Rematch of thrilling WPIAL race on deck

Tri-State Sports & News Service

Kimani Gregory and Mason Gonzalez had the race of the meet in the WPIAL Class 3A finals when both broke the record in the 100yard freestyle and Gregory ended the North Allegheny senior’s bid for a three-peat in the event with a stunning 44.09-second finish.

It should be just as excitingwhen the venue changes from Pitt’s Trees Pool to the Kinney Natatorium at Bucknell for the PIAA swimming finals, which are slatedto open Wednesday.

“I’m just going to be working harder,” said Gregory, a Penn Hills junior. “I just want to push even harder and go out there and dowhat we can.”

Gonzalez, Gregory and North Allegheny’s Jack Wright finished 1-2-3 in the state last year and are the top three seeds in the event once again. In fact, of the 11 individual and relay events, nine of them have a WPIAL swimmeras the top seed.

North Allegheny is the defending state champion and holds down seven of those slots. The Tigers are ranked first in all three relays, Wright is first in the 200 freestyle, Gonzalez tops the list in the 50 freestyle and sophomore Rick Mihm is the person to beat in the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle.

And, considering how close the field is and that Gonzalez swam a 43.62 to win the title in the 100 freestyle last year, the Tigers have the potential to win eight state titles.

“At this point, it’s just make yourself crisp,” North Allegheny coach Patrick Wenzel said. “We put in most of the work and it’s time to rest hard just like we worked hard and these guys are really, really mentally toughand focused.”

Class 3A girls

Thiscould turn into a day to celebrate the WPIAL sophomores.

Olivia Livingston of Gateway is the top seed in both the 50 freestyle — in which she holds the state record — and the 100 freestyle, an event in which she finished second in the state a year ago despite being the top seed.

Butler sophomore Laura Goettler is also the top seed in two events and could have a historically special first day. Goettler is seeded first in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.

No WPIAL girls swimmer has won a state title in the 200 individual medley since Mt. Lebanon’s Kaitlynn Orstein swam a 2:01.03 in 2004. Goettler has a seed time of 2:02.49, 0.36 seconds faster than Claudia Thamm ofNorth Penn.

Class 2A girls

Mount Pleasant sophomore Heather Gardner will be chasing her first state championship when she hits the pool for the Class 2A 50 freestyle. The Vikings sprinter is the top seed with a time of 23.25 seconds.

Northgate junior Karen Siddoway is the top seed in the 100 freestyle and her time of 50.95 seconds is just 0.09 ahead of Bloomsburg senior Hannah Everhart. Siddoway is also the No 2 seed in the 200 freestyle, 2.12 seconds behind Everhart.

Class 2A boys

It took a record for the district to get a No. 1 seed in the Class 2A boys portion of the PIAA meet, but Riverside senior Dean Kralic is the lone swimmer from the WPIAL to post the state’s best time heading into the finals.

Kralic broke the WPIAL record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.29 seconds, which seeds him 0.20 ahead of Adam Mahler of Holy Redeemer.