Upper St. Clair gets ‘home’ meet to shine
Josh Matheny has accomplished quite a bit in his high school career.
He has won three consecutive WPIAL and PIAA titles in the 100-yard breaststroke and, along the way, has set the WPIAL, state and National Federation of High Schools record in the event.
This year, though, he’ll be able to do something no WPIAL swimmer has been able to do for decades.
He’ll have an opportunity to win a title in his home pool at the WPIAL Class 3A finals.
“It’s definitely going to be different than what we’re used to, but it should be fun. I live five minutes from the high school, so it’s going to be fun to have it so close to my house,” Matheny said. “It will be fun at my home pool, but if you would have told me at WPIALs last year that, next year, WPIALs would be at Upper St. Clair and I’d be swimming my final WPIALs at home, I would have probably just laughed in your face and thought you were joking.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pitt would not allow the WPIAL use of Trees Pool, the longtime venue for the event, which left the swimming committee scrambling for a venue that could accommodate the meet. Last month, the governing body opted for Upper St. Clair and its yearold, state-of-the-art facility.
And Matheny won’t be the only one looking to take advantage of some home cooking.
Upper St. Clair senior Taylor Connors, who is the defending champion in the 200 freestyle, will head into the finals as the No. 2 seed behind North Allegheny sophomore Lexi Sundgren in that event and as the top seed in the 100 freestyle.
“That’s going to be interesting and I’m really excited. It’s going to have a lot of advantages and disadvantages,” Connors said. “I think the biggest advantage is knowing the blocks and knowing the walls, but it’s going to be weird because it’s not going to feel like I’m at a championship meet but like I’m at practice.”
Motivation could come from the fact that most of the winners will likely set pool records at the Panthers facility. And Matheny, who reset the WPIAL record last year in the 100 breaststroke with a 54.43 that was 1.41 seconds slower than his seed time and holds the pool record at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium with his NFHSrecord 52.52, wants to put up a number that will stand the test of time.
“I didn’t think about that actually,” Matheny said.“Obviously the goal is to set the
WPIAL record and be faster than you were before and having that record be my pool record would definitely be neat. It’s not a very interesting word, but neat comes to mind.”
That being said, winning the 200 individual medley would also be a personal accomplishment. He finished third as a freshman and sophomore, second last year and is seeded second this year, 2.37 seconds behind Seneca Valley junior Daniel Simoes.
“It would feel great to win that as a senior and kind of go out with a bang,” Matheny said. “But most importantly, team-wise, Upper St. Clair is trying to win and that would help us point-wise.”
Matheny mentioned the team title and that is something that may be in play for the Panthers for the first time in a decade.
North Allegheny has won the past nine titles — since Upper St. Clair won in 2011 — but the Tigers dropped their first section meet in 31 years to Seneca Valley and lost their first non-section dual meet to the Panthers for the first time since Mt. Lebanon did the honors in 2008.
If there was a time when the Tigers might be vulnerable, it’s now.
“I don’t think, if you had told me my freshman year that we’d be seeded and have a chance to take them down, I would have believed it,” Matheny said. “It would be unbelievable to have an opportunity
and it would be special, but it’s definitely not going to be a cakewalk.”
North Allegheny swimmers are scattered all throughout the heats in every event, but the Tigers are not seeded first in any individual event or relay. Last year, they won three individual events and all three relays.
Butler senior David Bocci is the top seed in a pair of events, the 100 butterfly and the 500 freestyle, while North Hills senior Joshua Bogniard is No. 1 in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
Girls
While the North Allegheny boys may have their work cut out for them, the girls are in excellent position to win their 13th consecutive team title.
It certainly helps that the Tigers have already earned 53 points from finishing first, second and third in diving.
And North Allegheny also has its share of top seeds.
In addition to Sundgren in the 200 freestyle, George Washington recruit Molly Smyers will be looking to defend her title in the 500 freestyle — where she is the top seed — and has switched events from the 200 freestyle to the 200 individual medley, where she is seeded second behind Fox Chapel sophomore Sophie Shao.
Shao, who is the defending champion and seeded first in the 100 butterfly, is the only female swimmer who is a No. 1 seed in two events.