SV Swimmers Make a Splash at WPIAL Championships

The Seneca Valley girls swimming team hit the water fast on the final day of the WPIAL Class AAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool.

In the first event off the blocks Friday during the last day of competition, Raiders senior Makena Lynch captured the bronze medal for her third-place finish in the 100 freestyle. Lynch finished in 52.82 seconds after hitting her 50-yard split in 25.15.

Pine-Richland sophomore Katie Miller finished tenth in the same event in 53.57, and junior Alicia Zilka added a 19^th place in 56.97.

Seneca Valley’s boys weren’t far behind, as senior Anthony Geyer nailed down tenth place in the boys 100 freestyle with a 48.68 time, and junior Matt Myers took 21^st place at 50.41.

In the team championship, the Seneca Valley boys team finished tenth with 93 points. Upper St. Clair racked up 295.5 points and won its first AAA title since 1973.

The Rams girls finished 11^th with 97 points. No team came within 100 points of North Allegheny, which won its third straight team title with 393 points.

The Seneca Valley girls entered the competition with a 13-point boost in the team scoring due to senior Jennifer Suder’s sixth-place finish in the diving competition held last weekend at Pine-Richland High School. Suder finished with 269.35 points following her six dives.

Seneca Valley senior Dylan Bilka finished 16^th in the diving competition and tacked a point onto the boys team score with his 255.95 total.

Also in Friday’s competition at Pitt, Seneca Valley edged rival Pine-Richland by less than a second to finish ninth in the girls 400 freestyle relay. Lynch, senior Stephanie Ciraula, Zilka and sophomore Katie Miller combined to finish in 3:37.19 for the Rams.

Raiders senior Stephanie Ciraula was 18^th in the 500 freestyle in 5:17.10, and in the 100 backstroke, Emily Thomas was 21^st in 1:03.50 and sophomore Sarah Ritchie took 34^th in 1:06.28.

Raiders senior Justin Pritchard landed sixth in the boys 100 breaststroke, and junior Nicholas Wargo placed 22^nd in the boys 100 backstroke in 58.96. Wargo also finished 23^rd in the 200 IM in 2:07.06.

Seneca Valley ended the championships in the boys 400 freestyle relay with a solid eighth-place as Geyer, Pritchard, Wargo and Myers combined for a 3:18.25 finish.

During Thursday’s opening round, the Seneca Valley girls 200 freestyle relay team finished eighth as Lynch, senior Stephanie Ciraula, Zilka and Miller finished in 1:39.90. Zilka also took 25^th in 1:59.66 in the 200 freestyle, and sophomore Kaitly Burkett was 33^rd in 2:20.82 in the 200 individual medley.

Lynch added a highly-competitive sixth-place finish in the girls 50 freestyle in 24.29.

Geyer produced a strong fifth-place finish in the boys 200 freestyle in 1:46.54 but, like Lynch, he will have to wait until Sunday to determine if his time was low enough to qualify for the PIAA championships later this month.

Pritchard earned 14 team points for his fifth-place finish in the boys 50 freestyle by closing in 21.96. Sophomore Ryan Cwik placed 17^th in the 100 butterfly in 56.76.

The Seneca Valley boys 200 freestyle relay turned in a 1:29.09 as Geyer, Pritchard, Wargo and Myers combined to finish eighth.