RHS Swimmers Place Well at WPIALs, Several Advance to PIAA State Meet

 

 Riverside High School was well represented at the 2017 Class AA WPIAL Swimming and Diving Championships held March 2 and 3 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Hall.  Nine swimmers qualified in one of three relays and several individual events.

 

The girls’ 200 yard freestyle relay included senior Erica King, junior Bre Finch, and freshmen Leah Frederick and McKenna Hoyman.  RHS placed 12th in a field of 21 relays, also registering a best time of 1:46.12 almost two seconds faster than their seed time.  The girls’ 400 freestyle relay was swum by King, Finch, Hoyman and freshman Abbie Kline.  Their time of 3:53.44 was nearly 6 seconds faster than their previous time and gave them an 11th place finish for the meet.

 

Erica King also qualified in two individual events: the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle.  King placed 3rd in the 200 free, earning a berth to the state meet, with a time of 1:54.01. In the 500 free, Erica earned the silver medal for her 2nd place finish with a time of 5:07.05.  Erica is no stranger to the state meet, participating in events all four years of her high school career.  Erica will continue her swimming carrier in college, having already committed to the team at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

 

RHS boys also sent two relays to the WPIAL meet. Both the 200 yard medley relay and the 200 yard freestyle relay were swum by juniors Dean Kralic and Dylan Griffith, sophomore Donnie Paracca and freshman Josiah Shaffer.  The boys’ medley finish time of 1:40.77 was nearly 4 seconds faster than their seed time, earned them 4th place medals, and qualified them for the state meet. The boys also posted a best time of 1:33.00 in the 200 free relay which placed them 7th overall in that event.

 

Kralic swam two individual events: 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle. His 4th place finish in the butterfly qualified him for the state meet with a personal best time of 52.56 seconds.  He placed 10th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.38. Paracca also swam in the 100 freestyle, finishing 13th with a time of 51.07.  Paracca competed in the 50 freestyle event, posting a time of 22.60 and taking 9th place overall. Griffith participated in the 100 breaststroke event and took 19th place with a personal best time of 1:04.98.  Shaffer qualified to compete in two individual events: 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke.  He finished 17^th and 10^th respectively, with personal best times of 2:10.56 for the IM and 59.11 in backstroke.

 

The 2017 Class AA PIAA State Meet will be held March 15-18 at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA.  Senior Erica King is seeded in 7^th place for both the Women’s 200 Freestyle and the Women’s 500 Freestyle events.  Junior Dean Kralic is seeded in 11^th place for the Men’s 100 butterfly event.  RHS Men’s Medley Relay team: Josiah Shaffer (freshman)-backstroke, Dylan Griffith (junior)-breaststroke, Kralic-butterfly and Donnie Paracca (sophomore)-freestyle is seeded 16^th.  Coverage of the state meet will be broadcast on the PCN channel and livestreamed on PCNtv.com