LEWISBURG — As the No. 1 seed by eight seconds in the Class 2A girls 200-yard individual medley, Shady Side Academy junior Ava Jochims felt confident that she could bring home a second straight state championship in the event Friday evening at the PIAA swimming championships at Bucknell University.
But she wasn’t overconfident.
Jochims trusted her abilities and put the pedal to the metal from the first dive into the water to the final touch of the wall. Her time of 2 minutes, 1.13 seconds was more than seven seconds faster than runner-up Locklynn Bienkowski, a freshman from Dallas in District 2, and third-place finisher Jaslene Cage, a junior from Erie’s Cathedral Prep.
“It is so much fun to come up here and compete with the best in the state,” said Jochims, who is looking forward to going after her second state title in the 500 freestyle Saturday.
“All of the girls are absolutely amazing. It is definitely a great feeling to also come here with a larger team and see girls swimming a number of individual events.”
Jochim’s win in the 200 IM helped the Bulldogs score 88 points with place finishes in the championship and consolation heats on Day 1 of the Class 2A meet at Bucknell.
Franklin Regional’s championship in the 200 free relay capped first-day performances that lifted the Panthers to the top spot in the standings with 108 points.
SSA swimmers grabbed their own relay gold to kick off Friday’s girls session.
Jochims provided the pop of experience with the youthful talent of freshmen Elyse Brenenborg, Ella Kiger and Rachael Bummer.
The quartet swam to a school-record time of 1:47.25.
They came in as the No. 1 seed with a WPIAL-winning time of 1:48.18.
Jochims said that seeing the freshmen win gold in their first opportunity was so special.
“There were some nerves for them coming in,” Jochims said. “But we’ve trained together and worked together so much for this opportunity. I had so much confidence in what they could do, and they really swam amazing splits to help us get the win.”
Brenenborg led off the relay.
“That win just set the mood for the whole meet,” she said.
Brenenborg had a short period of time to recover from the relay and go after gold in the 200 free.
She came in as the No. 4 seed after finishing as the WPIAL runner-up to Northgate sophomore Joann Cook.
But she left with a silver medal in a personal best of 1:52.57.
“I just wanted to go for a best time,” said Brenenborg, who will swim the 500 free and the 400 free relay Saturday. “The competition was great in both the prelims and the finals. It was just so much fun.”
Hampton senior Lainey Sheets put her stamp on PIAA history Friday as the new state champ in the 100 butterfly.
Second last year to Freeport graduate Kira Schrecongost, Sheets dropped four tenths of a second in the finals and won with a time of 54.00.
“It was tough last year getting second, especially with everything that happened with my recovery (from an ACL injury),” Sheets said. “It just means so much to come back and to win. It showed just how hard I worked in the offseason and during this season.”
Sheets started the championship season with 100 fly and 100 backstroke titles at WPIALs. She hopes to add 100 back state gold Saturday to the third from last year, the second from 2024 and the third in 2023.
“This just shows me the at the job is not done,” she said. “My race today was not perfect, and there is a lot to work for towards tomorrow.”
Franklin Regional senior Magdalena Hull and juniors Jamie Kociela, Aidah Holm and Scarlett Zolnak added PIAA gold to the WPIAL title they already owned and defended their No. 1 seed.
“Our relay has been together for the past three years, since I was a freshman,” Zolnak said. “For us to continuously improve every year, it’s really been amazing to be together and work hard in practice, and for everything to turn out so well.”
The WPIAL finished either first or second in every girls event Friday.
That included Winchester Thurston senior Thea Siegel’s runner-up swim in the 50 free (23.42). She led four from the WPIAL in the championship heat. Franklin Regional freshman Anna Tomasic took fourth (23.69), Southmoreland senior Allison Stinnet placed seventh (24.33), and Oakland Catholic junior Lucy Mazurek was eighth (24.36).
Class 2A boys
Sam Cavanaugh is excited about his swimming future at Bucknell.
The Northgate senior’s current exploits in the university’s Kinney Natatorium pool also have him energized.
Cavanaugh claimed his first individual state title Friday evening, swimming to a personal-best time of 1:49.23 in the 200 individual medley.
“I felt pretty good in my race,” Cavanaugh said. “In the morning, I was telling my coaches that it was definitely my turns and picking up my breast tempo a little bit. That prelim swim gave me a lot of energy to come back and do well in the evening. I was able to push through the pain. There is another big meet in a couple weeks that I also want to do well in. Still pushing through that pain is where it had to be.”
The time was a drop of more than a second from the 1:50.77 he recorded in claiming WPIAL gold Feb. 26 at Pitt.
Cavanaugh said there was a lot of motivation to get the title after finishing runner-up last year and sixth in 2024. He didn’t make the 200 IM finals as a freshman.
“It came down to a lot of work this year,” said Cavanaugh, the emotions of the moment welling up more and more in his voice. “I definitely knew that (PIAA gold) was my goal. It pushed me. It was definitely something to work towards. Having my teammates and coaches all helping me and supporting me, it was great.
“This is something I’ve wanted to accomplish since my freshman year. Doing it in a pool where I will call home for the next several years made it even more special.”
Cavanaugh started the evening with Greyson McKelvey, Nate Parker, and Jakob Vranick in the 200 medley relay, which bumped up to second with a time of 1:36.14, lower than the 1:36.87 it swam in winning WPIAL gold Feb. 26 at Pitt.
“It’s always a great feeling to do well with the guys,” McKelvey said. “This is what we wanted to come here and do. I’m glad I could do my part to help the seniors go out like that.”
After a short break, McKelvey came back and swam to third in the 200 free (1:42.51). He gained time and moved up one spot from fourth place with the final 50 left to swim.
“The turnover time right into the 200 free is pretty quick, especially if you do a lot of underwaters where the legs can be hurting after the relay,” he said. “I had to immediately get into the cool down and do the right things to be ready for (the 200 free), but it’s always manageable.”
Schuylkill Valley senior Owen Eisenhofer, a West Virginia University commit, won gold in a state-record time of 1:37.20.
Half of the spots in the 200 IM were taken by WPIAL swimmers. In addition to Cavanaugh’s win, Knoch senior Adrian Lavorini placed third (1:54.78), Laurel Highlands senior Kasey Mahoney took fourth (1:55.14), and Hampton sophomore Isaac Retsch finished fifth (1:55.96).
The WPIAL scored silver in the 50 free as district champion Joshua Reed challenged Donegal junior Colton Houck in a fast final heat.
The Indiana junior dropped nearly four-tenths of a second from his prelim time and touched the wall in 20.80, just eight one-hundredths of a second from Houck’s 20.72.
It was Reed’s second PIAA 50 free runner-up finish in a row.
Reed returns to the pool Saturday as the No. 4 seed in the 100 free (46.82).
Belle Vernon senior Brady Malekovich, runner-up to Reed in the 50 at WPIALs, also found himself on the PIAA medals podium in fifth overall (21.12).