Cathedral Prep girls place second in team standings at PIAA swimming and diving meet
LEWISBURG — Mt. Pleasant was the only team that summited Cathedral Prep in the team standings for this weekend’s PIAA Class 2A girls swimming and diving meet.
The Ramblers, highlighted by Friday’s gold medal showing in the 200-yard freestyle relay final, recorded 145 points over two days of laps at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
Mt. Pleasant, a District 7 school in Armstrong County, edged them with 164.
“We did everything together this year,” Prep’s Maria Costa said, “so we deserved this.”
Costa swam the opening leg of the Ramblers’ title-winning 200 free relay. It was the most notable of the maximum four medals she received on the state’s medal stand.
The last of Costa’s four awards was for Saturday’s 100 backstroke final. The junior, in a race that saw Bedford star Leah Shackley set the PIAA record at 50.76 seconds, came in fourth at 55.87.
Those PIAA medals complimented Costa’s award as the best female aquatics performer for District 10’s 2A girls meet. Its swimming portion was held earlier this month at Geneva, Ohio.
“These (awards) mean a lot to me because I’ve put in a lot of work this season,” she said. “I love being known as a state champ.”
Chloe Borrero, Costa’s teammate and classmate, also medaled in the 100 back. She finished eighth at 59.05.
Costa and Borrero were the district’s only female representatives during Saturday’s championship races.
Good nights for a good Knight
Franklin’s Camden Smith, who was voted the best 2A male performer for the district meet, also medaled in each of his starts at Bucknell. The junior started legs in two of the Knights’ relays and individually finished sixth in the 100 butterfly (50.53) and fifth in Saturday’s 100 free (46.34).
“This was nice because I was never able to make to the A finals (championship races) in any of my past events,” Smith said. “This year, I was able to bring home some hardware for me and my teammates.”
“It all just comes down to the amount of time you put in the water.”
Diving debuts for Huskies
Harbor Creek prides itself on getting its divers onto Kinney’s one-meter springboards for state attempts.
That trait continued this weekend. Coach Maxine Lundberg watched two Huskies perform over the last two days.
Even better for her, they were two freshmen Huskies.
Isaac Smith competed in Friday’s 2A boys competition. He was also on hand Saturday when classmate Kyra Guntrum debuted in the PIAA girls meet.
Guntrum, one of two freshmen in the original field of 24, survived the cuts for the semifinal and championship rounds. Although her 11-round score of 336.35 points left her in 13th place, that result was deceiving.
The PIAA’s panel of judges had Guntrum fourth overall going into the semifinals and seventh going into the finals. She also finished ahead of Fairview senior Elena Veres, who won the district meet and had past PIAA experience.
Veres, in her last varsity appearance, finished 14th at 333.50.
Katie George, Fairview’s other senior diver for Saturday’s meet, was 17th at 235.75.
“Being here (Saturday) is insane,” Guntrum said. “Being here in the first place as a freshman is amazing. Coach (Lundberg) helped me get this far. She’s a big reason why I’m here.”
Guntrum, like some of the district’s past divers, has a gymnastics background.
Eleven years of tumbling experience helped Guntrum learn the acrobatics of basic dives while on a trampoline.
It also helped negate some of the understandable jitters that go with facing more seasoned opponents in such a significant event as states.
“I wasn’t as bad as I thought I was (Saturday),” Guntrum said. “I don’t have to compare myself to the other divers. I just need to stay in my lane and keep my head on straight.”
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.
