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Prepper swimmers stream past area foes
(by Tony Lange - February 15, 2012)
Prepper swimmers stream past area foes
By TONY LANGE
Photo by Chris Meier
Three-time defending state champion University School captured another Division II sectional swim title last Saturday as the Preppers won all three relays and three of the eight individual events at Hawken's Holtrey Pool.
Scoring 461 points, the Preppers bested runner-up Hawken School, which finished with 323 points, and the rest of the 19-team field. Gilmour Academy, with 231 points, was third, Chagrin Falls, 225 points, was fourth, Orange, 167 points, was sixth, and West Geauga, 134 points, was seventh.
The top two finishers in each event automatically qualified for the Northeast District Championships at Cleveland State University this weekend, while 20 other individuals also qualified at large, based on times swam at five sectional meets that make up the district.
As a double-event winner for University School, Russell Stack took the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.64 and the 100 freestyle in 47.36. In the 50, he touched out West Geauga's Gabe Nock by 0.37 second, and in the 100, he touched out Hawken's Micah Simpson by 0.32 second.
"It's a great feeling," Stack, a senior, said about his wins. "Throughout my high school career, I've always watched guys like Andrew Malone and Ian Stewart-Bates dominate their events, and to get these two wins myself is pretty cool."
In 2011, Malone won the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.50 and the 100 breaststroke in 55.54 at the Division II state meet. In 2009, Stewart-Bates won the 200 freestyle in 1:38.64 and the 500 freestyle in 4:31.02 at the state meet for the Preppers.
Also winning individually for the Preppers last Saturday, Kevin Stang clocked a 52.10 in the 100 backstroke. He was runner-up in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:57.43.
During his backstroke race, Stang beat Chagrin Falls' Davis Staley, who finished at 52.99 in this year's sectional and who set the Division II state record last season with a 50.32.
"It's definitely nice being able to have somebody there always to race with, and Davis and I train together in the summertime. So it's always fun, and I always look forward to a great race with him," Stang said. "The whole point of sectionals is just to get on to the next level, though. So it'll be interesting to see how everything works out the next two weeks. I wouldn't be surprised if we both see some great swims."
While Staley did not win the 100 backstroke, he easily claimed victory in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.33, beating his nearest competitor by 1.89 seconds.
Meanwhile, Chagrin Falls' Austin Quinn won both of his individual events, capturing gold in the 200 IM at 1:55.48 and the 500 freestyle at 4:37.77. His mark in the IM set the sectional and pool records.
"That was a great feeling," Quinn said. "I've been eyeing those records this year during my time training with LESD, and, to be honest, I didn't think I would be getting the IM record. I didn't even know I would be doing that event his year. The 500 was more what I've been determined with, but it was great to get the IM, and, hopefully, I can get the 500 record next year."
During the USA Swimming season, Quinn swims with the Lake Erie Silver Dolphins at Holtrey Pool, where the sectional meet is held.
For Hawken School, Micah Simpson also was able to break the sectional and pool records with his 200 freestyle swim, touching at 1:42.87. He is seeded first by nearly five seconds for this weekend's Northeast District Championships.
Also winning individual for Hawken, Henry Senkfor won the 100 breastroke with a time of 1:02.14.
In the relay events, University School won the 200 medley at 1:40.09, 200 freestyle at 1:30.17 and 400 freestyle at 3:18.12. Stang, Stack, Kingsley Bowen, Lyle Anderson, Josh Wang, Nicholas Gill and Gordon Wong contributed to the relay victories.
For the relays, the main concern for the Preppers was not to false start and get disqualified, Stack said.
"Sectionals is an interesting meet, because, for some people, it's just make it through without any screw-ups," he said. "For sectionals, our relays starts should be fairly safe, so we get through and make it for districts, so we can swim faster there."
Following are the sectional places, events and times of swimmers from University School, Hawken School, Chagrin Falls, Orange and West Geauga who qualified for this weekend's district swim meet.
200 medley relay: 1. University (Stang, Wong, Stack, Bowen), 1:40.09; 2. Hawken (Senkfor, Spiro, Simpson, McHale), 1:41.27; 3. Chagrin (Staley, Rann, Vandertill, Quinn), 1:41.37; 4. Gilmour (Renner, Resch, Korman, Mirando), 1:42.47; 6. West Geauga (Nock, Gleske, Wenrich, Keta), 1:44.91.
200 freestyle: 1. Micah Simpson (Hawken), 1:42.87; 2. Josh Wang (University), 1:50.78; 3. Alan Karickhoff (Hawken), 1:51.16; 4. Zach Hostoffer (Gilmour), 1:51.38; 5. Wilson Taylor (Orange), 1:51.92; 6. Lyle Anderson (University), 1:52.08; 7. Zach Shapiro (University), 1:52.88; 8. Andy Badertscher (Gilmour), 1:53.92; 9. Liam Oznowich (Hawken), 1:54.71; 12. Ryan Thaler (University), 1:56.03; 13. Daniel Wolfe (Chagrin), 1:57.14; 14. Joshua Egan (West Geauga), 1:57.94.
