Title: Swim Team Continues Winning Tradition (In & Out of the Water)  

 

“Ability may get you to the top but it takes character to keep you there.”  – Coach John Wooden

 

The Northgate-Avonworth Swim & Dive team is steeped in a winning tradition. A wall covered with team banners at the pool showcases the many achievements of this co-op team over the years. This year’s boys and girls aim to continue this great legacy by staying atop their section, while going toe to toe with the best in Class AA of the WPIAL and PIAA. A string of recent victories by both squads points them in the right direction.

 

Head Coach is Ashley Vranick, who was assistant coach last season. Ashley was also a YMCA swim coach for over a decade, and she still competes in USA Masters Swimming with the Sewickley Y team. Long time coach of the Northgate-Avonworth Middle School Swim Team, Terry Benson, is new Assistant Coach this season. Returning as Strength & Conditioning Coach is Meghan Henigan.

 

The “Flame-a-lopes” opened the season at home with perhaps the toughest opponent in the state–Mt. Pleasant–stacked with a returning corps of champion swimmers. Their girls’ team took 1^st Place and their boys took 2^nd Place at the 2024 PIAA AA Championships (Northgate-Avonworth was 5^th and 3^rd, respectively). Although both of our teams fell to Mt. Pleasant, the narrower than expected winning margins earned the respect of the statewide powerhouse and their visiting fans. Boys L 76-94, Girls L 71-99.

 

Northgate-Avonworth bounced back immediately afterwards against neighboring rival Quaker Valley with solid wins for each squad. Boys W 91-57, Girls W 101-65.

 

On the heels of QV, our next opponent, Seneca Valley, a dominant AAA program, bested both of our teams, although again by respectable margins, with our boys coming within two points of the victors. SV’s contingent of divers provided extra points to their tallies, while our team has no divers this season to provide that helpful boost in score. Boys L 84-86, Girls L 73-95.

 

In the next meet, we split with Freeport Area. Our boys won decisively, while our girls fell to one of the top girls’ teams in Western PA, led by sisters Kira and Kasey Schrecongost. Boys W 121-38, Girls L 64-102.

 

After Freeport, our girls’ and boys’ teams hit the road to Cheswick and Cranberry, where we nailed consecutive victories over Deer Lakes (Boys W, Girls W) and Mars Area, another AAA program (Boys W 58-36, Girls W 55-38).

 

“We had a great meet today and had multiple people come up to us, letting us know how good our team is in and out of the water,” Coach Ashley texted to the team after the Deer Lakes win. “They were impressed with how well our swimmers support each other. I’m very proud of how well everyone swam today in a first-time event, off events, or just trying to get closer to their individual goals.”

The victory over Mars at Rose E. Schneider YMCA (RESY) earned our swimmers the celebratory treat that is a RESY tradition: Winners get to take turns shooting down the big poolside spiral slide! And that they did!

Keep posted for news on upcoming meets and more in-depth reporting on our swimmers’ best times, and our growing number of qualifying time cuts for the WPIAL Championships in March.

 

Come see our hardworking team! Our veteran swimmers are leading the way, but our large, capable Freshman contingent is turning heads and leaving big impressions in their wake.

 

Remaining Meets on Schedule

 

All HOME meets are at 6 pm at Northgate High School.

 

1/15/25     HOME vs Shady Side Academy

 

1/21/25     HOME vs South Park HS

 

1/30/25     AWAY vs Knoch HS (@ Butler HS)

 

2/4/25        AWAY vs Keystone Oaks HS

 

2/6/25        AWAY vs North Hills HS

 

2/10/25     HOME vs Highlands HS (Senior Night)

 

2/13/25     AWAY vs Hampton HS (last regular season meet)

 

2/27-28     WPIAL Championships

 

3/12-13      PIAA AA State Championships