PIAA Class 2A swimming championships: Freeport’s Kira Schrecongost earns gold in 100 fly
Kira Schrecongost knew what she had in the tank entering the 100-yard butterfly at the PIAA Class 2A girls swimming championships on Wednesday. By finishing the event in 54.96 seconds, she became Freeport’s first-ever state gold medalist swimmer.
Schrecongost, a senior, had a longtime goal of reaching 54 seconds in the event. She’d inched closer to the mark before hitting it at the WPIAL championship meet. That effort encouraged her heading into Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that is so doable now,’” Schrecongost said. “And then, tonight, I went 54 again, so I was super happy with that. ... I was at 56s the whole season pretty much. I was like, ‘What the heck.’ But, I knew I had a lot to give at the end of the season, for sure.”
Schrecongost knew what the stage would be like.
“It’s actually kind of been funny,” said Schrecongost, who will continue her career in the pool at Duquesne. “Like, the past two years, I was third at my sophomore year, second my junior year. I was hoping for something better this year.”
Schrecongost said her adrenaline gets high at title meets, but she doesn’t allow it to lead to nerves. Any tension, she said, can change an outcome, so she does her best to stay within herself.
Hampton’s Lainey Sheets finished second (55.66). Trinity’s Paige Scott was third (57.59). Schrecongost’s sophomore younger sister, Kasey, had a fourth-place finish with 57.93 seconds. Slippery Rock senior Mollie Massella touched the wall sixth (58.90) and was also a medalist.
Entering the day, Kira wasn’t really worried about anybody else’s times, saying, “I try to, like, block out those in a way where I’m like, ‘Okay, yeah, this girl went that time, but I know I’m here to swim for myself, not worry about what someone else is going.”
It’s not like she had much time to, either. Along with the 100 fly, she swam in the 200 medley relay and 200 IM in the morning preliminaries and finals, too.
“She had to swim six times,” said Sheryl Schrecongost, Freeport’s coach and Kira’s mother. “That’s a pretty hefty load. She has the endurance to do that and to undertake it, and I just think the excitement, the adrenaline, it definitely helps push her along.”
Kira wanted to get out to an advantageous start in the 100 fly.
“I knew I had to take it out fast for my first 50 (yards),” Schrecongost said. “I split, like, a 25.6, I believe, on my first 50. That’s really fast for me. I just knew I had to keep going. I just had to work on my underwaters a lot in that race. ... The last 25, I think I took, like, three breaths and I just pulled the rest of the way.”
PIAA Class 2A Swimming Championships Results
Local Medalists
Girls
200 medley relay: 3-Freeport (Rylee Freshcorn, Kira Schrecongost, Kasey Schrecongost, Mary Anne Altman) 1:48.08
200 IM: 5-Kira Schrecongost (F) 2:06.87, 7-Giona Lavorini (K) 2:07.92
100 fly: 1-Kira Schrecongots (F) 54.96, 4-Kasey Schrecongost (F) 57.93, 6-Mollie Massella (SR) 58.90
