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Hopewell HS Swimming

Hopewell vs. Cornell High School Swim Team Results

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The Hopewell High School Swim team was back in action as they traveled to take on Cornell.

The teams split as the boys won with the girls losing. However, Hopewell went into this meet without their two fastest swimmers, which obviously impacted some results.

Here are some results from the meet along with Hopewell swimmers that qualified for the MAC Tournament.

HOPEWELL FIRST PLACE FINISHES:
*Men’s 200 Medley Relay (1:56.71)- Mitchell Ryan, Joel Olshanski, Tyler Oliver and Joey Gregory.

*Women’s 200 Free Style (2:28.92)- Evelyn Cagnon (Freshman, Congrats Evelyn)

*Men’s 200 Free Style (2:05.09)- Joey Gregory

*Women’s 200 IM (2:20.98)- Hazel McCowin

*Women’s 50 Free (28.26)-Lindsey Brown

*Men’s 100 Fly (1:03.99)- Tyler Oliver

*Women’s 100 Free (1.02.77)- Lindsey Brown

*Men’s 100 Free (53.15)- Joey Gregory

*Men’s 500 Free (6.35.26)- Holden Webster

*Women’s 200 Free Relay (2:04.16)- Lindsey Brown, Maddie Shields, Evelyn Cagnon and Hazel McCowin

*Men’s 200 Free Relay (1:44.72)- Joey Gregory, Jacob Zupsic, Joel Olshanski and Mitchell Ryan.

*Men’s 100 Backstroke (1:04.17)- Mitchell Ryan

*Men’s 400 Free Relay (4:51.06)- Jackson Karpy, Joseph Bulebush, Holden Webster and Tyler Oliver.

 

QUALIFIED FOR THE MAC TOURNAMENT:
*Women 200 Free:  Evelyn Cagnon

*Men 200 Free: Joey Gregory

*Women 200 IM: Hazel McCowin

*Women 50 Free: Lindsey Brown

*Men 50 Free: Mitchell Ryan and Joel Olshansk

*Men 100 Fly: Tyler Oliver

*Women’s 100 Free: Lindsey Brown

*Men’s 100 Free: Joey Gregory

* Women 200 Free Relay – Lead-Off Legs (50 Free)- Lindsey Brown

*Men 200 Free Relay – Lead-Off Legs (50 Free)- Joey Gregory

*Men 100 Backstroke- Mitchell Ryan

*Women’s 100 Breaststroke- Hazel McCowin

*Women 400 Free Relay – Lead-Off Legs (100 Free)- Lindsey Brown

Congrats to all of these Hopewell swimmers for this big individual accomplishment!

The Vikings swim team will take part in their final meet before Christmas break as they host Keystone Oaks tomorrow at 6 PM.

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Hopewell HS Swimming

Hopewell/Mars High School Swim Meet Results

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 1 minutes read

The Hopewell HS Swim team were back in the water on Thursday as they hosted the swimmers from Mars.

While Mars won the meet, there were plenty of encouraging results with the Hopewell boys’ and girls’ swimmers.

“Although both teams lost the meet yesterday, we still saw a lot of good things,” Hopewell HC Kathi Lopez told Vikings Sports Now. “We still had a lot of best times or swimmers near their best. This is really great for so early in the season.”

Hopewell Highlights from the Mars meet:
–Hazel McCowin swam her personal best time and got her WPIAL cut in the 100 Backstroke.

 -Swimmers that made the cut for the MAC Tournament.
–Joey Gregory in the 200 and 500 Free styles.
–Hazel McCowin in the 200 IM and 100 back strokes.
–Mitchell Ryan in the 200 IM and 100 back strokes.
–Joel Olshanski in the 50 Free.
–Tyler Oliver in the 100 Fly.

–Lindsey Brown in the 100 Free.

