Wooster swim teams share NEAC Relays crowns

  • brian questel
  • December 15, 2010
  • 323
                        
122010 NEACrelays Promo: Generals once, twice tied in NEAC Relays Wooster swim teams share NEAC Relays crowns By Brian Questel There’s always a first in sports. A double-first is quite another noted Wooster High boys swim coach Jeff DeHaan. “That’s crazy,” said DeHaan. “It’s never happened before, let alone twice in the same meet.” DeHaan was referring to the double tie as the eight-team Northeast Aquatic Conference Relays wrapped up last Saturday at Warren Harding High School. On the girl’s side, Wooster and GlenOak posted 132 points to share the first-place plaque, with Canfield third with 112 points. The Generals and Canfield each scored 128 points to slip by Boardman (116) and GlenOak (100) in the boy’s race. It was redemption for both squads. Minus two key performers a week earlier, the girls went 2-1 against Canfield, Harding and Boardman, losing 169-160 to Canfield. The boys, who were missing three swimmers, were 1-2 in the same meet. “It’s amazing what can happen when you’re at full strength,” laughed DeHaan. “If they doubted me when I told them we were down three guys, maybe now they’re not as skeptical. I’m sure they believe me now. They swatted us in a quad meet because we were not able to use our depth and were down three top guys. To tie Canfield and beat Boardman proves how valuable those three are to the lineup. “I’ll take a tie over second any day. … It should make for an exciting NEAC meet.” The boys won two events. The first and perhaps most impressive was the 250-yard crescendo relay of Chris Meigs, Brandon Buss, Jacob Ackerman and B.J. Graham, while the 200 breaststroke relay of Garrett Jentes, Phillip Mitchell, Buss and Chase Hooley earned the second gold. Wooster added seconds in the 100 freestyle (Joel Jones, Charles Moodispaw, Bryan Parker, Cody Neidig) and 200 backstroke relays (Danny Jones, Graham, Neidig, Hooley), while the 200 butterfly (Ackerman, Kalten Walter, Brian White, Daniel Cabrera) and the 400 IM relays (Jentes, Ackerman, Walter, Hooley) took thirds. Fourths went to the 200 free relay (Mitchell, Neidig, Joel Jones, Moodispaw) and 400 free relay (Joel Jones, Walter, Graham, Jentes), while the Generals’ worst finish of the day was a fifth from Danny Jones, Buss, Calbrera and Mitchell in the 200 medley relay. DeHaan was pleased with several swimmers who fashioned huge time drops during the week, which also included a win over OCC foe Ashland. “Cody Neidig is crazy fast for only his second year,” he said. “This is his fifth month of swimming – ever. At the Ashland meet, he had incredible backstroke and was fourth, which he had never done before. … He’s going faster than his taper and shaved times from last year. (At NEACs) he was on three relays and all finished in the top four and was second in two. That’s amazing for being a JV swimmer last year. “Brandon Buss missed 7-8 days of practice with the flu and a sinus infection – he was down. He was in three 50 breaststrokes and he stayed under 33 and the last one was a 31. He had two firsts and a fourth and he’s just a sophomore. That’s exciting for him being out that long and pull off those splits. “In the Ashland meet, Jacob Ackerman had a good butterfly and was only three-hundredths off his taper and shaved district’s time, and that was in his second meet. We’ll have to re-evaluate his goals because he is ahead of schedule. “Kalten Walter swam great. He had his best 100 fly time and he’s a sophomore. He was two seconds faster than his best 100 free time in the 400 relay that was just touched out,” said DeHaan. “If we would have been third, we would have won. Jentes swam the last three events and he didn’t have quite enough of a lead to hold the hold guy off … but Garrett had his second-fastest split.” “B.J. Graham was also really impressive. He made the top 40 list in the backstroke,” he added. “He had his best time at YSU and then beat that at Ashland. He had three PB times in the relay meet. Every time he swims he’s getting his best time. That’s exciting for him – he’s flourishing. In the crescendo relay, his 100 free time was the first time he broke 54 (53.7) and then he went 53.1 in the 400 free relay. That was two PB times within a half-hour of each other.” The General girls also won two events en route to their first-place showing. “I honestly had no idea how we would fare,” said Matthew. “The NEAC league this year is going to be very even because everyone lost a lot of seniors. We started off with the medley relay with Gabby Sibilia doing the backstroke, Danielle Tooley doing the breast, Kim Sibilia in the fly and Kate Persinger in the free and we won the medley (with a 2:00.22). Sibilia’s split was a 29.7, which no one has broken 30 since Whitney Hooley, and she isn’t doing full workouts yet. She’s only doing 2500 yards every other day … so she taking it easier in workouts. She’s just a competitor. “That was shocking to start out like that and our splits were good,” added Matthew. “We also got first in the breaststroke relay, which was Tooley, Emily Cornelius, Lauren Miller and Kaila Gabalski. Those were the only two won, but we had tons of seconds and thirds and a couple fourths.” Wooster took seconds in the 100 free relay (Kylie McMichael, Molly Fowler, Mariah Whitman, Kaila Gabalski), the 250 crescendo relay (Jillian Perry, Tooley, Kim Sibilia, Michelle Sczpanski) and the 200 backstroke relay. Thirds came in the 200 butterfly (Kim Sibilia, Gingery, Miller, Sczpanski) and the 400 freestyle (Sczpanski, Perry, Gingery, Cornelius), while fourths – Wooster’s worst finishes of the days – were in the 200 free relay with Perry, Cornelius, Persinger and Gabrielle Sibilia, and the 400 IM behind the efforts of Gabalski, Whitman, Fowler and Miller. Matthew was pleased with a number of swimmers, specifically citing the improvement of Fowler, Gabalski and Moodispaw. After not scoring a point a year ago, “All three were on relays that scored. “Everyone who swam helped us win,” she added. “It was definitely a group effort. Madison is a fighter, she gets up and she races. Michelle Sczpanski swam well and had times she normally doesn’t get to until the end of the season. Emily (Cornelius), Danielle (Tooley) and (Jillian) Perry all swam well. “It’s not a big group, but the kids who are working hard are swimming well,” said Matthew. “We’re smaller than in the past, but we’ll be OK. The NEAC (championship) will be interesting. The odds aren’t stacked in anyone’s favor. It won’t be a blowout by any stretch of the imagination. It should make for a good conference meet in January.” The Generals travelled to Massillon for a tri-meet Kent Dec. 17 and then to Canton Dec. 18 for the Viking Invitational. Wooster’s first home meet of the season will be Dec. 23 against Brunswick.


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