Franklin Regional swim team hopes to add to medal haul at PIAAs

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, March 15, 2021 | 1:00 PM

Franklin Regional sent a number of swimmers to the medal stand at the WPIAL Class AAA Championships at Upper St. Clair.

“I am very happy with our results from WPIALs,” Panthers coach Victor Santoro said. “All three girls relays won medals.”

The girls 200-yard freestyle relay finished fifth, the 200-yard freestyle relay was sixth and three indviduals finished inside the top 10 in Madalyn Myers (6th, 200 freestyle) and Natalie Eiben (8th, 100 buterfly).

Santoro said Paityn Blakely posted her best time in the 100 breaststroke.

The boys, meanwhile, were primed for the finals and swam some of their fastest times of the season.

The 200 medley relay took fourth and did so in style, breaking a school record with a time of 1 minute, 35.98 seconds. The members are Holden Thomas, Aiden Bunker, Owen Holm and Max Wang.

Bunker was fourth in the 200 IM and also medaled in the 100 breaststroke, the 3,200 free relay was the runner-up and Holm was fourth in the 50 freestyle and also placed in the 100 freestyle.

The PIAA championships are March 19-20 at Cumberland Valley High School.

PIAA qualifiers include the boys’ 200 medley relay, Thomas (backstroke), Bunker (breaststroke), Holm (butterfly) and Wang (freestyle).

The 200 freestyle relay is seeded fourth — Jason Tosh, Wang, Bunker and Holm, who also qualified in the 100 free.

“We are really excited,” Santoro said. “We didn’t fully taper for 50 sprints for WPIALs, so we are hoping to go faster at states.

“We are hoping to add to our medal count at states.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional