Iwanonkiw owns top seed for MAC diving championships

 Michael Love

Monday, February 4, 2019 | 2:54 PM

Quaker Valley sophomore Simon Iwanonkiw is the top seed for the boys diving competition at the Midwestern Athletic Conference Championships on Friday at 4 p.m. at Moon High School.

Several members of the Quaker Valley/Sewickley Academy combined teams will be in action both days and join competitors representing Montour, West Allegheny, Beaver, Beaver Falls, Carlynton, Cornell, Central Valley, Riverside, Mars, Hopewell, Blackhawk, Neshannock, New Castle, Mohawk and Ambridge.

Saturday’s swimming begins at 10:30 a.m.

Freshman Isabel Huang is seeded fourth in the girls 200-yard individual medley.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

By: Karen Kadilak
Friday, January 4, 2019 | 7:06 PM

Shorthanded because of the holidays, the Quaker Valley boys and girls swimming teams struggled at the West Allegheny invitational meet Dec. 28-29, but there were bright spots.

“We had many great swims and dives,” first-year coach Alexis Glenn said.

Among girls, junior Annie Hrabovsky placed fourth in 1-meter diving and qualified for the WPIAL Class AA championship with a score of 193.10.

Sophomore Halle Wagner came in fourth in the 50-yard freestyle (26.79 seconds) and fifth in the 100 freestyle (58.45), making the WPIAL qualifying cut in the 100 freestyle.

The 200 freestyle relay team of freshman Amanda Kerrish, senior Megan Harkins, freshman Rebecca Glass and Wagner (1 minute, 51.83 seconds) came in seventh in a WPIAL qualifying time. The 400 freestyle relay team of Harkins, freshman Anna Cohen and seniors Erin Glas and Amber Huang (4:44.74) placed eighth.

Making Midwestern Athletic Conference championship qualifying cuts individually were Glas, Huang, Kerrish, Glass and Harkins.

The Quakers finished seventh of nine.

Harkins, whose brother, Harry, is a former standout on the boys team, liked that the meet included some Class AAA squads.

“We get to compete against some really fast swimmers,” she said. “Being one of the only seniors at the meet, I definitely felt pressure to do well individually and contribute to our relays.

“Everyone felt pressured to do their best and try their hardest. We had a lot of personal bests and MAC qualifiers, which is really impressive for this time of the season.”

Cohen, who is new to swimming, said it was cool to watch high-level athletes, and Huang said it was a good way to see where she was at this point in the season.

Glass said the meet reminded her of a USA Swimming club competition.

“In club swimming, the focus is on the individual events,” she said. “In high school swimming, it is all about competing with the other team.

“Because I have been at so many club meets, I know to just swim my best every time.”

On the boys side, sophomore Simon Iwanonkiw (221.80) placed third in 1-meter diving with a mark that would qualify him for the WPIAL Class AAA championship.

“This was not Simon’s best meet, but he still did extremely well,” Glenn said.

Freshman Ethan Albright, one of only two swimmers for the Quakers, posted personal bests in the 50 freestyle (35.83) and the 100 breaststroke (1:53.05).

The girls (3-0 in Section 2-AA) and the boys (1-2 in the section), both part of a cooperative sponsorship with Sewickley Academy, returned to action Jan. 3 at Montour. The girls earned a 93-64 win, while the boys lost 102-62.

By: Michael Love
Thursday, January 3, 2019 | 6:57 PM

The WPIAL recently released a list of the top swim times from December dual meets, and a number of freshmen have crashed the party and posted leading performances.

Quaker Valley’s Isabel Huang recorded the top 100-yard backstroke time in girls Class AA with a 1:00.51 in a dual meet against Beaver on Dec. 20.

Three of the top five in the event are freshmen, with Elizabeth Forward’s Hailey Yurkovich (1:02.20) and Laurel Highlands’ Elizabeth Thomas (1:02.41) in the mix.

Riverside’s Alexander Roth checks in with the No. 1 time in the 200 individual medley (2:05.15), fourth in the 100 butterfly (56.43) and third in both the 200 freestyle (1:53.98) and 500 free (5:04.53) for boys Class AA.

In Class AAA, Fox Chapel’s Zoe Skirboll established herself in second in the 50 free (23.99) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.82) and third in the 100 fly (57.48) and 200 IM (2:06.40).

Dual meets have resumed after the holiday break and times are expected to go lower before the end of the regular season the second week of February.

The WPIAL championships will be Feb. 26-29, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.

By: Michael Love
Thursday, December 13, 2018 | 10:30 AM

The Quaker Valley/Sewickley Academy co-op boys and girls swimming and diving teams begin their 2018-19 seasons Thursday with a Section 2-AA meet against Beaver Falls at 4 p.m. at the Sewickley Valley YMCA.

It will be the first chance to post WPIAL individual and relay qualifying marks. The swimming and diving qualifying standards, as well as other items of information for this season, are posted at wpial.org/wp-content/themes/wpial/images/wpial_pdfs/18-19-swim-cvr.pdf.

The WPIAL AA diving championships will be Feb. 22 at South Park High School, and the AA swimming championships will be the week of Feb. 25 at Trees Pool on the University of Pittsburgh campus.

The PIAA meet is March 13 to 16 at Bucknell University.

Quakers to meet New Castle

The Quaker Valley girls basketball team kicks off Section 2-4A play Thursday evening at home against New Castle.

The game is set for 7:30, and the Quakers (1-2) hope to bounce back from Monday’s close 46-44 nonsection loss to Moon.

It is the first of three straight home games for QV.

New Castle, which won its own tournament last Friday and Saturday, also is hoping to rebound after suffering a loss to Seneca Valley in nonsection play Monday.

Panthers to tangle with Royals

The Sewickley Academy girls basketball team, like Quaker Valley, felt the sting of a two-point loss in nonsection play Monday with a 48-46 setback at Riverside.

The Panthers (2-1) are looking for better things Thursday when they open Section 1-1A action at Vincentian Academy.

Sewickley Academy is in the midst of a streak of four straight games on the road.

The Royals have lost two of three to start the season, and they hope to get back on the winning track after falling to Beaver Area in a nonsection game Monday.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.