Fox Chapel freshmen make huge splash at WPIAL swim meet

By: Michael Love


Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 7:45 PM

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Ellie Lange and Delaney O’Toole didn’t let the strain of their first WPIAL swimming championship overtake them.

In truth, the Fox Chapel freshmen thrived.

Lange and O’Toole gained Class 3A titles of their particular person swims Thursday and in addition helped the 200-yard medley relay crew seize gold.

Lange outdistanced the sphere within the ladies 200 particular person medley with a successful time of two minutes, 3.33 seconds.

“It was just a great experience to start (the meet) off in such a positive way (in the 200 medley relay), and that definitely helped me in my swim,” Lange stated. “The energy was really great, and I just focused on doing the best I could do. I hadn’t dropped that much time in a while. There was such great competition, so I was really excited.”

Then it was O’Toole’s flip within the 50 freestyle. She sprinted to first in a time of twenty-two.97. A brand new 50 free champion was assured with the commencement of four-time champ and WPIAL report holder (22.57) Sylvia Roy from Mt. Lebanon.

“Knowing the atmosphere and how everyone was doing with our points, everyone was doing great,” O’Toole stated. “We were well-prepared. It was exciting to see everyone do so well. I just focused on myself and my own race. At the end of the day, you just want to (swim) the best you can.”

The 200 medley relay of Lange, O’Toole and juniors Cameryn Brindza and Josie Stanczak kicked off Thursday’s Class 3A session with a bang. The Foxes captured the WPIAL title in a time of 1:43.94 and in addition ended North Allegheny’s three-year maintain on gold within the occasion.

The Tigers got here in second (1:44.82).

“It is such a great feeling to win (a WPIAL title), especially a relay because you are doing it with your closest friends,” stated Stanczak, who later would end fourth within the 100 butterfly (56.86). “When Delany hit the wall, it was so exciting. We all just started hugging and high fiving. It was honestly the best feeling.”

Foxes junior Charlotte Rusche adopted the relay with a runner-up end within the 200 free (1:51.93). North Allegheny’s Claire Bacu, second final yr within the 200 free to Fox Chapel grad Sarah Pasquella, captured the title in a time of 1:50.13.

“I swam Claire since my freshman year in both the 200 free and 500 free, and it’s definitely familiar,” Rusche stated. “Going against her, it makes me want it more every time. She is so good. It was just a good, competitive swim. It was a good swim for me. It’s the fastest I’ve been in a year.”

The Foxes had three swimmers within the remaining 200 free warmth with sophomores Maren Shelkey-Bray and Nico Ressler ending fifth and sixth, respectively.

North Allegheny returned the favor within the ladies 200 free relay because the Tigers (1:35.49) edged the Fox Chapel quartet of Stancak, Rusche, sophomore Tuuli Airik, and junior Norah Kovach (1:36.66) for the title.

The Foxes got here in because the No. 1 seed.

The Fox Chapel ladies, with their three first-place finishes main the best way, completed Day 1 with 206 crew factors, second to North Allegheny’s 279.

In all, Alle-Kiski Valley swimmers introduced residence quite a few medals.

The Plum ladies 200 free relay of sophomore Olivia Miller and seniors Elle Irwin, Charlotte Faust and Delaney Hunsinger had one of many greater time drops within the occasion, knocking virtually 4 seconds off their seed time to maneuver up from tenth to fourth place in 1:40.45.

Fox Chapel senior Arman Alborzi additionally made a giant soar from the 14th seed within the boys 100 fly to sixth. He dropped 3 seconds to complete in a time of 52.18, a second behind sophomore teammate Nathan Agens, who landed in fifth (51.20).

Only the champion in every occasion at WPIALs earns an computerized bid to the PIAA championships set for March 11-14 at Bucknell. The remaining at-large entries shall be decided primarily based off of instances at every district or regional meet.

Class 2A

Knoch senior Adrian Lavorini had hopes to maneuver up within the 200 IM on Day 1 of WPIALs on Thursday, each from a fourth seed coming in and in addition from final yr’s third-place end.

He was capable of put a test in each containers.

Lavorini raced to second within the 200 IM with a personal-best time of 1:54.77. He went 1:54.84 final yr when he took third behind Northgate’s Sam Cavanaugh and Mt. Pleasant graduate Joseph Gardner.

Cavanaugh took residence his second gold medal with a time of 1:50.77.

“I have definitely improved a lot (in the 200 IM),” Lavorini stated. “I still need to work on my backstroke splits, but all my other splits have gone a lot faster. I really enjoy the 200 IM. I was just looking for a better time than last year.”

Lavorini is the fourth seed for Friday’s 100 breaststroke.

Junior Jacob Ruediger swam a 1:57.31 to win the second-to-last warmth of the 200 IM and put strain on these within the remaining warmth. He ended up quicker than three within the remaining warmth, and he bumped as much as sixth place and joined Lavorini on the medals podium.

Lavorini and Ruediger helped the Knoch boys 200 medley relay, which additionally included sophomore Brady Bleicher and senior Aedan Smith, rise from the eighth seed to 3rd. The quartet dropped precisely 5 seconds from their seed time to 1:40.72.

“I was very surprised,” Lavorini stated. “I knew we would drop a lot of time from our seed time. The atmosphere of being here at Pitt, I knew as a team we would go faster. Brady had his best time, I had my best time, Aedan had his best time, and so did Jake. And we were close to the team record.”

Swimming continues Friday with the second Class 3A session beginning at 9:45 a.m. and Class 2A to comply with at 3 p.m. Champions shall be topped within the 100 free, 500 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 free relay.

Michael Love is a TribReside reporter protecting sports activities within the Alle-Kiski Valley and the japanese suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending 5 years on the Clearfield Progress. He will be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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