When asked what his expectations were for his Pine-Richland swimming team this season, coach Pete Barry said, “We don’t want to call them expectations. Setting expectations that are too high sets you up for a big fall.”
Instead, Barry wants his team to focus on the goals they’ve set for the season, which include hitting qualifying times for WPIALs, focusing on the dual season and getting back to WPIALs and states.
Just two meets into the season, the Rams had a number of swimmers who already had hit qualifying times. Barry calls it a “weight off the shoulders.”
“What’s nice about this is, yes, high school starts in November, but a lot of swimmers do a lot of club and USA swimming,” Barry said. “They have been in the water since September, and some of them swam until July after high school was over. It’s nice to get them out of the way.”
With one goal almost complete, the swimmers can focus on getting back to WPIALs in Class 3A, where they had a good showing last year.
The girls team performed very well and found a spot on the podium, placing sixth.
The Rams (2-0, 0-0) were led by Sarah Anne Shaffer and Allison Schomaker, who each had a couple of top 10 finishes.
Shaffer, who is a senior this year, finished third in both the 200 IM (2:08.03) and the 100 breaststroke (1:03.72). Schomaker, a junior, also swam those events and finished seventh with a time of 2:11.10 in the 200 IM and a 1:06.11 in the 100 breast.
They also were part of the 200 and 400 free relays that placed eighth in both races.
Other swimmers who return from those relays include senior Anna Schomaker, who will swim the 200 and 500 freestyle, junior Riley Shafer, who is a breaststroker and races the IM, and sophomore Bree Arthur, who will be primarily a relay swimmer but gained a lot of experience as a freshman.
In fact, the Rams had a total of five freshmen between their boys and girls teams who got to experience WPIALs, which has gone a long way to building their confidence for this season.
“Just like the other sports, with experience comes more and more what I call calmness,” Barry said. “It helps them through the season on what they can expect and what they can and want to do.”
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This year, Whitney Calhoun is a freshman for the girls team who already has hit her qualifying times for districts. She is a 200- and 500-yard freestyler as well as a 100-yard butterflyer.
“She’s a huge help to the team and is a challenging swimmer in practice,” Barry said. “She’ll also contribute to getting our relay teams back to states.”
The Rams had three swimmers make it to states on the individual side of things. Shaffer made it to the finals in the 100 breast and finished with a time of 1:03.44. Allsion Schomaker swam in the 100 breast and just missed out on the finals.
Both the girls’ 200 and 400 relay teams finished 20th at states, and that is the focus for this season.
“All the girls are talking about getting the relays to finals and trying to get into the big heat as opposed to swimming in the prelims,” Barry said. “It’s confidence building for them.”
For the boys team (1-1, 0-0), junior Andrew Kirkpatrick and sophomore Cameron Wincko each return from the 200 and 400 free relays that finished 13th and 10th, respectively.
Both will swim in the 200 and 500 freestyle and the 100 butterfly this season. Sophomore Matthew Uzelac has gotten much stronger and also will swim the 200 and 500 free as well as the 100 fly.
Freshman AJ Guiffre will step in on the relay teams and try to help those teams off the bubble and into states as well.
“The boys themselves are coming around,” Barry said. “From the outside looking in, we’ve had some good showings, but there were some other people there that could do better and were disappointed. They’re trying to accomplish the same goal as the girls: improve our scores at WPIALs and get to states.”
For the Pine-Richland diving team, senior Kendyll Jerry returns, looking to make it to states this year after she placed fifth at WPIALs, one place short of qualifying.
“That set her up to work hard in the offseason to make states this year,” Barry said. “Sophomore Reyah Griffin has been pushing hard. We have a freshman, Charlotte DeGrands, who came in this year, and all three ladies have been over 220 in their six-round lists.”
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Senior Jake Jones also will attempt to make a showing at WPIALs this year off the board.
“He’s also a pole vaulter for the track team,” Barry said. “He likes being in the air quite a bit.”
One thing is for certain, the Rams will have that competitive fire all year. Not only are they looking to beat opposing schools, they are looking to best each other.
“One of the end of the year awards we do is called High Point,” Barry said. “Both the boys and girls like to battle it out with one another during the season and see who can rack up the most points. It’s just one more thing driving our swimmers.”
It’s just one more piece of motivation that Pine-Richland will use to propel itself to the top of Class 3A, and it will need all the motivation it can find.
Their section, Section 2-3A has powerhouse North Allegheny, 2022 state champion Seneca Valley and other tough competition such as North Hills, Moon and Butler.
“I appreciate that everyone brings up North Allegheny when talking about our section,” Barry said. “I like being in our section, not to take anything away from the other sections in the class, but having those talented schools fuels us to be our best.”