Wooster wins triangular, fares well at Viking Invitational
brian questel
December 21, 2010
266
122710 WHSswim
Promo: General swimmers sweep through triangulars
Wooster wins triangular, fares well at Viking Invitational
By Brian Questel
Friday night gave Wooster a boost of confidence and Saturday a peek into the future, but in the end the Wooster High swim teams got in a weekend of competition that gave them an idea of where they currently stand.
Traveling to Massillon Friday night, the Wooster girls racked up 118 points to slip by Kent (113) and Massillon (90) in their half of the meet to improve to 5-1, while the boys topped Kent 127-102, with Massillon third with 86 points to run their record to 4-2. On Saturday the two teams ventured north to Cleveland State for the Viking Invitational, where a select group of swimmers got a chance to compete in the district pool.
It was a couple of easy meets for us (Friday), said boys coach Jeff DeHaan, who held out five swimmers to rest for Viking. The younger guys got to swim up in the top spots and did really well. We won handily without our stars basically, so that was nice for both groups.
The girls didnt have that luxury as girls coach Chris Matthew noted.
Every year were at Viking we have a meet the night before, she said. Jeff rested his top swimmers, but we dont have that luxury. Its a nice pool. It's nice to go to. Its beautiful and the idea is to swim there before we get to districts. No one swims fast at that meet unless you rest for it, and we dont.
We had a 5:30 a.m. practice Friday and did 5000 yards, went to school, had a meet and then turned around and were on a bus at 6 a.m. Saturday. Every time we go there and dont swim great, I ask myself why we go, but its a good experience and we see how fast the Cleveland teams are. Its a rude awakening, but we need to see.
The girls had a pair of individual wins Friday, led by Emily Cornelius (100 free) and Danielle Tooley (100 breaststroke). Cornelius joined Michelle Sczpanski, Madison Gingery and Kylie McMichael as they won the 400 free relay, while Sczpanski, Tooley and sisters Gabrielle and Kim Sibilia took the medley relay.
Madison Gingery had two PB times, Gabrielle Sibilia had a good 50 against a state qualifier from Kent, and Emily Cornelius almost had her best 200 IM time, noted Matthew. Kent and Wooster did diving at our pool because Massillon doesnt have a diving well, and Kara Dagley scored a 164 and Makena Rhodes had a 134, which is good for her.
We didnt get a lot of firsts, she added. My girls are getting tired and they are showing signs of fatigue and they should be. They are working hard.
For the boys, sophomore Brandon Buss won two events with personal bests in the 200 IM (2:21.30) and the breaststroke in 1:12.93. Thats the first time hes ever broke 1:14 – it was a two-second drop, said DeHaan.
B.J. Graham took both the 50 and 100 free sprints, and then joined with Buss,
Daniel Cabrera and Charles Moodispaw to win the 200 medley relay. Freshman Cooper Orr won diving with a 6-dive total of 167.70, raising his score 20 points.
He was 23rd on the all-time list already, said DeHaan. He is now 15th – that was a nice drop. Hes moved up quickly as a freshman. Brady Kelly had his best dive score with a 137.5, which moves him from 38th to 30th all-time.
Kalten Walter won the 100 fly to round out the Wooster winners.
At CSU less than 24 hours later, Chase Hooley paced the Generals in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:03.21, where he placed 11th overall in the finals. The senior then stepped in with Phillip Mitchell, Jacob Ackerman and Danny Jones as that group turned a 1:34.73 in the 200 free relay, which was good for 13th. The 200 medley relay was 15th, paced by Hooley, Jones, Ackerman and Garrett Jentes with a 1:47.91.
Hooley was on two relays and he was the first alternate in the IM, said DeHaan. Ackerman had a PB in the fly (58.29) and was 25th. Jones was 25th in the backstroke (1:00.32) and 28th in the 50 free. Our relays were pretty comparable to last year and we lost Clay (Matthew) and Alex McCord.
Last year we had six swims in the finals – two from Hooley, two by McCord and two relays. To have that many that close, I feel it was comparable to last year.
Danny stepped up and had nice split in the relay -- 22.9 – so hes back in the 22s. We pulled Jentes from the 500 since he hadnt been in the pool since Monday, and we left him home Friday. He tied his best 50 free split in 200 relay, so he did well being out of the pool for a week.
All in all, it was a good day. A long day, but a good one. The point was to make the finals, regardless of one or 10 events, and I was excited to make both relays. We werent as fast as last year, but it was important for them to see we could make it. It was vital to know were good enough to be in top again.
Cleveland State is usually cut off at 600 swimmers and the cutoff times are roughly the district qualifiers and above, said DeHaan. Its a mini state meet.
At CSU, the girls 200 relay was DQd for a false start after finishing 13th, so Matthew wasnt going to overlook that performance.
Our Viking times were OK, she said. Our 200 free relay was 13th , but it was DQd because of a false start. That was two days in a row. Kate (Persinger) was out with an injury and Gabrielle is still injured. Shes only swimming every other day still. If ever get those two healthy, the 200 free relay could be a powerhouse. But, we have to have the four of them healthy.
The 200 medley relay was 23rd for Woosters top finish, represented by Gabrielle Sibilia, Tooley, Sczpanski and Kim Sibilia as they clocked a 2:02.34. Sczpanski, Gingery, Jillian Perry and Cornelius placed 25th in the 400 relay (4:07.12).
The Generals will continue to push through the holidays.
Were going to have three-hour practices and three meets over break, said Matthew. Were going to be swimming 7-8,000 yards a day of a meet and thats OK. Come January, well tweak things and start coming down and prepare for February because its all about February.
