Trib HSSN Girls Swimmer of the Week: Laurel Highlands’ Maria Mrosko

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, January 17, 2019 | 9:48 PM

Maria Mrosko made her WPIAL debut last year as a freshman and was able to hold her own in the thick of the girls Class AAA 200-yard individual medley.

The Laurel Highlands sophomore placed fifth in the event and also represented the Mustangs at the state championship meet.

After an offseason of work to improve many facets of her swim performances, Mrosko is at or near the top of the line in several events this season.

“Maria’s right where I expect her to be at this point,” Laurel Highlands coach Ed Yauger said.

“She’s been working hard and is really focused. Her best races are definitely ahead of her. She is ready to go faster at WPIALs this year.”

The Laurel Highlands girls team now competes in Class AA. Mrosko, along with her Mustangs teammates, have been getting up to speed with the top competitors in the classification.

Mrosko ranked third (5:26.15) in a competitive 500 freestyle field as the most recent WPIAL Class AA girls performance lists were released Tuesday.

She was less than a second behind Elizabeth Forward sophomore Natalie Glessner and Northgate senior Karen Siddoway. She was 15th in the Class AAA 500 (5:19.36) at WPIALs last year.

“There’s a lot of talented swimmers in double-A,” Yauger said. “She is familiar with them because if you’ve swum long enough like she has, you get to know people and what they’re all about. She’s really looking forward to moving to a whole other level at WPIALs.”

Yauger points to Mrosko’s versatility in terms of what events she could swim at WPIALs this season. The 500 and 200 IM are her main events, but Yauger said she’s also fared well in the 100 fly and the 200 free.

She’s fourth in the 100 fly on the WPIAL performance list and seventh in the 200 free.

“Maria’s also trying to improve her backstroke and breaststroke in practice and in meets so she can do better in her IM,” Yauger said. “Right now, she’s our breaststroker in the medley relay, and she’s hitting solid splits that she was hitting last year at WPIALs. She’s in a good place to help that relay again this year.”

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-388-5825, mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.

Tags: Laurel Highlands