Jun 25, 2022 2 min read

Think about how hard it would be to win multiple WPIAL and PIAA championships in track & field if your school did not have a track. Or win wrestling championships if your school didn’t have a team. It would be almost impossible, right?

Those are the kind of long odds Mapletown’s Ella Menear has beaten.

Menear is a four-time WPIAL and two-time PIAA swimming champion. And Mapletown doesn’t have a swimming team or even a pool at the high school.

Those obstacles haven’t stopped Menear. The junior set two WPIAL pool records last year at the championship meet held at Upper St. Clair and added a WPIAL record with her repeat gold medal in the Class 2A 100-yard backstroke this year at Pitt’s Trees Pool. She finished in 54.10 seconds, breaking the previous time of 54.51 seconds set my Mars’ Margaret Gruber in 2013.

Menear also won the 200 individual medley at the WPIAL meet. Her winning time of 2:04.46 was more than four seconds faster than the runner-up.

At the PIAA Championships held at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium, Menear won her second state championship, finishing first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.50.

The next day, Menear swam in the 100 backstroke as the defending PIAA champion. Her time of 53.37 broke the state championship meet record, but, so did Bedford’s Leah Shackley. She edged Menear, who was left with the silver medal. Shackley reset the state mark when she touched the wall in 52.42 seconds.

Menear, who swam in meets at Laurel Highlands to achieve qualifying times for the postseason, announced this spring that she will swim in the Southeastern Conference at the University of Alabama.

Amanda Aidar, sophomore, Upper St. Clair

Gabby Biano, senior, South Fayette

Maddie Berg, sophomore, South Fayette

Kaitlyn Connors, sophomore, Upper St. Clair

Adrienne Hagins, junior, Mt. Lebanon

Zoe Poe, sophomore, South Fayette

Sylvia Roy, freshman, Mt. Lebanon

Vivian Roy, junior, Mt. Lebanon