Fox Chapel junior’s best time good for 2nd to North Allegheny star at PIAA swim meet

By: Michael Love
Thursday, March 14, 2024 | 10:42 PM

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Fox Chapel junior Sarah Pasquella entered the finals of the girls Class 3A 100-yard breaststroke Thursday evening at Bucknell University as the second seed to North Allegheny’s Natalie Sens.

Hoping to add a state title to her portfolio of accomplished swims, Pasquella swam to an all-time best in the finals of 1 minute, 1.80 seconds.

Her time was fast, but Sens was just a little faster.

Sens, in her final individual swim at the PIAA championships, captured the state title in a time of 1:01.48.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way I swam and the time that I got,” Pasquella said. “I came in here hoping to get a summer nationals cut, and I did that in the prelims (1:02.33). Another time drop today, and that is just a huge deal for me.”

Sens and Pasquella came in as the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds, respectively, after finishing 1-2 at the WPIAL championships March 1 at Pitt’s Trees Pool.

“Natalie is such an amazing swimmer,” Pasquella said. “She always pushes me when we race each other. It was her last race at states, and I am so happy for her.”

Pasquella was right back in the pool for the 400 free relay with teammates Grace Kovach, Josephine Stanczak and Charlotte Rusche. The quartet entered the finals as the fifth seed after adding just over four seconds in their prelim swim Thursday morning.

But they still made the finals with a chance to go faster and they did just that with a time of 3:31.39 for fifth place overall.

Fox Chapel junior Christian Dantey headed home from the state championships with a pair of medals.

On Wednesday, he swam a 1:40.01 to take fourth in the 200 free.

Dantey added a sixth in the 100 breast with a time of 56.71. The time was slightly elevated from his prelim swim of 56.59, but both efforts were better than his time of 57.43 he recorded at the WPIAL championships March 1 at Pitt’s Trees Pool.

“Right now, it is all about comeback speed,” Dantey said. “In both my (finals) swims in the 200 and 100 breast, I got out faster than I ever have, but coming back was a little slower than my best time. It comes down to focusing on coming back fast in all of those times in practice we work on endurance in the 100 and 200 and to build that stamina for those races.

“With the 100 breast, I had been just over that 57 mark for some time, so I am really thankful to be able to drop under that.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Fox Chapel