1st Place Finishes for Hopewell:

*Women 200 Medley Relay (2:11:69): Emma Driscoll, Hazel McCowin, Lindsey Brown and Maddie Shields

*Men 200 Free:  Joey Gregory (2:08:12)

*Women 200 IM: Hazel McGowin (2:25:13)

*Men 100 FLY: Tyler Oliver (1:02:68)

*Men 200 Free Relay (1:44.70): Mitchell Ryan, Jacob Zupsic, Joel Olshanski and Joey Gregory

*Women 100 Backstroke (1:00.91): Hazel McCowin

*Men 100 Backstroke (1:05.06): Mitchell Ryan

2nd Place Finishes for Hopewell:

*Men 200 Medley Relay– Mitchell Ryan, Joel Olshanski, Tyler Oliver and Joey Gregory

*Women 200 Free– Lindsey Brown (2:37.09)

*Men 200 IM– Mitchell Ryan (2:23.58)

*Men 100 Free– Joel Olshanski (1:01.99)

*Women 400 Free Relay: Lindsey Brown, Maddie Shields, Emma Driscoll and Hazel McCowin

*Men 400 Free Relay: Jackson Karpy, Jacob Zupsic, Holden Webster and Tyler Oliver.

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Hopewell HS Swimming

Hopewell Swim Team Splits Match Against Carlynton

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 2 minutes read

The Hopewell High School Swim team’s 2025-26 season is underway.

On Tuesday, the Vikings Boys and Girls took hosted Carlynton over at the Hopewell Junior High School.

The meet ended with mixed results as the Boys team coming out with a convincing win, while the girls came close but lost. Final scores were- Hopewell Boys 63 Carlynton Boys 22 and Hopewell Girls 37 Carlynton Girls 41.

1st Place Finishes:
**Women’s 200 Medley Relay: Ava Yoder, Hazell McCowin, Emma Driscoll and Evelyn Cagnon. 
Time of 2:10:06           Yoder (34:09), McCowin (33:36), Driscoll (31.86) and Cagnon (30.75)

**Men’s 200 Medley Relay: Mitchell Ryan, Holden Webster, Tyler Oliver and Joey Gregory.
Time of 2:02:03           Ryan (29.74), Webster (37.76), Oliver (28.33) and Gregory (26.20)

**Men’s 200 Free: Joey Gregory (2:02.53)

**Women’s 200 IM: Hazel McCowin (2:17.88)

**Women’s 50 Free: Emma Driscoll (29.20)

**Men’s 50 Free: Mitchell Ryan (25.05)

**Women’s 100 Fly: Ava Yoder (1:18:49)

**Men’s 100 Fly: Tyler Oliver (1:03:47)

**Men’s 100 Free: Joey Gregory (54.84)

**Men’s 200 Free Relay: Joey Gregory, Jacob Zupsic, Joel Olshanski and Mitchell Ryan (1:45:46):

**Women’s 100 Backstroke: Ava Yoder (1:14.55)

**Men’s 100 Backstroke: Mitchell Ryan (1:05.48)

**Women’s 100 Breaststroke: Hazel McCowin (1:11.90)

**Men’s 100 Breaststroke: Tyler Oliver (1:23.50)


Results aside it’s the beginning of the season and it was a good start for both Hopewell teams as most of the swimmers were at or near their best times from last season. With that being the case, it’s obviously still the start of the season and plenty of time to improve which they’ll no doubt do under Hopewell head coach Kathi Lopez.

The Hopewell swim team will be back in action tonight at home against Mars.

**As far as some season individual highlights to recognize:
–Hazel McCowin got her WPIAL cut in the 200IM and in the 100 Breaststroke

-MAC cuts:
Joey Gregory 50 free, 200 free and 100 free.
Hazel McCowin 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke
Emma Driscoll 50 free
Tyler Oliver 100 Butterfly
Ava Yoder 100 Butterfly and 100 Backstroke
Mitchell Ryan 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke
Joel Olshanski 50 freestyle

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Hopewell HS Swimming

Hopewell’s Ava Yoder Living Out a Life-Long Passion- Swimming!

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 4 minutes read

For as long as she can remember, Hopewell’s Ava Yoder has had a love for the water and in particular, swimming.

Yoder didn’t just want to swim; she wanted to do it competitively and in the process be the best at it. The only way to do that is work, and Ava has been doing that since the second grade.

Because of her drive, passion, work ethic and God given talent, Yoder and her Hopewell High School teammates will be competing this week in the WPIAL Swim Championships at the University of Pittsburgh. On Thursday and Friday, Yoder along with Sophia Magistro, Lindsey Brown and Jozlyn Marnhout qualified to represent Hopewell in the 200 Free Relay along with the 400 Free Relays.

To be in position to swim for a championship is the culmination of years of hard work for Yoder which started at the Hopewell Area Aqua Club, West Allegheny Aqua Club, Steel City Aquatics and now with the Hopewell High School Swim Team.

