州大会への決意。
息子の、決意を、新聞で知る母。。。。岩ちゃんとの練習の様子を、新聞で知る母。。。。試合中の息子の気持ちを、新聞で知る母。。。。一緒に住んでいても、母は何も知らない。。。。母はそれでもわかってる。。。息子が頑張っていることを。いつまでも、あなたの一番の理解者でいたい。。。。母の決意!^^v Mt. Lebanon boys runners-up to NAby Eleanor Bailey, Sports EditorA silver lining existed behind Mt. Lebanon's second-place showing in the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships. Despite their runner-up showing to North Allegheny, which captured its third straight title with a 382 score, the Blue Devils narrowed the breach, totaling 275.5 points."Last year, NA won by over 200 points," said Lebo skipper Don Wagner. "We feel that we are closing the gap. We have a talented group. We have kids that are motivated to get up and race and do the work."I'm happy with any place because they all swam lifetime best times. It is hard to ask for much more than that."The Blue Devils received more than they bargained for when Sho Sugimoto dominated the action on the second day of the competition.The sophomore led off by winning the 100-yard freestyle. With his time of 47.56, Sugimoto edged Ryan Smrekar of Norwin for the gold by two-tenths of a second."I saw Ryan was beating me in the first 50," Sugimoto said. "That's when I tried to go for it. I really wanted to win the free because I did not get it last year."Because of last year's disappointment, Sugimoto began working hard in practice, paying particular attention to his turns.""Coach and I worked real hard on underwater and turns. I missed all my turns. The third one was the worst," he said with a chuckle."But," he added. "I'll work on that for states. If I fix them, I can go faster."Sugimoto needed to go .36 faster were he to catch rival Kyle Dudzinski of Upper St. Clair in the 100 backstroke. Instead, Sugimoto finished runner-up to the freshman phenomena with a 52.73 time. Wilshire and Richard Noble followed in fourth and sixth place for Lebo."Kyle is awesome," said Sugimoto. "I look forward to more competitions with him in the future because the backstroke and the freestyle are the strokes I like to do."Sugimoto enjoys winning, too. Hence it came as no surprise he anchored the 400 free relay team to victory. The unit of Sam Wilshire, Michael and Zachary Rosen followed by Sugimoto sailed to victory in 3:12.93."It felt good to win," Sugimoto said. "There is pressure when you anchor a relay. I had hope to have had more of a lead because it was really close. I do better when we have a lot of a lead."Next week when he travels to Bucknell University with his teammates, Sugimoto anticipates doing better at the PIAA championships."I hope to at least final in every event. Top five," he said. "I will be happy. Top three," he added, "would be incredible."A top two finish in the 200 free relay made Sugimoto and Lebo ecstatic. In addition to Sugimoto, the unit consisted of the Rosen twins and Richard Noble. In fact, the group finished a mere .01 out of first place with a 1:26.68 time."That group broke a school record in the 200 free by two seconds," said an enthused Wagner. "That was a great swim."Lebo had other impressive swims. For example, Mike Rosen shaved 2.5 seconds off his 100-yard butterfly time. In a race where Central Catholic's Douglas Dietrich shattered the long-standing record set by Tom Hay of Peters Township in 1989, Rosen finished fourth. The junior posted a personal best time of 51.9 while Dietrich won in 49.66.Meanwhile Rosen's twin, Zach, took fourth in the 50 free while Wilshire added third in the IM. Senior Dante Fuoco notched ninth in the breaststroke and 10th in the IM. He combined with the Rosen boys and Wilshire for second place in the 200 medley relay.John Nappi, a freshman, finished fifth in the 500 free in 4:43.19 and eighth in the 200 free with a 1:46.37 time. Noble took 10th in the 100 free."Most all of our guys are coming back so I'm optimistic about the future," said Wagner, who in his first two seasons of coaching led Lebo to runner-up and WPIAL titles. "But, I am confident that we will be as good or better in the next two week. This is only the beginning."Girls take 12thThe Mt. Lebanon girls finished 12th in the team standings.Maggie Donoghue garnered a pair of medals as she scored seventh place in the 100 backstroke and guided the 400 free relay to an eighth-place showing. The unit also featured Emily Robinson, Mary Nappi and Rachel Nass."The girls are not as deep and they lack a true superstar, but they do a great job and they are aggressive," said Wagner. "I'm pleased with all of them."