Villa Maria Girls, Cathedral Prep Boys Claim PIAA 2A State Crowns

2019 Pennsylvania Class 2A Boys & Girls State Championships

• March 13th-14th, 2019
• Bucknell University, PA
• Short Course Yards, Prelims-Finals
• Results Listings

The 2019 PIAA Class 2A State Championship Meet took place over the course of two days, with the prelims and finals of the 200 medley relay through the 100 fly (with the addition of the 200 free relay) taking place on Wednesday, while the rest of the events were contested on Thursday.

Villa Maria Academy came into the meet as the eight-time defending state champions on the girls side, and Lower Moreland was the team to beat on the boys side.

Note: There are two high schools named Villa Maria in Pennsylvania 2A swimming – the defending state champion is Villa Maria Academy, while the other team will be referred to as Villa Maria (Erie).

Girls Meet

To usurp their similarly-named counterpart, the Villa Maria (Erie) girls won the PIAA 2A State Championship with a final score of 178 to out-place Schuylkill Valley’s 141 points – while only winning a single event on the way. Villa Maria Academy, on the other hand, finished 16th in the team race.

Villa Maria (Erie)’s sole victory came in the 200 medley relay, where the team of Bella Argesti, Jasmine Chen, Megan Maholic and Sydney Sherman recorded a final time of 1:44.31 to take the event by almost two seconds.

Seniors Karen Siddoway of Northgate and Kate Luft of Northern York went 1-2 in the 200 free and were the only competitors to break 1:50, registering times of 1:49.08 and 1:49.15.

Siddoway would later double up in wins with a victory in the 100 free, touching the wall at 50.36. Luft, on the other hand, would take an individual victory of her own in the 100 back, hitting the pad at 54.45.

Emma Wilson from Grove City capped off her senior year with a state title in the 50 free, touching the wall in a time of 23.13.

Abby Doss, a junior representing Shamokin, won the 200 IM in a time of 2:01.39, as well as claimed the top spot in the 500 free with her 4:52.09 – over seven seconds ahead of the runner-up time.

The Fairview girls’s fifth place team finish was largely due to their dominance across the two freestyle relays. The quartet of Halle Myers, Grace Buege, Grace Kocjancic and Ellie Kraus took the 200 free relay in a time of 1:36.59 on the first night, then followed up with a two second win in the 400 free relay with a 3:30.79.

Other Event Winners:

• Springfield’s Mara Fleuhr won the 100 back in a time of 55.69, and was the only competitor under 56 seconds.
• Annie O’Dare out of Gwynedd Mercy finished her high school career as the state champion in the 100 breast, hitting the wall at 1:01.80.
• Ringgold’s Anna Vogt claimed the top spot in the 1m diving event, racking up a final score of 421.10.

Top 5 Teams:

1. Villa Maria (Erie) – 178
2. Schuylkill Valley – 141
3. Gwynedd Mercy – 129.5
4. Scranton Prep – 123
5. Fairview – 122

Boys Meet

After losing a tight team race to Lower Moreland at last year’s state meet – by a margin of less than 15 points – Cathedral Prep took the team title in commanding fashion, winning by 60 points.

The Cathedral Prep Ramblers kicked off their state meet campaign with a win in the 200 medley relay. The team of Ethan Neff, John Paul Stark, Robbie Maholic and Grant Brown reached the wall in a final time of 1:34.42, winning by over two seconds.

With a photo finish to cap it off, Clearfield junior Luke Mikesell took the first individual event, the 200 free, in a state record time of 1:38.31. His time erases Trevor Scheid’s 11 year old record of 1:38.35, and narrowly beat out Bishop McDevitt senior Josiah Lauver, who touched right behind at 1:38.51.

Danny Berlitz, a senior out of Marian Catholic, destroyed the field in the 200 IM, posting a time of 1:47.58 to top the field by almost seven seconds.

The next day, Berlitz doubled up in the 500 free en route to break Scheid’s state record of 4:24.42 from the same year as his 200 free record, stopping the clock at 4:24.07.

In a double made significantly easier by the two day even split-up, sophomore Ian Shahan clinched wins in the 100 fly, which he won by about a tenth over Donegal junior Jake Houck; and the 100 free in a time of 45.39.

Cathedral Prep won their second relay in the 200 free relay behind the efforts of Maholic, Stark, Gavin Ferry and Michael Rahner, who combined for a final time of 1:26.22.

Junior Ethan Neff secured the sole individual event victory for the Ramblers in the 100 back, claiming the event in a time of 51.02.

In the final race, Bishop McDevitt’s 400 free relay squad consisting of Patrick Hemingway, Jonah Hancock, Zack Miller and Josiah Lauver dominated the field by over four seconds with a final time of 3:08.89. Cathedral Prep’s squad got fifth in the race, though their team title had long been secured.

Other Event Winners:

• Huntingdon junior Nick Buckley narrowly out-touched Neshannock sophomore Conner McBeth to claim the 50 free title – the two posted times of 21.22 and 21.26, respectively.
• Robert Spekis out of Belle Vernon ended his senior year as a state champion in the 100 breast, clocking a 56.63 for the win.
• Kyle Maziarz, a junior representing North Catholic, tallied a final score of 447.55 to win the 1m diving event.

Top 5 Teams:

1. Cathedral Prep – 217
2. Lower Moreland – 157
3. Bishop McDevitt – 147.5
4. Belle Vernon – 126
5. Clearfield – 124.5