King, Mount Pleasant girls cruise through historic day
Elise Nardozzi had what many would consider an outstanding showing in the WPIAL Class 2A swimming finals.
In both her two individual events in the two-day meet, the 100- and 200-yard freestyles, the Northgate senior and Ohio State recruit eclipsed the previous records.
And all she ended up with were two footnotes and two silver medals.
“It definitely is tough,” Nardozzi said. “I try to focus on myself because if I think about anybody else, I don’t swim as well. But it is a little tough.”
For the second consecutive day, Nardozzi finished second to a record-shattering run from Mount Pleasant sophomore Lily King.
King shattered her yearold mark in the 100 freestyle with a blistering 48.58 for the best ever for a Pennsylvania swimmer and the 16th-fastest time in NFHS history. Gretchen Walsh of Nashville Harpeth Hall in Tennessee holds the national record with a 46.98 set on Feb. 8, 2020. Her time would have set the state records in both Class 2A and Class 3A, but those can only be set at the PIAA meet.
“I didn’t know that and I had no idea that’s what that time meant, but that’s incredibly exciting,” King said. “I had no idea and I’m thankful to my coaches because I never could have gotten to this point without them.”
Nardozzi swam a 49.69 that edged King’s 2022 record of 50.03 but still had to settle for second place. In the 200 freestyle on Thursday, in an event in which she was the defending champion, Nardozzi swam a 1:48.03 to beat the old record of 1:49.38 but was second to King, who came through with a 1:47.36.
“It makes me happy because I know that I worked so hard this season and knowing that I continue to drop time is good for me,” Nardozzi said. “I have bigger goals and it’s good to see the times chip away.”
But no one could touch King in the meet as she set or helped set five total records, She opened with the 200 freestyle, then swam the opening leg of the Vikings’ record-setting 200 freestyle relay to break her own record in the 50 freestyle.
An individual record can be set if the swimmer does so only on the opening leg of a relay.
She then won the 100 freestyle and anchored Mount Pleasant’s 400 freestyle relay team that broke its 2022 mark of 3:32.12 by 0.05 seconds, finishing in 3:32.07.
Mount Pleasant also won the WPIAL Class 2A girls team title for the second consecutive year 298190 over Northgate.
Mapletown senior Ella Menear didn’t set a record, but the Alabama recruit did win the 100 backstroke for the third consecutive season. She touched the wall in 54.36, beating second-place Hampton freshman Lainey Sheets by 2.29 seconds.
It was the sixth individual championship in her career and she still holds the record in the 10 backstroke with a 54.10 in 2022. Menear is also a three-time winner in the 200
individual medley.
“I’m just trying to cherish every last moment because it’s my last WPIAL meet,” Menear said. “Going so far away to college, I’m just trying to cherish every moment with my parents and my family, so I was super excited about this meet coming in.”
On the boys side, Riverside junior Joseph Roth trailed North Catholic sophomore Luke Lamb after the first 50 in the 100 backstroke but recovered with a strong final lap to repeat as champion in the event and break his own record in the process. Roth set the old mark last year when he swam a 50.00 but came through with a 49.40 while Lamb ended up second in 50.63.
“I kind of didn’t see the flags (above the pool) on my first lap and then I I saw (Lamb) in my underwaters and thought, ‘Oh, crap,’” Roth said. “I had an underwater count and threw it away and just did what I usually do.”
Mount Pleasant sophomore Joseph Gardner came into the meet with a 100 breaststroke qualifying time of 56.87 that was 0.12 seconds faster than the WPIAL record heat of 56.99 set in 2019 by Belle Vernon’s Robert Spekis.
He made it official with a 55.81 that edged Indiana’s Alex Bauer, who also sneaked past the old mark with a 56.27.
“That felt great,” Gardner said. “I feel great when I swim that race all the time, but when you put a tech-suit on, it’s a whole other feeling and why I’m able to drop time.”
In a meet filled with record-breaking swims, it was only fitting it would end with one. Kiski Area, which dropped down from Class 3A this year, came from 12 points down in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, to win the first team title in school history.
Kiski Area’s foursome of Justin Tucker, Landon Seman, Parker Sterlitz and Levi Hansen swam a 3:10.23 to beat the 2022 Riverside mark of 3:10.93 to win the event and the meet 228-206 over the Little Indians.