junior

Claim to fame: Falcon was part of two relays that set meet records, and he won the 50- and 100-yard freestyles at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association swimming and diving championships at Derry on Jan. 29. He helped the Hempfield boys team to the Class 3A title with 342 points. The 200 medley relay team of Falcon, Jacob Dzurica, Liam Randolph and Cooper Hunter set a mark with a time of 1:36.76. Falcon, Randolph and Hunter were joined by Ryan Murtha to capture gold and a new record in the 200 free relay at 1:27.33. Falcon won the 50 free in 21.20 and the 100 free with a time of 48.01.

“It was a good meet for me and my relay team. We had a lot of fun and it was a good meet for everyone,” Falcon said.

What’s your favorite individual event and why?

(The) 50 free because it’s all about raw power, and it’s always super close.

What’s your favorite relay and why?

I like them both. The people on the relay teams are what make them fun.

When was the first time you swam competitively?

I’ve been competing since I was 6 years old. I would compete at the meets at the Hempfield Aqua Team. I remember I would play Mindcraft with my friend, Henry, during those meets.

With the Winter Olympics going on, what’s your favorite Olympic event and why?

I love watching the skiing and snowboarding events. The stuff they do is crazy. Whenever I’m not in the middle of swim season, I like to ski, but obviously I can’t do that right now.

Lily King

School: Mt. Pleasant

Sport: Swimming

Year: Freshman

Claim to fame: King set four meet records: individually in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles and as part of the 200 IM and 400 free relay teams at the Westmoreland County Coaches’ Association swimming and diving championships at Derry on Jan. 29. She helped the Mt. Pleasant girls team to the Class 2A title with 293 points. King, along with a trio of juniors in Reegan Brown, SaraJo Gardner and McKenna Mizikar, set the record at 1 minute, 48.56 seconds in the 200 IM. King, Gardner, Brown and Trinity Graft posted a time of 3:34.69 in the 400 free relay. King’s individual results started with a 23.17 in the 50 free that broke former standout Mt. Pleasant swimmer Heather Gardner’s time of 23.38 in 2018. King then took down another of Gardner’s records in the 100 free with a time of 50.78, breaking the mark of 51.84 in the 2020 meet.

“I was really excited with how I did and how the team did. We’ve put a lot of work in and it was great to see our results at that meet,” King said.

What’s it mean to you to have won counties during your freshman year?

I’ve been looking forward to being on the varsity team for awhile. Sandy (Felice) and all my other coaches have been working me hard this year, so it’s great to see how the varsity level practice pays off.

What are your goals this season?

I want to try to place well at WPIALs and hopefully make it to states.

What is the most satisfying record you broke at counties and why?

I would say the relay records because it was a whole team record. It was great to celebrate with three other girls.

What’s your mindset as the WPIALs approach?

I’m focusing on trying to get better times and placing well. I’m going in with my normal mindset of doing my best and hoping it goes well.

Tags: Hempfield, Mt. Pleasant