A large contingent of Fox Chapel swimmers will be competing at the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Thursday and Friday (Feb. 27-28) at Pitt's Trees Pool.
Here's a look at the Foxes who earned top 8 seeds:
* Senior Sarah Pasquella is seeded first in the girls 200-yard freestyle (1:49.93) and first in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.56).
* Sophomore Charlotte Rusche is third in the girls 200 free (1:52.68) and fourth in the 500 free (5:08.87).
* Freshman Maren Shelkey-Bray is eighth in the girls 200 free (1:57.75).
* Senior Christian Dantey is second in the boys 200 free (1:41.12) and second in the 100 breaststroke (57.00).
* Senior Owen Howell is second in the boys 200 IM (1:53.36) and first in the 100 breaststroke (56.83).
* Senior Margaret Rusche is fourth in the girls 100 fly (57.60) and seventh in the 100 back (1:00.62).
* Senior Grace Kovach is second in the girls 100 free (52.87).
* Sophomore Josephine Stanczak is fifth in the girls 100 free (54.04).
* In the girls relays, the 200 medley relay is second (1:47.15), 200 free relay is second (1:37.06), and the 400 free relay is first (3:33.65).
* For the boys, the 200 medley relay is seventh (1:40.60), the 200 free relay is sixth (1:29.24), and the 400 free relay is third (3:14.60).
Howell is the defending gold medalist in the 200 IM, and Pasquella will try to defend her title in the 200 freestyle. The Fox Chapel girls also won the WPIAL 400 freestyle relay last winter.
Bulldogs advance to semifinals
Karis Thomas scored 19 points as top-seeded Shady Side Academy (23-0) rolled to a Class 3A quarterfinal win, 55-20, over No. 8 Riverside on Feb. 19.
Leah Buford added nine points for the Bulldogs, who were to face No. 12 Ellwood City in the semifinals Saturday. Gabriella Finch led Riverside (15-9) with eight points.
SSA boys top McGuffey
No. 9 Shady Side Academy (10-12) had a pair of 16-point scorers in Seamus Riordan and Cam Mallory en route to a 51-31 victory over No. 8 McGuffey in a WPIAL Class 3A boys basketball first-round win Feb. 18.
No. 8 McGuffey (16-7) was led by Ayden Cunningham's 13 points. Shady Side Academy was to face No. 1 Aliquippa on Friday in the quarterfinals.
DiGioia, Bachman advance to regionals
A pair of Fox Chapel girls wrestlers scored a fifth-place finish at the WPIAL girls wrestling championships Feb. 15, at North Allegheny.
Foxes junior Atia DiGioia (15-7, 26-19 career) earned a pin against Connellsville's Julieth Flores in 1 minute, 39 seconds in the fifth-place match at 100 pounds.
At 136 pounds, sophomore Lauren Bachman defeated North Allegheny's Lorelei Bungard, 11-9, in their fifth-place bout. Bachman is 12-12 this season with seven pins.
The top six finishers in each of the 13 weight classes advanced to the PIAA West Regional tournament, set for March 1 at North Allegheny.
DiGioia also qualified for regionals last season.
Foxes stay atop standings
The Fox Chapel hockey team won its ninth straight game Feb. 17, topping Penn-Trafford, 3-2, at Palmer Imaging Arena.
Liam Wiseman and Dominic Casile scored in the first period, and Trip Goehring added a goal in the second to make it 3-0.
Penn-Trafford's Cam Kiste and Brock Bienemann added goals but couldn't tie the score.
Grant Watson made 29 saves to earn the win for the Foxes. Tucker Cullen, Pierce Osterholm nd Hayden Ferra all had assists.
The Foxes improved to 16-2-0-0-1 with 49 points and remained in first place in the Class 2A standings. They will finish off the regular season with a home game against Bishop McCort on Thursday (Feb. 27).