Canon-McMillan senior takes silver at WPIALs
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Max Orlowski starts off the 100-yard backstroke race. The Canon-McMillan senior took second place in the event with a time of 50.04.
Max Orlowski from Canon-McMillan took second place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.04.
Maddie Berg from South Fayette finished seventh in the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:10.25 mark during the WPIAL Class AAA girls' championships at Upper St. Clair High School. The Lions finished 10th as a team while North Allegheny claimed its 13th consecutive girls' title.
Cole Orlowski churns through the water during the 100-yard butterfly event at the WPIAL Class AAA championships. The senior won his heat in 52.52 and finished tied for seventh place in the event.
Allen Liu surfaces for air during the breaststroke leg of the 200-yard medley relay. The sophomore helped Peters Township to a seventh-place finish in the event with a 1:37.87 time. Liu also competed individually in the 100-yard breaststroke race during the WPIAL Class AAA boys' championships.
Scott Zhu soars through the water during the butterfly leg in the 200-yard medley relay. The junior helped Peters Township score a WPIAL medal with a seventh-place showing in the race.
Max Orlowski of Canon-McMillan swims the backstroke because he says he has strong shoulders and weak knees.
“I like the backstroke because it’s mostly arms and I’m not a big kicker,” he said. “My legs don’t get so tired.”
His lower limbs, however, put him on the podium during the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ swimming championships held Sunday at Upper St. Clair High School.
Orlowski closed out his senior career with a silver medal in his signature swim. He posted a 50.04 time and placed second behind Joshua Bogniard from North Hills, who won in 49.08.
(Because only the WPIAL champion automatically advances to states, Orlowski must wait and see if his time is good enough for the remaining open bids for the PIAA championships set for March 19-20 at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg.)
“I’m very excited,” Orlowski said. “I never thought I would get anywhere near the podium and I did. I also never thought my time would get anywhere near that because I wasn’t feeling it down low but my underwaters were feeling really good. I got a big boost of energy in the last 25.”
Orlowski’s showing was “outstanding” said C-M head coach Paul Reismeyer. Orlowski dropped more than two seconds off his seed time of 52.71.
“That was totally unexpected,” Reismeyer said. “We are really excited for Max.”
Reismeyer also was thrilled with Orlowski’s twin brother, Cole. He finished seventh in the 100 breaststroke. Upper St. Clair’s Josh Matheny reset his WPIAL record in winning the race with a 54.50 time.
Cole, who will attend Penn State University, also tied for seventh in the butterfly with a 52.52.
“Cole has excellent finishes in the fly and the breast,” Reismeyer said. “We are very excited for him.”
The Orlowski twins combined with Logan Stewart and Chad Isbell for fifth place and 12th places in the medley and 400 free relays.
Max Orlowski, who is thinking about attending West Point or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, also earned a medal with eighth place in the 50 free with a 21.70 time.
CM’s 200 free relay team also had a Top 12 finish. Stewart, Isbell, Luke Myers and Lenny DeMartino fueled the effort, which resulted in a 1:34.32 time.
Overall, the Big Macs finished 11th as a team with 99.5 points.
“We scored much better than expected,” Reismeyer said. “I am very pleased with how everybody did.”
Upper St. Clair won the boys’ AAA team title, edging Seneca Valley by the narrowest of margins, 276.5-275.
PT weathers season
If they handed out medals for courage at the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ championships, then Peters Township would have received one hands down. See, the Indians battled many obstacles just to qualify its seven swimmers for the finals held Sunday at Upper St. Clair High School.
“It was a rough season,” said first-year head coach Jamie Stache. “It was hard.”
According to Stache the Indians were without a home pool for half the season. The pool in the former high school closed and the new one at the new school is not scheduled to open until June. In the interim, the Indians traveled to Keystone Oaks High School to train.
Additionally, during the 90-day season, the Indians were only able to practice 39 days.
“Peters Township pretty much got shutdown more than anybody else because of COVID-19,” explained Stache.
During a regular season, the Indians would have qualified as many as 25 swimmers, 12 girls and 13 boys, for the WPIAL championships. No girls earned the cut times, which Stache defined as “major” and the boys only earned their qualifying marks during the last two meets of the season.
So the Indians showing in the meet was impressive. Peters Township finished 16th in the team standings and placed two relays in the Top 8, which garnered them medals.
The 200-yard medley relay grouping of Justin Manhollan, Allan Liu, Scott Zhu and Ryan Rose secured seventh place with a 1:37.87 time. The 200 freestyle relay unit of Manhollan, Alec Haag, Michael Pazuchanics and Rose scored eighth place with a 1:28.79 mark.
“My relays, all four guys in both relays, did real well,” Stache said. “When we put them together, they responded real well.
“The meet went better than I expected,” Stache continued. “The guys responded really well, especially seeing how the season was for all of us.”
Individually, Rose tied for 10th place in the 50-yard free. He posted a 21.82 time. Additionally, Liu placed 15th in the 100 breaststroke to add to the Indians’ scoring.
With a waiting list waiting list for youth wanting to join the swim club, Stache is optimistic about the future of Peters Township swimming.
“We are stagnant because we need our pool but we should grow,” he said.
NA girls win again
North Allegheny captured its 13th consecutive team title, racking up 425 points during the WPIAL Class AAA girls’ swimming championships held March 7 at Upper St. Clair High School pool.
George Washington recruit Molly Smyers led the Tigers, taking the gold in the 200-yard individual medley and 500 freestyle while also guiding the 400 free relay to victory.
Seneca Valley claimed the runner-up trophy with 249 points while Upper St. Clair took third with a 223 score.
South Fayette had a Top 10 showing.
The Lions picked up 42 of their 83 points by finishing seventh and ninth respectively in the 400- and 200-yard freestyle relays. Zoe Poe, Morgan T. Young, Gabi Baiano and Maddie Berg comprised the 400 unit. Abigail Girman subbed in for Baiano in the 200.
Individually, Poe and Berg earned WPIAL medals with fourth- and seventh-place finishes in the 500-yard freestyle. The pair are freshmen.
The Lady Lions also scored points with Berg in the 200 free (13th) and Annabelle MacAdams in the IM (11th) and breaststroke (13th).
For the SF boys, Michael Grimenstein finished 14th and 16th in the 200 and 500 free. Grimenstein helped the 400 free relay team to a 13th place finish. Derek Freidet, Ryan Miller and Garrett Fincke also participated in the relay.