Winchester Thurston has never been a hotbed for girls swimming.
As it turned out, all the Bears program needed was a little kickstart from the Midwest.
Winchester Thurston freshman Maeve Kelley, who moved to Pittsburgh from Springfield, Ill., a couple of years ago, became the school’s first girls swimming champion when she won the 200-yard freestyle in the WPIAL Class 2A finals at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
“It’s actually pretty cool because I wasn’t expecting to win,” Kelley said. “Everyone was going really fast and, being the first person from my school to win, added an extra factor to it.”
Kelley, one of five students from the school to qualify for the meet, came in as the fourth seed and swam a 1:55.05 to defeat Elizabeth Forward’s Kaelyn McClain by 0.63 seconds and top-seeded Parker Fanella of Indiana by 2.18.
“I think it’s really scary because you see all these kids with these huge teams and they have a really big team spirit and I don’t have that,” Kelley said. “But we have four other people who swim for Winchester and they cheer for me and encourage me, so I think that really helps.”
Kelley wasn’t the only first-time champion for her school. Laurel Highlands’ Elizabeth Thomas, Ella Ciez, Maria Mrosko and Jenna Roscoe posted a 1:49.11 in the girls 200 medley relay to ousted top-seeded Mount Pleasant by 2.75 seconds.
Mount Pleasant’s Heather Gardner, a Liberty University recruit, became the first Class 2A swimmer since Kristen Olson of Moon (1995-97) to win three consecutive 50 freestyle titles. Gardner beat Thomas Jefferson junior Hallie Findlan by 0.20 seconds with a 23.62 heat.
“I didn’t have a very good turn, I barely touched the wall and I knew as soon as I was coming off that I was really going to have a string dolphin kick,” Gardner said. “I saw the girl who got second, she was pushing me and I really had to push myself, drive my hand in and get to the wall first.”
Neshannock’s Conner McBeth became only the second three-time champion in the Class 2A 50 freestyle. His time of 20.81 seconds was 0.02 shy of the WPIAL record set by Mark Stepanian of Blackhawk in 2009.
While McBeth didn’t break a record, what will be his main competition in Friday’s 100 freestyle, Ian Shahan, did. The Belle Vernon junior broke his record in the 100 butterfly with a 49.02 that was 0.64 better than his 2019 standard and 2.82 seconds better than runner-up Cooper Groll of Northgate.
“I know going for it was definitely something I was looking forward to because, I knew I that, if I broke it, I’d be faster and right where I need to be going into states,” Shahan said. “[In the 100] I know it’s gonna be a good race. We’re gonna go at it.”
Indiana didn’t wait long to make a statement that it was the team to beat once again. The Little Indians boys 200 medley relay team of Kyle Thome, Kevin Zheng, Isaac Griffith and Cole Thome set a WPIAL record with a 1:37.01, breaking the old mark of 1:37.77 set by Northgate in 2018 and edging the Flames in the heat by 2.95 seconds.
It was also the school’s second consecutive win in the event.
Cole Thome, who swam the freestyle leg of the relay, won his first individual title as well. The senior swam a 1:57.27 in the 200 individual medley to upset top-seeded Alex May of Montour by 1.82 seconds.
“I had no idea I was going to come in and win the individual medley and that was crazy for me,” Thome said. “Obviously it was awesome because this was my first year doing the IM — for three years I had done the 200 free — and swimming it for the first time in a championship meet and winning it just felt awesome.”
When Cole stopped doing the 200 freestyle, his younger brother Kyle stepped into the role and immediately took to it. Kyle, like his brother, won his first individual title with a 1:41.50-second heat that beat Deer Lakes senior Adam Morrison by 1.18 seconds.
“My coach wanted me to try something new this year and so did I,” Kyle said. “I was ready for this race and I wanted to go to states in this race.”
First Published: February 28, 2020, 5:43 a.m.
