Mar 10, 2021 3 min read

Name: Ella Menear

School: Mapletown

Sport: Swimming

Class: Sophomore

Menear’s week: The sophomore from Mapletown snapped a 34-year streak at the school without a WPIAL champion in any sport by winning two events in the WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championships held at Upper St. Clair High School’s natatorium last Saturday.

Menear won two gold medals and set a pair of pool records in the process. Meaner crossed in 2:04.54 to win the championship in the 200-yard individual medley. She swam a 54.58 to win the 100 backstroke.

The two victories earned Menear an automatic berth in the PIAA Championships set for March 19-20 at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg.

Menear is the first Mapletown athlete to win a WPIAL title since Jim Wilkins captured the 119-pound title in the 1987 Class AA Wrestling Championships. Wilkins is one of four WPIAL wrestling champions from Mapletown. The other three are Chris Homistek, who won the 185-pound Class AA title in 1983 and 1984; and Ben Cree, who won the 154-pound Class AA championship in 1955.

“I knew I had a good chance, looking at the times,” said Menear, who swims as an independent because Mapletown has no pool or team.

Menear said winning gold medals is not the goal, but lowering her times is most important. Of course, one follows the other.

Menear is trained by her mother, Christy, who has been in the pool with Ella and her two brothers since what seems like forever.

“I noticed Ellen was a good swimmer when she was fairly young,” Christy Menear said. “I grew up near the community pool and I wanted our children to respect and love the water. Ellen just sort of took off.”

No pool: Mapletown does not have a pool in which Menear can train so she belongs to a swimming club in Morgantown, W.Va., about a 20-minute drive from her home. She used the pool at Laurel Highlands High School to gather the times she needed to qualify for the WPIAL Championships. She was given a lane to use at LH home meets.

“I don’t go to Laurel Highlands to practice,” Menear said. “I just go there for meets. My mom did some research and that’s how we found the Morgantown club.”

Menear wants to attend a college down south – Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., has the early lead – and she would like to get into the medical field, possibly physical therapy.

Menear loves to vacation at the beach – where else? – and Holden Beach in Brunswick County, N.C., is her favorite.

Compiled by Joe Tuscano