PIAA girls swimming: Meet the Top 9 swimmers to watch in Butler County
There will be a lot of strong girls talent diving back in Butler County pools during the upcoming high school season.
From a Division I commit to two pairs of sisters who will take on leadership roles and have made district championship meets for their teams, there will be a lot for pool-goers to keep tabs on as the season unfolds.
Here’s a look at some of the top competitors in the pool to watch this season, listed alphabetically:
Along with swimming in the WPIAL’s 200-yard individual medley, Bookwalter was the youngest swimmer on the Raiders’ 200 medley relay team that finished third in the district in their classification.
Bookwalter also placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke, less than two seconds behind the winner.
“She’s really passionate about breaststroke, so she takes it really seriously during practice,” Raiders coach Brian Blackwell said. “She’s looking to get down closer underneath that 1:04 range.”
FaJohn was Distict 10 Class 2A’s runner-up in the 100 freestyle last season. She also anchored the Rockets’ 400 freestyle relay, which won the title at that championship meet.
Along with Mollie Massella, FaJohn is one of two returners for Slippery Rock who reached states in individual events last season.
Lavorini, a recent University of Pittsburgh commit, is the reigning 100 breaststroke champion in WPIAL Class 2A and won the state title in 1:02.11.
“She is, I think, a half-second off an Olympic trial qualifying time,” Knights coach Allison Springer said.
Lavorini finished third in the district in the 200 IM last year, as well. On top of that, she was part of the Knights’ district-qualifying 200 medley relay and anchored the team’s 200 freestyle relay.
Myers did it all for the Raiders at last year’s WPIAL championships.
She was the lead swimmer on their 200 freestyle relay and anchored the 400 freestyle quartet. Along with that, she medaled individually in the 50 and 100 freestyles.
“Sasha is a big one on sprinting,” Blackwell said. “She really enjoys fast action in the 100 free and 50 free. ... She really likes to race.”
With a time of 59.49 seconds, Schrecongost finished third in the 100 backstroke at last winter’s WPIAL Class 2A championships.
“(She’s) looking to be more confident in her swims and hopefully have more success at WPIALs than she did last year,” Yellowjackets coach Sheryl Schrecongost said. “I feel that she got a taste of what it was like in that atmosphere.”
Schrecongost is the second-fastest returning 100 butterfly swimmer in the state. With a time of 55.87 seconds, she was second only to Bedford Area’s Leah Shackley (50.29) at last season’s PIAA Class 2A championships.
Hatboro-Horsham senior Annie Jia, a University of California commit, was the state champion in the upper classification with a time of 51.26.
Schrecongost will defend her WPIAL crown in that event, having posted a time of 55.37 a season ago.
Vance is the engine that powers the Golden Tornado.
“For our team, she’s definitely the heart of it,” Butler coach Troy Kroll said. “She’s our anchor on our relays. She loves to reel people in.”
She served in that position in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays at the WPIAL championships last year, while also swimming the 100 and 200 freestyle events there.
Vance was part of the Golden Tornado’s district-qualifying 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. She also competed in the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly at the WPIAL meet.
“She takes things and tries to perfect them — stroke counts, turns, crossover turns,” Kroll said.
As a freshman, Walewski met the mark to swim in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke at the WPIAL championsips. She was also the youngest member of her team’s 200 freestyle relay quartet at that meet.
“Liv has the potential to maybe swim at states in the 100 back,” Springer said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed and working hard for that.”