200 individual medley: 1. Austin Quinn (Chagrin), 1:55.48; 2. Kevin Stang (University), 1:57.43; 3. Alex Ivkovic (University), 2:02; 4. Elijah Spiro (Hawken), 2:04.90; 6. Michael Ruddock (University) 2:07.38; 7. Joey Cerer (Gilmour) 2:09.20; 8. Gordon Wong (University), 2:09.92; 9. Tad Resch (Gilmour), 2:10.00; 12. Jacob Greiff (Hawken), 2:15.67.
50 freestyle: 1. Russell Stack (University), 21.64; 2. Gabe Nock (West Geauga), 22.01; 3. Jack Nee (Orange), 22.18; 4. David Mirando (Gilmour), 22.49; 5. Nicholas Gill (University), 22.70; 6. Lyle Anderson (University), 22.89; 7. Kingsley Bowen (University), 23.10; 8. David Wang (Orange), 23.20; 11. Zach Korman (Gilmour), 23.47; 12. Quinn McHale (Hawken), 23.70; 13. Jake Keta (West Geauga), 23.83.
100 butterfly: 1. Davis Staley (Chagrin), 53.33; 3. Zach Korman (Gilmour), 55.47; 4. Nick Ranallo (Hawken), 55.49; 5. Bennett Vandertill (Chagrin), 55.55; 6. Spencer Gowland (University), 55.87; 9. Jake Keta (West Geauga), 58.68; 11. Stephen Pioro (Hawken), 59.95; 12. Matt Puckace (Hawken), 1:00.13; 13. Doo Hee Kim (Orange), 1:00.32; 14. Brandon Piyevsky (Orange), 1:01.37; 15. Michael Wenrich (West Geauga), 1:03.27).
100 freestyle: 1. Russell Stack (University), 47.36; 2. Micah Simpson (Hawken), 47.68; 4. Jack Nee (Orange), 48.99; 5. Gabe Nock (West Geauga), 49.56; 6. Lyle Anderson (University), 49.86; 7. Josh Wang (University), 49.86; 9. Alan Karickhoff (Hawken), 50.89; 10. Daniel Wolfe (Chagrin), 51.00; 12. David Wang (Orange), 51.29; 13. Ryan Thaler (University), 51.32; 14. Zach Hostoffer (Gilmour), 51.60; 15. Jack Renner (Gilmour), 51.64; Quinn McHale (Hawken), 51.98.
500 freestyle: 1. Austin Quinn (Chagrin), 4:37.77; 2. Henry Senkfor (Hawken), 4:48.24; 3. Nick Ranallo (Hawken), 4:54.21; 4. Andy Badertscher (Gilmour), 5:00.71; 6. Joey Cerer (Gilmour), 5:03.31; 7. Wilson Taylor (Orange), 5:04.20; 8. Liam Oznowich (Hawken), 5:04.40; 9. Michael Kondratiev (University), 5:06.37; 10. Lloyd Anderson (University), 5:08.19; 11. Nils Gudbranson (University), 5:11.66; 12. Matt Puckace (Hawken), 5:13.37; 14. George Cashy (Chagrin), 5:14.55; 15. David Andersen (University), 5:14.59; 16. Michael Palumbo (Gilmour), 5:17.18.
200 freestyle relay: 1. University (Stack, Gill, Anderson, Wang), 1:30.17; 2. Orange (Nee, Wang, Kim, Taylor), 1:32.56; 3. Gilmour (Renner, Korman, Hostoffer, Morando), 1:32.71; 4. Hawken (McHale, Ranallo, Pioro, Karickhoff), 1:32.96; 5. West Geauga (Keta, Wenrich, Gleske, Nock), 1:33.13; 6. Chagrin (Cashy, Rann, Wolfe, Vandertill), 1:34.86.
100 backstroke: 1. Kevin Stang (University), 52.10; 2. Davis Staley (Chagrin), 52.99; 4. Kingsley Bowen (University), 55.52; 5. Alex Ivkovic (University), 55.78; 7. George Cashy (Chagrin), 59.98; 8. Michael Ruddock (University), 1:00.03; 10. Jacob Greiff (Hawken), 1:01.31; 12. Ryan Gleske (West Geauga), 1:02.05.
100 breaststroke: 1. Henry Senkfor (Hawken), 1:02.14; 2. Elijah Spiro (Hawken), 1:03.06; 3. Gordan Wong (University), 1:03.08; 4. Tad Resch (Gilmour), 1:03.16; 7. David Rann (Chagrin), 1:06.73; 8. Spencer Gowland (University), 1:06.77; 11. Michael Palumbo (Gilmour), 1:08.17; 12. Nikolai Levinsohn (University), 1:09.02: 14. Jon Vexler (Hawken), 1:10.64.
400 freestyle relay: 1. University (Wang, Bowen, Anderson, Stang), 3:18.12; 2. Hawken (Senkfor, Karickhoff, Ranallo, Simpson), 3:18.49; 3. Chagrin (Quinn, Wolfe, Vandertill, Staley), 3:20.21; 4. Gilmour (Mirando, Badertscher, Renner, Hostoffer), 3:23.13; 6. Orange (Wang, Nee, Kim, Taylor), 3:30.38.
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