Shahan wins state gold

By Dean Dellamalva Jr.

MVI Sports

The Belle Vernon swimming team had a record setting night at the PIAA meet Friday at Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanincsburg.

The Leopards finished tied for fifth with Cathedral Prep at 109 points, just 33.5 points behind the team state champions from Bishop McDevitt. The Leps had the third most points of WPIAL teams behind Riverside (137) and Hampton (122).

It was another dominant day for BVA’s Ian Shahan, who is headed to Army-West Point after graduation. The senior brought home two gold medals in the 50 free and 100 fly. The victories give him six individual PIAA gold medals. He was also named the 2021 Swimmer of the Meet.

“It was really, really nice. You could not have asked for a better day the way it played out,” Shahan said about his and the team’s performance. “We were really happy and are very excited with our finish.”

In the 50 free, Shahan had to overcome the best in the state as well as Neshannock’s Conner McBeth, who tied Shahan for gold at the WPIAL finals just weeks ago. Shahan did just that and also set a new school and PIAA meet record with a time of 20.00. He beat the prior record by 0.45 seconds and edged McBeth by 0.26 seconds.

“Conner is such a great swimmer and a good guy as well. I love swimming against him,” Shahan said. “These past four years have been really enjoyable.”

The very next event was the 100 fly and Shahan once again was the fastest with a time of 48.33. It was another school record and his second straight state championship. He cleared the field by nearly two seconds.

“I really liked the pool today; I liked the lanes, the blocks and the walls,” Shahan said. “Everything came together, making a pristine, fast pool.”

As if that was not enough, Shahan and teammates Garrett Ursiny, Cody Danto and Sam West set another school record in the 200 free relay. Their time was 1:27.83 and was good enough for fifth place. Shahan’s leg of the relay came in at 19.86 seconds, which was even faster than his 50 free time. The time even caught Shahan off guard.

“I was really impressed with myself coming off two swims back to back and being able to do that,” Shahan said.

To read the rest of the story, please see a copy of Saturday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at http://monvalleyindependent.com.