Herald-Standard Boys All-Area Swimming/Diving Team
Vikings’ Gardner edges teammate Mutter for top performer
The case could be made for the Mount Pleasant senior duo of Joseph Gardner and David Mutter to be the co-boys swimmers/divers of the year in the Herald-Standard Boys All-Area Swimming/Diving Team, but Gardner gets the nod after breaking his own state record in winning the 100-yard breaststroke in the PIAA Class 2A Individual Swimming Championships.
Gardner, who will swim for the University of Pittsburgh, won the 100 breaststroke in 53.83, which topped last year’s record time of 54.28. He secured a state title in the 200 IM after winning in 1:49.52 and teamed with Seth Painter, Mutter and Gunnar Probst to win a PIAA gold medal in the 200-medley relay in a time of 1:34.45.
Gardner joined Painter, Probst and Quinn Heinnickel in finishing third in the 200 freestyle relay at the state meet in a time of 1:28.24.
“Last year, I broke two different metatarsals in my foot 11 days before the WPIAL meet, but I pushed through that and had a great meet at states before taking some time off, so I knew this season was going to be really tough mentally,” Gardner said. “I came into the state finals this year as the No. 2 seed, which was different and not what I expected or had envisioned. That was a mental barrier to push over and put behind me.
“I wasn’t even thinking about the record, as I didn’t feel so great in the preliminaries. I just wanted to come out on top. I was super excited for the record.”
Mutter, a University of Alabama commit, won a state championship in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:31.56. He won the 100 butterfly in an All-American time of 48.08 and was on the 200-medley relay team that won state gold.
The Vikings edged Indiana, 198-197, to win their first-ever state team title in program history. The Indians had defeated Mount Pleasant in two invitationals and the WPIAL Championships, the Vikings were able to get the last laugh.
“We finished second in the state last year as a team, and that was huge,” Gardner said. “That was the first team to ever place in our school history as far as boys. We knew it was going to be tough to win a state team title because one of our seniors last year, Logan Snively graduated, and he was a big contributor for us, plus I knew Indiana was going to be good.
“We knew it was going to be real close at states, and we were able to do it by one point. It was a perfect ending to my high school career. It was pretty special for us and the girls team to win a state championship, too. It was their third in a row. We swim with the girls team every day, so we were rooting each other on.”
The boys first team and honorable mention performers are listed below. Vikings head coach Sandy Felice was selected as the coach of the year.
First team
200 medley relay: Mount Pleasant
200 freestyle: Tim Reda, Belle Vernon
200 IM: Joseph Gardner, Mount Pleasant
50 freestyle: Gunnar Probst, Mount Pleasant
Diving: Wyatt Dean, Uniontown
100 butterfly: David Mutter, Mount Pleasant
200 freestyle relay: Mount Pleasant
100 freestyle: Brady Malekovich, Belle Vernon
500 freestyle: David Mutter, Mount Pleasant
100 backstroke: Colby Emerick, Mount Pleasant
100 breaststroke: Joseph Gardner, Mount Pleasant
400 freestyle relay: Mount Pleasant
Honorable mention
Connellsville, William Gillott; Laurel Highlands, Kasey Mahoney, Lincoln Metheney, Joey Mohar, Aidan Swaney; Mount Pleasant, Cody Fusco, Seth Painter; Uniontown, Chase Brumley, Chase King, Donte, Rugola, Ivan Rutter.