Riverside Finishes 7th In WPIAL Swimming Championships, Roth Earns Two Silver Medals

Panther swimmers Peter Ruggeri, Nick Young, Nathan Goff, Gavin Frederick, Michael Styn, Ryan Turner, and Joseph Roth represented Riverside High School this past weekend at the WPIAL Class 2A Swimming Championships.

Riverside placed 7th overall with a combined total of 126 points after two days of competition in the championships held at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool on February 29th and March 1st.

“Our boys fell short of some of the goals we had set our sights on this season,” said coach Alaina Marshall afterwards.

Senior Joseph Roth placed second in the 50-yard Freestyle (21.15) and the 100-yard Backstroke (49.41) to help pace the Panthers team.

Seniors Ryan Turner and Joseph Roth

Junior Luke Lamb of North Catholic bested Roth in both events including setting a new WPIAL record mark in the boys 100 backstroke with a time of 48.68. Lamb bested Roth’s record time (49.40) set just last year.

“Roth may have placed second in his two individual events, but we now have our eyes set on the PIAA State Competition taking place next week and we have 10 days to fine-tune the little things that will make a huge difference at the state level,” says Marshall.

Riverside finished third in the 200-yard Freestyle relay (Turner, Ruggeri, Styn, Roth) and fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay (Turner, Frederick, Styn, Roth) while Ryan Turner placed 6th in the 50-yard Freestyle and 9th in the 100-yard Freestyle events.

Indiana Area took first place overall with a team score of 302 points over the two days.

Marshall points out that one major takeaway from the meet is athletes competing at the WPIAL Championship continue to get faster and shatter expectations every year.

“Our district has incredibly talented and hardworking swimmers across the board and as a coach, I’m always left amazed at what these young athletes are capable of.”

Seniors Joseph Roth and Ryan Turner will be returning to the PIAA State Competition once again in both individual events and among two relays.

Roth will be returning in the 50-yard Freestyle and 100-yard Backstroke while Turner will also be competing in the 50-yard Freestyle and 100-yard Freestyle.

They will also be core members of the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relays along with teammates Michael Styn, Gavin Frederick, and Peter Ruggeri.

The PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships will be conducted on Wednesday, March 13th through Saturday, March 16, in Kinney Natatorium, located on the campus of Bucknell University. [TICKET INFORMATION]