Swimming and diving programs and water polo programs are closely intertwined.

Besides sharing the same pool, they also share a skill set, coaches and athletes in virtually every program that sponsors both sports.

Things are no different at North Allegheny High School where the swimming and diving team is among one of the best in the state. The water polo program is quickly catching up.

This past season the boys' and girls' water polo teams won Western Division championships and qualified for the state tournament. It was the first Western Division championship for the girls and third for the boys.

The success should not come as a total surprise. This past spring the North Allegheny swimming and diving team captured WPIAL team titles on the boys' and girls' sides. The boys also went on to win the team title at states.

In water polo the boys had to settle for fifth place in the state tournament. The girls finished eighth. With first-year coach Rob Semanchik taking over the program, a number of standout sophomores on the roster and a blossoming feeder program, the water polo program at North Allegheny has the potential to match the yearly success of the swimming and diving team.

The feeder program is the Tiger Water Polo Club and many of the starters on the boys' and girls' teams started playing the sport in the club. This past year the 14-and-under boys' team from the Tiger Water Polo Club won the state title.

"With the class we have coming up in the next few years, we should have a solid team. Being able to compete as one of the top four teams in the state, for us that would be a huge accomplishment."

Two sophomores, Zach Presto on the boys' team and Meghan Mahoney, on the girls' team, led their respective teams in scoring. Presto was named first team all-state. Mahoney was named third team all-state.

Last spring both Presto and Mahoney landed spots on the Northeast Zone Water Polo team. The team comprises players from 13 states and there are only 14 spots available on either teams.

Semanchik is a 2005 graduate of North Allegheny. The water polo program that started at the school in 2001, was in its infancy when Semanchik was a student. He later went on to Arizona State where he helped get a program started.

In his first year coaching on the high school level he was a runner-up for boys' state water polo coach of the year.

Quick results are nothing new for Semanchik. He was one of five students are Arizona State to spearhead an effort to have a water polo program started. Semanchik was a sophomore at the time. By the time he was a senior, Arizona State was finishing third at nationals. Considering the success of the swimming and diving program under coach Corky Semler, Semanchik was walking into a good situation.

"Water Polo goes hand in hand with the swimming program," Semanchik said. "The top [water polo] teams in the state also have very good swimming programs."

North Allegheny is the lone school in the WPIAL with a full-fledged water polo team. Seneca Valley and Keystone Oaks have programs in the works. That forces the players to spend a lot of time on buses traveling around Pennsylvania and out of state for tournaments. The closest water polo programs on the state level to North Allegheny are two hours to the north in Erie.

When it comes to "non-traditional" sports, North Allegheny is often a front runner among area schools. The Tigers have won 10 WPIAL titles in field hockey and 16 WPIAL titles in gymnastics, by far the most since the sports have been sanctioned by the WPIAL.

In the water, the boys finished this water polo season 17-6 and the girls went 15-9.

Senior captain Stephanie Graham was the top defender for the girls. She led the team in steals and was named second team all-state.

Other Tigers who won individual accolades on the state level were sophomore Evan Staresinic, who made second-team all-state; senior captain Elliott Baxter, who was named honorable mention all-state; and freshman Rob Clinger, who finished as runner-up for rookie of the year honors.

"We really lost a lot of talent [from last year] and we thought it was going to be tough to even qualify for states," Staresinic said. "Our coach really got things together this year and he put in a lot of work and it paid off."

North Allegheny's Zach Presto fires a shot at Cumberland Valley's Andrew Hamilton at the Tiger Classic Water Polo 2009 at North Allegheny High School.

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