“I started taking swim lessons at the middle school,” Yoder tells Vikings Sports Now. “Then the lifeguards there started to encourage me to start swimming competitively and once I started, I’ve just enjoyed it ever since.”

“When I started coaching at West Allegheny, that was in 2nd grade, there was a coach named Coach Bob. He really motivated me, and he saw potential in me. That’s when I really started loving swimming and knew what it was going to be my sport. That is when I started to really get active in swimming. After every single race, Coach Bob would point out and talk to me about what I did wrong and then would take that and bring it to practice and I would work on it. Coach Lopez also helps me and knows the goals that I’ve set for myself and really tries to help me reach them. Coach Lopez really likes the sport and really likes our team.”

Growing up, most kids get involved with multiple sports but not Ava.  Her only interest and desire has been to excel in swimming. I was curious as to what made her stick to just one sport.

“I’ve enjoyed seeing myself improve year by year and I really do like the individual competitiveness of swimming. But at the same time, it’s so nice to be on a team, making relationships and then being able to support each other. That’s why it’s so fun to me and makes me like the sport even more.”

When you have success at something, it’s just natural that you will end up enjoying and developing a love for it, which is the case with Yoder and swimming. But that success is the result of hard work. In basketball, a player is referred to as a ‘gym rat’ when they spend endless hours shooting and practicing on the court. I’m not sure what the phrase is for a swimmer, maybe a ‘pool fish’ but whatever you want to refer to it as, that describes Ava.

“Ava Yoder is a big part of the girls’ team success,” said Hopewell Varsity Swim Coach Kathi Lopez. “She is a very hard worker that sometimes puts in two practices per day. Ava is determined to get better, even practicing extra after the big meets.”

“Whatever I do, I always want to try and be the best at it. So, whenever I have the opportunity to try and get better at something, I take it. It’s been that way forever. Ever since I was little, I’ve always been competitive and want to try and be the best at whatever I’m doing or competing in.”

On Thursday and Friday, the goal for Yoder and her Vikings teammates is to be the best at the WPIAL AA Swim Championships. Yoder is a junior and this will be the 3rd consecutive year that she’s qualified for the WPIAL’s.

Last year, along with relays, Yoder competed in the 100 Backstroke and finished in 25th place. Her freshman year, she also competed in the 100 Backstroke and placed 26th. Ava’s biggest goal is for team success and to place as high as they can but in terms of individual numbers, Yoder has set a goal that she’ll be swimming for.

“I want to try and beat my personal best times,” said Yoder. “In the 50 free for the 200 relay, I want to go for a .26 and I want to try and go under a minute for a 100 free in the 400 free relay.”

“I’m really excited. WPIAL’s is the biggest meet, there’s a ton of schools there, a ton of people there. I actually know a lot of people that are going to be there from different schools, so it’ll be fun connecting with everyone. When it comes to swimming. it’s a big deal, a big meet and everyone will be pumped up for it. It’ll be a big day, I love it.”

Coach Lopez tells Vikings Sports Now that the Hopewell relay team could possibly qualify for the State Championships but would have to finish “pretty high” and likely in the Top 10. Regardless of the outcome, she’s proud of what these four girls and all the Hopewell qualifiers accomplished this season.

“This has been an awesome season,” said Lopez. “The team improved times in each and every meet this season, which isn’t easy to do. Each and every swimmer on the team has improved their times, and that is a great success! We are taking 14 swimmers to the WPIALs this season and I am very proud of them all! Next stop for us is the State Championships!”

Vikings Sports Now wants to congratulate and wish the best of luck to these Hopewell swimmers who qualified and will be competing at the University of Pittsburgh tomorrow and Friday.

Mia Blakeslee: 200 Free Relay (alternate)
400 Free Relay (alternate)

Lindsey Brown: 50 Free
200 Free Relay
100 Free
400 Free Relay

Emma Driscoll: 200 Free Relay (alternate)
400 Free Relay (alternate)

Aleena Gray: 200 Free Relay (alternate)
400 Free Relay (alternate)

Sophia Magistro: 200 Free Relay
400 Free Relay

Jozlyn Marnhout: 100 Fly
200 Free Relay
400 Free Relay

Ava Yoder: 200 Free Relay
400 Free Relay

Joey Gregory: 200 Medley Relay
200 Relay
22 Free Relay

Charles Houston: 200 Medley Relay
100 Fly
200 Free Relay
100 Breast

Tyler Oliver: 200 Medley Relay (alternate)
200 Free Relay (alternate)

