Chris Heese had several things on his mind Friday as he approached his final varsity individual swim at the WPIAL Class 3A championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
The Latrobe senior and Swathmore College commit was after his second title in the 100-yard breaststroke while also going for the WPIAL record held by Upper St. Clair graduate and U.S. Olympian Josh Matheny.
Heese got the gold he sought while coming so very close to Matheny’s all-time mark. He swam to a winning time of 54.49, nine hundredths of a second away from the record of 54.40 Matheny set in 2021.
“Did I feel I had that swim in me this morning? No,” Heese said. “But then when I got in the water and swam that first 25, I was like, ‘OK, this is it.’ Honestly, I was kind of annoyed I didn’t get (the WPIAL record) because it was my goal going into the season. It is cool to be that close, but I really wanted that. (Matheny’s) state record (51.84), I am not even coming close to that. But today was the best day ever.”
Heese fronted a strong Westmoreland County contingent in Friday’s Class 3A session.
Norwin junior Amber Klingensmith and Franklin Regional junior Thomas Westerman captured silver in their individual swims.
Klingensmith placed second in the 100 backstroke as she added another individual medal to the fifth she earned in Thursday’s 100 butterfly.
She swam to a time of 56.38, almost a full second better than her 100 back time last year as a sophomore. Freshman Delaney O’Toole set a Fox Chapel school record in taking first with a 54.13.
“I felt pretty good going into my race,” Klingensmith said. “I knew that I would be racing Delaney, who is one of my teammates (at Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics). I knew it would be fun. I knew it would be a good race between the two of us and with the rest of the competition.
“I didn’t have any expectations going into it because you never know what could happen. I just wanted to work on my own race, my own underwaters and my own techniques. I was excited to see where I would be at this point in the season. This is one of my bigger meets, but not one I am fully tapered for. My goal was to see how I was executing my race, and I was happy with how that went.”
Westerman added a silver Friday to the gold he won in the 200 free Thursday.
Last year, he finished fifth in the 500 (4:37.11), but he was able to lower that time to a school record 4:33.48, two seconds away from champion Cinco Perez, a senior from Central Catholic. Perez clocked a 4:31.33.
“I was pretty happy with my time,” Westerman said. “I had been chasing the school record for some time, which was a 4:34, and so I was very happy to get that. I feel there is still room to improve when I am fully tapered for states. I think I can go faster. The All-American consideration is just a little bit faster (4:32.84), so I am hoping to go after that.”
Westerman then came back to anchor the Panthers 400 free relay, with senior Christopher Wu, junior Andrew Silvis, and senior Peter Ducruet, to a fourth-place medal in a time of 3:12.47. The quartet dropped seven seconds from its best regular-season time.
The Franklin Regional boys finished sixth in the team standings with 149 points. Latrobe was seventh (124).
Wildcats senior Charlie Thompson, third Thursday in the 100 butterfly, came back Friday and swam to a time of 46.11 to win the third of four heats in the 100 free.
That time was faster than four swimmers in the final heat and landed him in fifth overall. He took a second and a half off his seed time (47.64).
Class 2A
The girls 400 free relay decided the WPIAL team championship between Indiana and Franklin Regional.
The Indians went into the final event with a nine-point lead in the standings. For the Panthers to come from behind and win, they needed to win the race and have Indiana finish fourth or lower.
Franklin Regional made a move at the end, but it wasn’t able to catch the quartet from Shady Side Academy, which finished first in 3:33.06. FR’s team of senior Magdalena Hull and juniors Phoebe Boswell, Aiah Holm and Scarlett Zolnak took second with a time of 3:34.96.
Indiana, fourth for most of the race, rallied to take third. It only lost two points to FR in the team race and won its second straight championship by seven points, 284-277.
“That was tough at the end, but the girls got their best time of the year,” Panthers coach Dan Taylor said. “They wanted to win that relay, and it hurts a little bit because they were seeded first, but they raced, and they competed. That is all you can ask for. And they still have states.”
The FR girls earned points in every event Friday. Tomasic also picked up her second individual silver, taking second in the 100 free with a 51.67. Winchester Thurston senior Thea Siegel took the top spot in the 100 free (51.11) and also beat out Tomasic for 50 free gold Thursday.
“I think it is really special to be able to swim at a meet like WPIALs,” Tomasic said. “I felt really good today. The atmosphere here is amazing. It will be fun to swim at states.”
Only the WPIAL champion in each event automatically qualifies for the PIAA championship set for March 11-14 at Bucknell University. The remaining qualifying spots are determined based on times recorded at each district or regional meet.
Tomasic, the FR girls relay and others are confident their times will be among the top ones in the state when the PIAA releases the qualifying lists Sunday afternoon.
Mt. Pleasant senior Gunnar Probst also captured 100 free silver as he, along with Belle Vernon senior Brady Malekovich, challenged Indiana junior Joshua Reed for gold.
Probst, third last year in the event, moved up one spot with a 47.82. Reed won his second title in 46.82. Malekovich took third (48.20).
Probst and Malekovich also were 2-3 behind Reed in the 50 free Thursday.
“Brady and I raced at counties earlier in the season, and Josh and I have been very competitive the past three years,” Probst said. “It’s great to know who you’re racing against and how it will probably finish. We talk behind the block. We’re all friendly. It’s good to have that. I think I have another good time drop in me. I look forward to racing Josh and Brady again at states.”
Mt. Pleasant’s boys 400 free relay of Probst, senior Cody Fusco, sophomore Colby Emerick and junior Lucas Poole was third in a time of 3:20.52, a drop of more than four seconds from their seed time. The 32 points earned put the Vikings in fifth place in the final standings (172) behind champion Northgate (229), Indiana (209), Shady Side Academy (180), and Knoch (180).
Bronze medals were awarded to Mt. Pleasant senior Lainey Brown in the 100 breast for a drop of close to three seconds to 1:06.16 and to Franklin Regional junior Scarlett Zolnak for her time of 58.23 in the 100 back.
Belle Vernon sophomore Josie Nikolic (100 free, 53.14) and Southmoreland senior Allison Stinnett (100 breast, 1:06.23) each placed fourth in their Friday individual swims.