Mar 2, 2018 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – When desire determines destiny, anything is possible. Just ask Robert Spekis and Ian Shahan. The Belle Vernon duo decided to go for the gold on the second day of the WPIAL Class AA swimming championships and they grabbed glory.

Spekis shattered a meet record in the 100-yard breaststroke and Shahan dominated the 100-yard backstroke after faltering and settling for second in his premier race, the 100-yard butterfly, on the first day of the competition held at the University of Pittsburgh Trees Pool.

“Pure determination,” Shahan said was the difference between his two days of competition. “I just wanted to get back up there. Get on the top spot.”

Robert Reda agreed. The Belle Vernon coach noted that coming in second place as a freshman during a district championship meet is a good job. “But Ian said to me, ‘I want the backstroke.’ He did a wonderful job with that swim. That was a very gutsy performance.”

Indeed, Shahan started fast. Since he “felt good”, he kept going strong for 75 yards. He tired a tad but continued. “I just pushed through it there to the finish of the race,” he added.

Shahan finished in 52.20, well ahead of his 53.12 seed time but just short of the record of 51.29 set by Obama Academy’s Brent Benedict.

“It was exciting,” the 15-year-old swimmer said of his race. “This is my freshman year and I was just glad to have gotten in the pool, swim my best, get first and win a WPIAL championship.”

WPIAL titles are old hat for Spekis, who captured his second in as many days. So the junior put an exclamation point on the performance. In winning the 100 breast, he shattered the mark of 58.13 set by Kyle Hrabovsky of Quaker Valley in 2016. Spekis clocked in at 57.80.

“Honestly, coming in, I didn’t think that was a possibility but I knew that if I kept my tempo up and stayed with it then anything was possible,” Spekis said of his record-breaking effort.

“I was extremely excited. I hit those walls,” he said of the difference in the race. “Because if you mess up your walls in breaststroke that’s where it can get you. But I saw opportunity and went for it.”

Reda saw a “great swim” but never anticipated a meet record. When Spekis told him he wanted to set the record, Reda didn’t realize that meant the meet mark.

“I thought it was a school record and he said no, it’s a meet record. He did a great job with that. He was really pumped and excited for that so I am really proud of him.

“Robert is a big-league swimmer. When there is a meet, a race or something on the line, he always comes up big for himself and the team.”

Shahan and Spekis came up big for the Leopards in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Along with Tucker West and Alex Miller, they closed out the meet in second place with a 3:18.90 time. The showing helped Belle Vernon slip ahead of Indiana (148.5) and Elizabeth-Forward (146.5) and secure third place in the team standings with 149 points.

Northgate won the boys AA title with a 228 score. Quaker Valley took the runner-up trophy with 177 points.

With Shahan and Spekis as anchors the future indeed is bright for the Belle Vernon boys swimming program.

“We hope,” said Reda. “Let’s enjoy the moment. We really do have bigger goals and bigger achievements set. Hopefully, we do well at states.”

The PIAA state championships are set for March 14-17 at Bucknell University. The top four finishers in Class AA received automatic berths in the state finals. The final slots will be determined once all the top times in the other districts are compiled and compared.

That could include Ringgold’s Jake Niziol. He finished sixth in the breaststroke.

Individually, Wes Tucker took 15th in the 500 freestyle.

Other top local finishers in that event to score points were: South Fayette’s trio of Michael Grimenstein (11th), Garrett Fincke (13) and Kyle Lynch (14th). Dante Cecere placed 11th in the 100 free for the Lions.

In the girls’ competition, Shady Side Academy took the team title with 287 points. Indiana was runner-up with a 266.5 score.

The Ringgold girls had a solid showing. The 400 free relay of Andrea Kassa, Kaylee Kassa, Danika Evans and Rebecca Noll placed eigth (3:54.45).

Individually, Nooll was 12th in the 100 breast (1:15.4) and Andrea Kass was 13th in the 500 free (5:42.23). The Rams finished 11th in the girls team standings.