Joel Olshanski: 200 Medley Relay (alternate)
200 Free Relay (alternate)

Troy Palochak: 200 Medley Relay
100 Fly
200 Free Relay

Mitchell Ryan: 200 Medley Relay
200 Free Relay

Jacob Zupsic: 200 Medley Relay (alternate)
200 Free Relay (alternate)

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Hopewell HS Swimming

Incredible Performance Turned in by the Hopewell HS Swim Team

by Mike Vukovcan
written by Mike Vukovcan 3 minutes read

A group of athletes in Hopewell recently achieved some amazing accomplishments that need to be highlighted.

Head coach Kathi Lopez and her Hopewell High School Swim Team recently took part in the Beaver County Swim and Dive Championships and members of her team accomplished some pretty amazing things.

Thirteen members of the Hopewell swim team finished with a time in the pool that earned them the right to get recognized on the podium. Congratulations to the following Hopewell swimmers and the events that they competed in:

Joey Gregory– 2nd in the 200 and 100 free.

Ava Yoder– 3rd in the 200 IM and 1st in the 100 back.

Aleena Gray– 4th in the 200 IM and 6th in the 100 Fly.

Lindsey Brown– 2nd in the 50 Free and 1st in the 100 Free.

Jozlyn Marnhourt– 3rd in the 50 Free and 1st in the 100 Fly.

Mia Blakeslee– 7th in the 50 Free and 4th in the 100 Breast.

Mitchell Ryan– 5th in the 50 Free and 5th in the 100 Back.

Joel Olshanski– 7th in the 50 Free.

Charles Houston– 2nd in the 100 Fly and 2nd in the 100 Breast.

Troy Palochak- 3rd in the 100 Fly and 3rd in the 100 Back.

Tyler Oliver– 6th in the 100 Fly and 6th in the 100 Breast.

Sophia Magistro– 2nd in the 100 Free and 3rd in the 100 Back.

Emma Driscoll– 4th in the 100 Free and 5th in the 100 Back.

The Vikings swimmers not only produced tremendous results individually but likewise as a team. The top accomplishment was the performance turned in by Joslyn Marnhout, Ava Yoder, Sophia Magistro and Lindsey Brown took 1st place in the 200 and 400 free relays. Great job ladies!

Other noteworthy performances were turned in by:
Mitchell Ryan, Troy Palochak, Joey Gregory and Charles Houston for taking 2nd in the Boys 200 Free Relay.
Emma Driscoll, Mia Blakeslee, Aleena Gray and Maddie Shields for finishing 3rd in the Girls 200 Medley Relay.
Mitchell Ryan, Charles Houston, Troy Palochak and Joey Gregory for finishing 3rd in the Boys 200 Medley Relay.
Aleena Gray, Maddie Shields, Mia Blakeslee and Emma Driscoll had their best day and could have taken 4th place, but a meet rule had them placing 7th.

Vikings Sports Now was able to catch up with Coach Lopez who was filled with emotion when talking about this incredible group of swimmers.

“From the head coaches’ perspective, the accomplishments of this team elicits great pride for me and what it means for the Hopewell Swim program,” said Lopez. “I really can’t explain the feeling of having all our swimmers posting personal best times. I’m so proud of all the hard work that they’ve put in. We prepared well for this big meet, and it really paid off!”

One swimmer that Vikings Sports Now asked Coach Lopez about is junior Ava Yoder. When it comes to the preparation, hard work and pride that Yoder puts in, it’s hard to duplicate. Ava has been working for years to get better in the hopes of becoming a champion swimmer and all her time in the water is paying off.

“Ava Yoder is a big part of the Girl’s team success,” said Coach Lopez. “She is a very hard worker that sometimes puts in two practices per day. Ava is determined to get better, even practicing extra after the big meets.”

The Hopewell Swim team is back in the pool today as they take on West Allegheny after a few more meets, the focus will be on the upcoming MAC and WPIAL Championships. The goal for Coach Lopez and Hopewell is to place more swimmers on the podium following these two huge events!

“I have set high goals for the team,” said Coach Lopez. “We have a few weeks of dual meets left, followed by MACs and the WPIAL. I also expect Hopewell to get a few out to the PIAA State Championships as well.”

Best of luck the rest of the way Hopewell!

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