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Female Athlete of the Year: Ella Menear, Mapletown

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Submitted photo

Mapletown senior Ella Menear displays the collection of WPIAL and PIAA medals won over her three-year career. Menear has signed a letter-of-intent with the University of Alabama.

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By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Ella Menear reaches backwards during the backstroke leg of the 200-yard individual medley during the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships Thursday. The Mapletown senior won the event for the third year in a row. She added to her championship total by winning the 100 backstroke Friday for the third consecutive year.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Ella Menear of Mapletown surfaces for a breath during the butterfly leg during the 200-yard IM at the WPIAL Class AA swimming championships. The senior captured her third title in the event with a 2:03.96 time.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Ella Menear of Mapletown works on her pullout during the breaststroke leg of the 200-yard medley relay. She won the race in 2:03.96 for the third year in a row.

Ella Menear could have let a shoulder injury this past winter slow her down. Instead, she got in the fast lane to recovery and showed that she is only getting better, capping a record-setting swimming career atop the podium at both the WPIAL and PIAA Championships.

Menear, who recently graduated from Mapletown, one of the smallest schools in the WPIAL, proved that she can compete with, and beat, the best, regardless of school size.

In winning two WPIAL gold medals – in the 200-yard individual medley and 100 backstroke – and one PIAA title in March, Menear established herself as the best swimmer from Greene County to ever dip their toe into the water. She capped her stellar high school career with six WPIAL championships, three PIAA gold medals, two silvers and one bronze.

The six individual WPIAL golds are believed to be the most by an athlete from Greene County.

Menear was born in Virginia and moved to Greene County, where her father’s family has roots, when she was in fourth grade.

“I come from a water-loving family,” Menear said. “My mother put us in the water that first summer. That’s how she grew up. We were at the pool or the beach all the time.”

Menear’s senior season didn’t exactly go as swimmingly as it did during her sophomore and junior years. That’s because in December she was slowed by a shoulder strain, the most common ailment for a swimmer.

“At the beginning of the season, during Christmas training, I was having shoulder problems. I was treating it with ice and ibuprofen,” Menear explained. “Then I went the doctor, who happens to work with the WVU swimming and diving programs, so he was knowledgeable about the type of injury that I had. It was a tightness. I went through physical therapy, then January and February were training months.”

Because Mapletown does not have a swimming team – the school doesn’t even have a pool – Menear had to get help from another school to establish qualifying times for the postseason. She was given a lane at two Laurel Highlands home meets.

“I didn’t have the top seed time in the 200 IM, which really didn’t bother me,” Menear admitted.

Menear won the Class 2A 200 IM for the third time at the WPIAL Championships, swimming four seconds faster than her seed time and winning by a second with a time of 2:03.96. She also three-peated in the 100 backstroke, which is her specialty, winning in 54.36, more than two seconds faster than the runner-up.

At the PIAA Championships, Menear won her second consecutive gold medal in the 200 IM, beating the competition by more than two seconds in 2:02.13. She was denied a second gold medal in the 100 backstroke as she finished as the runner-up to Bedford’s nationally ranked Leah Shackley. Menear’s time of 53.88, however, was faster than she swam at the WPIAL meet. Menear holds the WPIAL Championships meet record in the Class 2A 100 backstroke.

“My father likes to tell me that people don’t understand how hard it is to be a state champion one time, let alone repeat or win two other times,” Menear said. “I have a lot of high expectations for myself. I don’t want to let other people down. I was confident going into this year.”

Menear has been a swimming at the club level for Morgantown Aquatics, where her coach is Renee Riggs. Her husband, Vic, is the WVU men’s swimming head coach.

“Renee Riggs deserves a lot of the credit for my success,” said Menear, who finished in the top 20 last year in the 100 backstroke at the Junior Nationals and made the U.S. Open cut in the 100 and 200.

Somewhere along the way, Menear’s talents were noticed by the University of Alabama, whose women’s team finished ranked No. 11 in the nation this season. Menear has signed a letter of intent with the Crimson Tide. She attended an orientation program in Tuscaloosa earlier this month and will begin classes in August.

“Alabama first contacted me in December of 2021, which was rather late in the recruiting process,” Menear pointed out. “I made an official visit there a month later, and after visiting, I knew it was at the top of my list. They are committed to their athletes, both inside and outside of the pool, to giving them the best opportunities.”

Also a standout volleyball player at Mapletown, where her mother, Christy, is the head coach, Menear helped the Maples advance to the WPIAL Class A semifinals for the first time last fall. Mapletown finished with an 18-3 record with each of the losses coming to PIAA qualifier Frazier.

Menear graduated with a 4.625 grade-point average and will major in Kinesiology.

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