Belle Vernon shines in WPIAL meet
Eleanor Bailey
Robert Spekis churns through the butterfly leg of the individual medley. The Belle Vernon senior successfully defended his WPIAL title during Class AA championships at Pitt.
Eleanor Bailey
Belle Vernon’s Ian Shahan cuts through the water on his way to victory in the 100-yard butterfly during the WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championships.
Robert Spekis embraces living on the edge.
“Robert gives me gray hair,” said Belle Vernon swim coach Robert Reda.
The senior was thrilled by that comment once he defended his title in the 200-yard individual medley during the first day of racing at the WPIAL swimming championships held at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool.
“That’s fun to hear afterwards,” Spekis said of the drama in his come-from-behind victory in 1:57.41 time.
Trailing by a considerable margin after the backstroke leg, Spekis turned it on during the 50-yard breaststroke segment of the race and took it home strong in the last 50 freestyle to capture his second straight WPIAL title in the event.
“I am not the best backstroker there is,” Spekis said.
“But,” added his coach Robert Reda, “he did a much better job this year in his backstroke in the IM. He goes strong in the breaststroke like he normally does and brings it home.”
That precisely was the game plan.
“The strategy was to just go out hard in the fly, try to keep up as much as I can and as long as I was close in the breast I knew I could reel them in,” explained Spekis.
There was pressure, however, as a defending champion. So pulling off the back-to-back triumph was a feat.
“Going through the whole season knowing I am coming back with a target on my back was intense,” Spekis said. “So it means a lot to have something to show for it.”
BV’s Ian Shahan has the gold and a new WPIAL record to show for his efforts in the 100-yard butterfly. A runner-up last year as a freshman, Shahan raced to victory in 49.66, shattering the previous mark of 50.29 shared by Zach Baum of Derry and Dean Kralic from Riverside. The time also is a school record.
“I wanted that redemption,” Shahan said from finishing second last season. “I wanted to come back here and see what I could do because I have been training hard. It invigorated my spirit. It helped me with that drive. Winning was my biggest goal and to break the record,” he added.
Reda agreed with Shahan’s assessment of how the loss pushed him.
“That was an awesome race he had,” Reda said. “He was phenomenal. Last year’s loss propelled him. That, and he wanted to get the meet record. That was exciting to see.
“It was great to see both Robert and Ian do so well as individuals and in their relay events,” Reda added.
Spekis and Shahan combined with Alex Miller and Sam West to break a school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The foursome finished runner-up to Shady Side Academy in the event with a 1:29.63 time.
Shahan and Spekis also fueled the 200-yard medley relay team to a bronze medal. The unit also included Isaac Evans on the fly leg and Miller on the freestyle anchor.
The Leopards clocked a 1:38.80 while Indiana won the race with a 1:38.36 mark and Riverside secured the silver in 1:38.53
“We had a great day and this gives us good things to look forward to tomorrow,” said Reda.
Spekis is the defending champion in the 100-yard breaststroke and while Spekis won the backstroke last year, he has opted for the 100 free race instead.
Heading into Day 2 of the competition, Belle Vernon sat in third position in the team standings with a 106 score. Indiana and Northgate were in first and second place with 123 and 115 points, respectively.
“There are a lot of good teams here,” Reda said. “Our goals as always are to have fast swims and get to states.”
Only the winners at the WPIAL meet are guaranteed a berth in the PIAA championships set for March 13-16 at Bucknell University. The other entries will be determined by top times throughout the state and those spots will be announced Monday.
Visit www.wpial.org for a complete list of all the results from the WPIAL championships.
Class AAA
As expected, after the first day of action, North Allegheny is running away with the competition in both the boys’ and the girls’ divisions.
While the Lady Tigers lead Mt. Lebanon, 198-151.5, the NA boys hold a commanding lead over Upper St. Clair, 234-144. The NA girls have won the last 10 titles and the boys have won 12 of the last 13 team championships.
The Peters Township and Canon-McMillan boys are situated in 10th and 13th positions with 72 and 50 points respectively. Their female counterparts are 16th and 22nd overall.
Cassidy Sweeney was the area’s top performer. The PT junior took third place with a 57.77 time.
Lebo’s Trinity Ward dominated the race, winning her fourth title, but falling short of the WPIAL record of 54.45 set in 1983 by Melanie Buddemeyer of Penn Hills. Ward won in 54.44.
“I really did want the record but it’s still the fastest that I have gone at this meet by far, which is a great sign for states,” said Ward, who won a PIAA title as a sophomore. “I’m super excited for what’s to come.”
Coming in behind Ward and Sweeney and in seventh place in the fly was Abby Mele. The C-M junior posted a 58.04 time.
Abigail Duncan of South Fayette finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle to complete the area girls’ other top individual showing.
On the boys’ side, Ryan Rose reached the top tier of the podium. The Peters Township sophomore took third in the 50 free.
The remainder of the boys’ success was submitted in relay action.
In the 200-yard medley relay; Max Orlowski, Cole Orlowski, Liam Sulc and Brant Purcell propelled C-M to a fifth-place finish. The Peters Township boys enjoyed an eighth-place showing. Justin Manhollan, Bert Wang, Aidan Dowdall and Rose comprised the unit.
In the 200 free, Orlowski, Logan Stewart, Purcell and Sulc combined for 10th place while Manhollan, Dowdall, Alec Haag and Rose joined forces for ninth.
Individually, Purcell took 12th in the 200 free, which Jack Wright of NA won with a record time of 1:37.48. In the 50 free, Sulc scored 14th place.
Gennarino Conzemius of McMurray, competing in his final WPIAL as a member of the Central Catholic swim team, was 12th in the 200 IM (1:58.00). The Seton Hall recruit also helped his 200-yard medley relay (1:35.88) unit to a third-place showing behind champion North Allegheny (1:31) and Upper St. Clair (1:31.18). He also swam a leg on the Viking’s fifth-place 200 free relay.