The overall winners and District 10 swimming and diving results for Saturday’s PIAA meet at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg. The top eight individuals and relays in each event received medals:
Boys
Team: 1. Indiana, Pennsylvania 184; 6. Cathedral Prep 106; 7. Franklin 97, 17. Sharon 53, 26. (three-way tie including) Oil City 20; 39. Fairview 13; 45. (four-way tie including) Titusville 11
100-yard freestyle: 1. Noah Powers, Blue Mountain 43.82; 5. Camden Smith, Franklin 46.34; 8. Mark Cattron, Sharon 46.84; 22. Joe Herman, Titusville 48.84
500 freestyle: 1. Woobie Kupsky, MMI 4:30.74; 5. Nate Dorsch, Sharon 4:46.27; 17. Owen Carson, Cathedral Prep 4:57.27; 18. Logan Osterwise, Grove City 4:58.27; 21. Jordan Stumpf, Franklin 4:59.64
100 backstroke: 1. Luke Lamb, North Catholic 48.08 (PIAA RECORD); 4. Jack Raimy, Cathedral Prep 50.01; 25. Kye Winslow, Franklin 56.56; 28. Mason Harvey, Wilmington 57.24
100 breaststroke: 1. Joseph Gardner, Mt. Pleasant 54.28 (PIAA RECORD);11. Matthew Hinman, Cathedral Prep 58.91; 15. Drew Brown, Cathedral Prep 1:00.84; 23. Nathan Pfennigwerth, Franklin 1:01.24; 29. Alex Reynolds, Titusville 1:02.24
400 freestyle relay: 1. Indiana, Pennsylvania (Joshua Reed, Rey Nunez, Alex Bauer, Preston Kessler) 3:06.81; 4: Franklin 3:12.62; 5. Cathedral Prep (Colin Troutman, Callum Snider-Mills, Evan Calvert, Jack Raimy) 3:14.33; 16. Oil City 3:20.00; 23. Fairview (Axel Manelius, Clark Carney, Evan Grimm, Finn Jensen) 3:25.12; 24. Sharon (Nate Dorsch, Liam Zampogna, Anthony Marini, Mark Cattron) 3:25.62
Girls
Team: 1. Mt. Pleasant 164; 2. Cathedral Prep 145; 47. North East 9½; 48. (five-way tie including) Grove City 9; 53. Slippery Rock 8; 54. (four-way tie including) General; 54. (four-way tie including) McLane and Sharon 6; 60. (tie including) Harbor Creek 4; 62. (three-way tie including) Fairview 3
100-yard freestyle: 1. Lily King, Mt. Pleasant 48.38 (PIAA RECORD);10. (tie including) Anna Riedel, North East 53.42; 15. Kendal Johnston, Cathedral Prep 54.28; 17. Ella Stillwagon, Grove City 54.71; 19. Raely FaJohn, Slippery Rock 54.75; 28. Cassidy Swain, General McLane 55.92
500 freestyle: 1. Kimberly Shannon, Lewisburg 4:47.58; 11. Logan Wilson, Sharon 5:16.41; 20. Ellie Natemeier, Cathedral Prep 5:25.84; 30. Katherine Quinn, General McLane 5:31.87; 32. Dani Erdley, Franklin 5:43.03
100 backstroke: 1. Leah Shackley, Bedford 50.76 (PIAA RECORD);4. Maria Costa, Cathedral Prep 55.87; 8. Chloe Borrero, Cathedral Prep 59.05; 20. Kallie Smith, Oil City 1:00.40; 23. Mackenzie Spence, Corry 1:01.61; 31. Riley Amory, General McLane 1:02.72
100 breaststroke: 1. Giona Lavorini, Knoch 1:02.11; 12. Jaslene Cage, Cathedral Prep 1:07.64; 25. Ellie Brugger, Cathedral Prep 1:09.90
400 freestyle relay: 1. Northgate (Kendall McKelvey, Katie Petrina, Amelia Hardiman, Elise Nardozzi) 3:35.05; 16. Slippery Rock (Season Grant, Maddy Gauselmann, Mollie Massella, Raely FaJohn) 3:45.00; 12. Cathedral Prep (Kendal Johnston, Chloe Borrero, Ellie Natemeier, Josie Dufala) 3:40.93; 21. General McLane (Katherine Quinn, Madison Crosscut, Emma Shade, Cassidy Swain) 3:47.06
One-meter diving: 1. Brianne Dempsey, Dallas, Pennsylvania 411.85;13. Kyra Guntrum, Harbor Creek 336.35; 14. Elena Veres, Fairview 333.50; 17. Katherine George, Fairview 235.75
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Cathedral Prep girls finish second at PIAA swimming and diving meet
