Shahan edges McBeth in 50 free
Both win state titles to lead WPIAL
Ian Shahan and Conner McBeth each set the WPIAL record when they tied for the title in the 50-yard freestyle.
They took their game to a new level at Cumberland Valley in the PIAA Class 3A finals.
Once again, they both broke the record in the event. But this time around, there was an actual winner.
And, like it has been the past few of times they faced each other when there was an actual winner, it was Shahan who eked out the victory.
Shahan, a Belle Vernon senior and West Point recruit, beat the previous mark of 20.45 second set by Colin Gwiazdowski of Schuylkill Valley in the 2018 morning preliminaries and matched that evening by Reggie Crawford of North Schuylkill when he touched the wall in 20.00 to beat McBeth by 0.26 seconds to win the title.
“The thing about the 50 is that it can go any way but I’m very happy the way it turned out,” Shahan said. “I couldn’t have asked for it to go any other way and he’s such a great guy and a good swimmer.”
Shahan then swam in the next event, the 100 butterfly, which he won in 2019 and made it two in a row as his 48.77-second time beat second-place finishers senior Isaac Griffith of Indiana and senior Bryant Lacroix of Bloomsburg by 1.77 seconds.
Shahan was already a twotime state champion coming into this year after winning the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly in 2019.
Though McBeth finished second in the 50 freestyle for the second time in a ow, he came back with a vengeance in the 100 freestyle as his 44.56 beat Jacob Wade of Susquehannock by 1.99 seconds to win his first state title.
Shahan and McBeth weren’t the only WPIAL swimmers who concluded their careers with state titles. Indiana senior Kyle Thome took home a double gold in the 200 and 500 freestyle for the first two PIAA titles of his career. The IUP recruit swam a 1:39.74 to beat Lower Moreland senior Noah Ferker by 2.40 seconds in the 200 freestyle, then came back later to barely edge Notre Dame Green Pond junior R.J. Farina by 0.08 seconds in the 500 freestyle.
“It feels pretty nice and I’m glad I did it my senior year,” Thome said. “I wish I would have gotten the record in the 2-free (1:38.31), but it’s alright. I’m happy I won.”
Ella Menear was not happy when she got out of the pool after a third-place finish in the 200 individual medley.
“I was definitely nervous for the 200 IM and, there wasn’t a lot of pressure, but there was healthy pressure, to do well for my school,” Menear said. “I was expecting a lot of myself, so it was definitely nerve-wracking, but it was kind of a good way to get the nerves out for the 100 back.”
It must have worked as the top-seeded sophomore from Mapletown swam a 54.99 heat in the 100 backstroke to edge Bedford freshman Leah Shackley by 0.66 seconds and capture the crown.
With the win, Menear is believed to be the first state champion for the Maples, either as an individual or a team. She also was the only girls individual winner from the WPIAL