Defending champion Warriors place fourth
By DEAN DELLAMALVA JR.
MVI Sports
Defending WPIAL Class 2A girls swimming champion Elizabeth Forward fell short in its effort to repeat at Saturday’s WPIAL champions, but the Warriors had another strong performance.
EF finished fourth with 175 points, 79 shy of champion Northgate and just 4.5 behind third-place Mt. Pleasant at the event at Upper St. Clair High School.
Thomas Jefferson placed 10th, Belle Vernon finished 12th and Ringgold and California tied for 19th.
A big boost to the Warriors was their performance in the 500 freestyle, in which they took second, third and fourth place. Junior Hailey Yurkovich was runner-up with a time of 5:10.01. Senior Natalie Glessner took third and sophomore Maddy McClain took fourth, both improving on their times by almost 4.5 seconds.
“(McClain) made WPIALs last year but did not perform quite as well, but she stepped up and landed in fourth, which was incredible,” EF coach Shawna Boden said. “(Yurkovich and Glessner) are always strong, they are very competitive; they never disappoint; they give 110% every time.”
That competitive drive is what has helped push the three swimmers to perform at such a high level in the 500. It helped them each take home four medals on the afternoon.
“We all really enjoy swimming that 500, it’s something we like to push each other in,” Glessner said. “With all three of us in it, it definitely gives us a push to want to do better. It brings up our team score as well, which I am definitely happy about.”
McClain also scored a fifth-place finish in the 200 individual medley.
Three local swimmers placed in the 200 free. Yurkovich and Glessner finished third and fourth. Delaney Patterson of Belle Vernon took home fifth place.
Patterson also scored a fourth-place finish in the 100 breast with a time of 1:09.35. It was the junior’s best showing at the event.
“Considering the season that we’ve had and everything that has gone on, I’m pretty happy with how I’ve recovered,” Patterson said. “We had a great year.”
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