Swimming & Diving Game Summaries

The North Allegheny boys won their third straight PIAA Class AAA swimming and diving championship, and sixth overall, on Saturday at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium. The boys team accumulated 279 points in easily outdistancing second-place finisher North Penn.  The North Allegheny girls team finished the meet in eighth place with 104.5 points.

Ricky Mihm led the boys team defending his 500 Free championship with a time of 4:23.48.  John Ehling finished in third place and Josh Galecki finished in 15th place.  Jack Wright finished runner up in a very close 100 Free with a time of 43.81.  Branko Kosanovich finished in 11th place in the event.  Jerry Chen led the NA swimmers in the 100 Breast with a 5th place finish with Jacob McCarran finishing in seventh place.  Mihm, Kosanovich, Ehling and Wright closed out the championship winning the 400 Free relay with a time of 2:59.80. For Saturday’s final totals, click here.

The girls team was led by Torie Buerger and Molly Smyers.  Buerger placed fourth in the 100 Back and Smyers placed 10th in the 500 Free.  Buerger and Smyers teamed with Olivia Kisow and Lila McGrath to finish the meet touching in fifth place in the 400 Free relay. For Saturday’s girls totals, click here.

Congratulations to the North Allegheny swimming and diving team for another terrific season.

The North Allegheny boys team hold a 152 – 120 lead over second-place North Penn after day one of the PIAA Class AAA Championships.  The North Allegheny girls team ended day one in seventh place with 54.5 points.

The boys started the day with a close second-place finish in the 200 Medley relay. Ricky Mihm, Jerry Chen, Tolik Borisov and Joel Songer were out touched at the end by Upper St. Clair by just .03 seconds.  Jack Wright then defended his 200 Free title with a time of 1:35.04.  Josh Galecki finished in 11th place.  In the 200 IM, Mihm swam side by side with the eventual winner, getting out touched by Sean Faikus of North Penn by only .05 seconds. Chen finished 11th and John Ehling finished in 12th place in the 200 IM.  Songer finished in 12th place in the 50 Free. Branko Kosanovich placed fifth in the 100 Fly and Borisov finished in 12th place.  Kosanovich, Songer, Galecki and Wright completed day one by winning the 200 Free Relay with a National Federation High School Honor Roll time of 1:22.48.

Torie Buerger led the girls team with a runner-up finish in the 200 IM.  In the 200 Free, Molly Smyers had an 11th-place finish, followed closely by Olivia Kisow’s 13th place finish.  The 200 Free relay team of Buerger, Kisow, Mary Flavin and Smyers closed out day one for the girls with their seventh-place finish.

Maya Ennis led the North Allegheny divers with her 13th place finish. For a look at all of Friday’s boys results at the PIAA Class AAA championships, click here. For Friday’s girls results, click here.

The PIAA Championships conclude on Saturday.

The North Allegheny boys and girls swim team extended an impressive run of WPIAL championships by closing out another championship on day two. The girls scored 313 points to best the next closest competitor of Mt. Lebanon.  This was the girls 11th consecutive WPIAL title for the Lady Tigers and 23rd overall. The 11 WPIAL titles in a row equals Oakland Catholic for most consecutive, who won 11 straight from 2000-2010. The NA boys scored 450 points in beating second place finisher Upper St. Clair. This was the boys’ eighth consecutive WPIAL crown and 15th overall.

The NA boys started strong, placing four swimmers in the top eight in the 100 Free.  Jack Wright took second place, Branko Kosanovich third place, Joel Songer fourth and Tolik Borisov sixth. Ricky Mihm defended his title in the 500 Free, followed by John Ehling in second place and Josh Galecki in fifth place. In the 100 Back, Ethan Song was the top NA finisher with his eighth-place showing.  Jerry Chen finished second in the 100 Breast, with Jacob McCarran finishing sixth.  The 400 Free Relay team of Galecki, Kosanovich, Borisov and Songer closed the meet by winning the final relay.

Molly Smyers started the girls off with her victory in the 500 Free. Olivia Kisow finished fourth in the event. Torie Buerger then followed with a win in the 100 Back.  The girls also finished their portion of the meet off with a win. Smyers, Mary Flavin, Lila McGrath and Buerger touched first in the 400 Free Relay.

The state qualifiers will swim in the PIAA Championships at Bucknell University on Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16.  The meet begins each day at 8 a.m.

The North Allegheny Swimming team began their defense of the WPIAL Swimming title with a strong start to day one of the WPIAL championship competition.  The NA boys team holds a comfortable 234 – 144 lead over second-place Upper St. Clair and the girls team had a 198 – 151.5 lead over Mt. Lebanon.

The boys won both relays, finished first in both the 200 Free and the 200 IM and finished second in both the 50 Free and the 100 Fly while collecting their 198 points.  The 200 Medley Relay team of Jack Wright, Jerry Chen, Branko Kosanovich, and Ricky Mihm started the boys off with their victory.  Wright then won the 200 Free with a WPIAl record time of 1:37.48, with Josh Galecki placing fourth.  Mihm won the 200 IM with a WPIAL record time of 1:48.15 and John Ehling finished fifth.  Joel Songer finished a close second in the 50 Free and Kosanovich finished runner-up in the 100 Fly.  The boys finished day one with Wright, Songer, Tolik Borisov and Mihm winning the 200 Free Relay.

The girls 200 Medley Relay team of Torie Buerger, Olivia Kisow, Lila McGrath and Olivia Krause started the girls events with a second place finish.  Molly Smyers then won the 200 Free, with Kisow finishing in third.  Buerger finished third in the 200 IM and McGrath finished fourth.  McGrath then finished fourth two events later in the 100 Fly. The girls 200 Free Relay team of Quinn Frost, Krause, Kisow and Smyers finished day one with a third-place finish. The WPIAL Championships will conclude on Friday at Trees Pool in Pittsburgh. The events will begin at 8:30AM.   

North Allegheny sophomore Maya Ennis led the way for North Allegheny at the WPIAL Diving Championships over the weekend and won WPIAL silver. With a score of 433.15, Ennis not only took second place but also qualifies for the PIAA Diving Championships.

Along with Ennis, the Lady Tigers had contributions from Addison Restilli (12^th place – 337.65), Alex Kmetyk (17^th place – 233.65) and Olivia Schenk (18^th place – 232.25).

Participating for the North Allegheny boys were Lucas Rodgers (16^th place – 293.95), Liam Cross (226.65) and Dennis Knepp (22^nd place – 138.30).

Up next is the WPIAL swimming championships which begin on Thursday, February 28 at 8:30 a.m.