The only thing that shined brighter than Sam Cavanaugh’s two Silver Medals was his dazzling overall performance this week. Sam captured four medals, the maximum possible, at the PIAA 2A Swimming Championships, Bucknell University. Plus, with a time of 47.47 seconds in the first leg of a relay, he even broke the Northgate-Avonworth team record in the 100 Freestyle, previously held by the legendary Zach Schuster. Sam’s silvers included the 200 Individual Medley (IM) and the 500 Freestyle, where he nabbed second in a wild, three-swimmer dead heat in the 20th and final length of the pool.
While Sam shone brightly, there was plenty of Northgate luster to go around, lighting the way for another impressive PIAAs showing by our swim team. Our fabulous freshmen contingent of Greyson McKelvey, JoAnn Cook, Addison Hase and Bridget Campbell sparkled throughout, with Greyson grabbing three medals and JoAnn two.
The boys’ squad nailed 6th place overall out of 59 boys’ teams, just ahead of Section 3 rivals Hampton and Shadyside Academy. Amazingly, five of the top eight boys’ teams were from the WPIAL, which simply dominated the competition at States. Our girls came in 17th place out of 57 teams, ahead of section rival Knock and neighbor Quaker Valley. In all, our swimmers mounted the podium seven times to accept medals. Every single one of our swimmers either medaled in the Finals or placed in the Consolation Finals. And Greyson McKelvey won the 500 Free in the Consolation Finals by nearly 4 seconds!
“What a meet!!!” wrote Head Coach Ashley Vranick afterwards to the team and parents. “I am so proud of this group. They should be proud of themselves, and it was a perfect way to end a great season.”
Complete List of Medal Winners
Silver Medal: 200 IM, Sam Cavanaugh, 1:50.61
Silver Medal: 500 Free, Sam Cavanaugh, 4:34.52
5th Place Medal: 200 Free, Greyson McKelvey, 1:43.34
5th Place Medal: 200 Medley Relay, 1:38.29. Greyson McKelvey, Sam Cavanaugh, Jakob Vranick, Nate Campbell
5th Place Medal: 400 Free Relay, 3:15.94. Sam Cavanaugh, Caleb Gratner, Jakob Vranick, Greyson McKelvey
7th Place Medal: 100 Back, JoAnn Cook, 56.95
8th Place Medal: 200 Free, JoAnn Cook, 1:57.17