Hopta, Hay win gold at WPIAL Championships
Abby Hay charges through the water during anchor leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Peters Township sophomore coasted to victory in the 500 free to successfully defend her title earlier in the meet.
Peters Township’s Abby Hay celebrates Friday after winning a WPIAL Class AAA championships.
Abby Hay finished runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley. The Peters Township sophomore won the event in 2016 but Butler’s Laura Goettler needed a record to beat her this year. Goettler shattered the WPIAL record set by Mt. Lebanon’s Kaitlyn Orstein, winning the race in 2:01.78. Hay was second in 2:03.06.
Stephen Hopta of Peters Township celebrates after winning the 100-yard backstroke Friday during the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships.
PITTSBURGH – Stephen Hopta did not get much sleep the night before his 100-yard backstroke race but Abby Hay was well-rested before her 500-yard freestyle event during the WPIAL Class AAA Swimming Championships meet completed Friday at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool.
Despite the differences, the results were the same: victories for both Peters Township swimmers.
Hopta touched out Upper St. Clair junior Jack Fitzpatrick by a scant .36 margin for a win that sparked the Indians to a runner-up finish behind North Allegheny, which captured its 11th team title in 12 years.
“Stephen has a great final and his backstroke win got the team fired up,” said PT coach Michael Meyers. “It was an awesome swim.”
Hopta, who won in 50.03, knew he had to swim well, he said, because he felt that he let the team down on the first day of the competition, when the Indians finished third in the 200-yard medley relay to NA and Hempfield. The bronze put the Indians in third-place in the team standings.
“I blamed myself for the medley,” said the junior. “So, I really wanted to make it up to my teammates. I thought about my race all night. I wanted to bring it home for us.”
Paul Luniewski’s third-place showing in the 100-yard breaststroke and a bronze-medal finish in the final race of the meet, the 400-yard freestyle relay, solidified Peters Township’s hold on the runner-up team trophy. North Allegheny won the championship with a whopping 433 points while Peters Township followed with 238. USC was third with 210 points.
“Paul getting third in the breast was a big plus. He did great. Came on strong,” said Meyers. “And that relay really fought hard for third place.”
Hopta led off the relay. Mitchell Golias and Benon Brewer followed before Jake Rose anchored the unit to a finish in 3:10.16. NA shattered the meet record set in 2014 by Upper St. Clair with a 3:03.20 time.
“We knew NA would have another powerhouse team but we had a good one too,” explained Hopta. “We set our sights on runner-up.
“As the year went on, we got real close and became very team oriented,” Hopta continued. “With Coach Meyers being in his first year here, he really brought about great changes and we all adapted to the workouts.”
Workouts are what make Hay the champion she is. Not only did she defend her title in the 500 freestyle, she shaved nearly 14 seconds from her seed time of 5:08.57 by winning the race in 4:54.78. That was more than two seconds off the pace she swam in last year’s state championship meet and well under her winning time of five minutes flat in the 2016 WPIAL meet.
When asked how she managed such a drop, Hay said, “I don’t know. I’m floored.”
Meyers, as well as competing coaches, are not.
“It’s all hard work,” Meyers said.
And talent, too.
Hay inhertied athletic genes. Her mother, Kathy, was a standout runner at Peters Township. Her father, Tom, was an eight-time All-American with five WPIAL and five PIAA titles for the Indians. He excelled at Michigan and competed in the 1992 Olympic Trials.
Tom Donati has seen both father and daughter swim. He coached Mt. Lebanon to back-to-back runner-up team titles to North Allegheny, which won its ninth straight WPIAL team championship. Also, as a member of Bethel Park’s record-setting teams in the 1980s, he swam against Hay’s father. “Tried,” Donati corrected with a laugh then said, “Abby’s talented, smooth and can go forever. And, she loves to win,” he added. “You can’t teach that.”
Indeed, there was no doubt Hay was after the victory. She broke out quickly, clocking her best time ever in the first 200 yards. Her closest competitors, Abby Matheny and Olivia Shaffer, finished nearly seven seconds off the pace, posting times of 5:02.59 and 5:03.54 respectively.
“Abby is tough-minded,” Meyers said. “She sets a goal and sticks to it. She took out that first 200 and did not let anyone near her. She was not going to be beaten.”
“I really wanted to win but I didn’t expect that. Not at all,” Hay said of the drop in time. “There was pressure on me because last year I was an unknown but I couldn’t let that get to me. I just came to swim. I was really going smooth but I’ve never really felt like that before. Plus, I’m not fully tapered.”
Peters Township is planning to make a bigger splash at the PIAA Championships March 15-18 at Bucknell University. The top three finishers and those meeting qualifying standards will advance to the state championships.
“We are not tapered fully so it will be interesting to see how we do,” Meyers said. “But, some of our times have been crazy. They all swam well all day long and had great attitudes. All are happy. All have smiles. It was an awesome meet. We wanted to come in and swim well and have fun but we will take the results.”
Mike Kehm finished sixth in the 100-yard freestyle while Jake Rose added 11th. Also adding points to Peters Township’s boys score were Kevin Martin (ninth), Benon Brewer (10th) and Alex Lepri (16th) in the 500 freestyle. … Hay anchored the Peters’ girls’ 400 free relay team of Olivia Yocca, Devon Milley and Cassidy Sweeney to an eighth-place showing in 3:36.52. Mt. Lebanon set a new WPIAL record in winning the event in 3:25.76. … Ringgold’s medley relay team of Sarah and Becca Noll along with Kaylee Kassa and Taylor LaFlash finished seventh (1:56.39) in Class AA. … South Fayette’s David Ewing was fifth in the Class AA 200 freestyle (1:47.24).