USC senior breaks own prep record
Matheny goes under 52 seconds in 100 breaststroke, makes history
Josh Matheny already had locked up swimmer of the meet at the PIAA Class 3A boys finals before he stepped onto the blocks for his signature event.
And when he finally did take his mark for the 100yard breaststroke Saturday at Cumberland Valley, he capped his career by rewriting the National Federation of High Schools record book. Again. Matheny, an Upper St. Clair senior and Indiana University recruit, shattered his PIAA and NFHS (National Federation of State High School Association) record and, in doing so, became the first high school swimmer in history to break 52 seconds in the event with a 51.84. In doing so, he won his fourth state title in the 100breaststroke.
“It definitely felt good and I felt very strong where I was both in control, but very fast,” Matheny said. “Obviously the time showed that I was in a good place where I was.”
Matheny set the NHFS mark of 52.52 at the 2019 state final sat Buck nell University’ s Kinney Natatorium.
In the end, the venue didn’t matter. Matheny had set his mind on finishing his high school career by breaking the record and he did just that.
“I was kind of excited because, after WPIALs, I kind of sat down with my coach [Dave Schraven] and we were just looking at how my training was going,” Matheny said. “I was kind of expecting to have a drop because I was more rested, but itwas exciting nonetheless.”
Matheny also used his prowess in the breaststroke to win two other gold medals.
In the first event of the day, he swam the breaststroke leg and combined with Ganesh Sivaramakrishna, Jason Zhang and Ryan Senchyshak to post a 1:31.42 and defeat Emmaus by 1.44 seconds in the 200 medley relay. A bit later, he overcame a 1.10-second deficit to Seneca Valley junior Daniel Simoes — who beat him in the WPIAL finals — and swam a 28.70 breaststroke leg to pull ahead and finish 2.59 seconds ahead of Simoes with a time of 1:47.54.
Matheny may have had the best day, but several other WPIAL swimmers put together some pretty good ones.
Butler senior David
Bocci, who came into the year as the top returning state finalist in the 100 butterfly, finally won his elusive state title as he posted a solid 49.01 to edge La Salle College junior Tim Grossi by 0.32 seconds.
North Hills also put one in the win column as senior Josh Bogniard edged Emmaus senior Nick Soares by 0.55 seconds with a 49.07 in the 100 backstroke to close out his high school career witha victory.
While individuals stood out in the boys Class 3A meet, only one competitor from the WPIAL, Fox Chapel sophomore Sophie Shao, was able to capture an individual gold medal on the girls side. Shao, who was seeded second in the 100 butterfly, swam a 54.59-second heat and edged Muhlenberg sophomore Sydney G ring by 0.30 seconds to win the event for the second consecutive year.
“As a person of color representing FC and being the first one to win first two years in a row, that’s amazing,” Shao, an Asian-American, said. “Right now, to me, it’s a huge deal to represent and winning two in a row and being the first and showing that people like me can dothis.”
Itwas the second year in a row that Shao and Gring finished 1-2 in the 100 fly Last year, Shao swam a 54.22 to beat Gring by 0.85 seconds.
“I love racing her and I was really excited this year to race her again,” Shao said. “She was ranked first this year coming in, so that really pumped me up, so going up against and winning, it’s amazing and she’s a good rival.”
The North Allegheny girls did not win an individual championship or relay, but it was able to keep earning points, and pulled off a 167-152 win over Wilson for the Class 3A team championship.
“This was really fun team andwe went through a lot together as a group starting last year,” North Allegheny coach Patrick Wenzel said. “We lost barely [by four points] last year and I know we had a lot of hungry individuals and I think I’m the most proud that we swam as ateam.”