North Allegheny girls look to join elite company with title
North Allegheny girls swimming could potentially join a very elite group at the WPIAL Class 3A finals on March 1-2 at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
If the Tigers win the team title, they will join Oakland Catholic as the only programs ever to win 10 consecutive championships. The Eagles won 11 in Class 2A from 2000-10.
“I guess it’s pretty exciting to be at that level for so long,” North Allegheny coach Patrick Wenzel said. “The girls on this team have stepped up to every challenge that they’ve had this year and have certainly had their eyes on WPIALs. We’re excited to see what they can do this year and to see if this team can maintain the excellence this program has shown from their teammates of the past and well before them.”
Sophomore Torie Buerger is one of the favorites to bring home an individual title for North Allegheny. She is the defending champion in the 100-yard backstroke and will also swim the 200 individual medley third last where season she behind placed Butler sophomore Laura Goettler. “Torie had a great first year and we’re looking forward to seeing what she can do this year,” Wenzel said. “I think she has improved on the way that she trains, her intensity level has gone up and I think she is a very confident swimmer.” While North Allegheny looks to move into double digits, Gateway sophomore Olivia Livingston will be looking to add a couple more individual titles to her breakout performance in 2017. In her first swim in 2017, she set a WPIAL record in the 50 freestyle with a 22.83-second lap that beat the previous mark by a stunning 0.38 seconds. Livingston followed that up with another recordbreaking performance in the 100 freestyle with a 49.53-second time that shattered the old benchmark of e50.48 seconds set in 2013 by Oakland Catholic’s Leah Smith. Winning that race again won’t be easy as junior Trinity Ward of Mt. Lebanon also broke Smith’s record last year with a second-place finish in 50.46 seconds.
Ward will also be swimming the 100 butterfly, an event in which she won both the WPIAL and PIAA titles a year ago. She will be looking to erase the longest-standing WPIAL record on the books, the 54.16 seconds set by Melanie Buddemeyer of Penn Hills in 1983.
Class 3A boys
North Allegheny has been winning titles in record-setting fashion for years.
In fact, the six-time defending champion Tigers currently hold the WPIAL all-time fastest times in six of the 11 individual and relay events. And more could fall this year.
North Allegheny showed its prowess at setting pool records earlier this year when it nearly ran the table at Seneca Valley. The Tigers set pool records on the Raiders home turf in 10 events and the 11th, the 200 freestyle relay, they had set that one already a couple of years ago.
“I just think that they’ve been amazing,” Wenzel said. “They have upped their intensity in practice this year and have set their goals so high.”
Senior Mason Gonzalez, a Stanford recruit, could be the best boys swimmer to come out of the area in a long time. He has already set WPIAL records in the 50 freestyle (20.05) and 100 freestyle (44.17) and is one of only three swimmers ever to break 20 seconds in the 50 freestyle at the state meet at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
“He’s been one of our leaders and we’ve worked on his start and turn,” Wenzel said. “We’re just trying to help him put up some times that make everyone say ‘Wow.’”
One of the few swimmers who could challenge Gonzalez for an individual title is Penn Hills junior Kimani Gregory, who was just 0.74 seconds behind in the 100 freestyle last year. He is also the favorite in the 100 butterfly after winning the event last year.
Class 2A boys
This might be the most wide-open field that the WPIAL has had for a long time as there is not one defending champion returning in any individual event.
Sead Niksic of Obama Academy would have been the only one in the 100 backstroke, but he opted not to swim this year and decided to focus on academic pursuits.
Among the top finishers from 2017 who could make an impact, Mars junior Andrew Pierre would be considered a favorite in the 200 and 500 freestyles, while everything else may be up for grabs.
Class 2A girls
Like the boys, the girls only had one returning champion coming into the season, junior Payton Rayko of Indiana who won the 100 butterfly. But there could be several swimmers who have the potential for multiple titles.
Junior Karen Siddoway of Northgate was the runner-up last year in the 100 and 200 freestyle and is the top returning finisher in both events.
Sophomore Heather Gardner of Mount Pleasant also took home a pair of silver medals in the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke, while senior Lindsey Grune of Shady Side Academy finished second in the 200 individual medley and third in the 100 freestyle in 2017.