Geauga Swimmers Fare Well at CVC Championships
The Chagrin Valley Conference hosted its annual swimming championships this year at Cleveland State’s Busbey Natatorium. When it was all said and done on Jan. 18, the girls swim teams from Chagrin Falls and Hawken walked away with CVC-Chagrin Division team championships.
The Chagrin Valley Conference hosted its annual swimming championships this year at Cleveland State’s Busbey Natatorium. When it was all said and done on Jan. 18, the girls swim teams from Chagrin Falls and Hawken walked away with CVC-Chagrin Division team championships.
The Tigers’ title is their fifth consecutive CVC Chagrin Division crown. They posted 499 points, beating out Orange at 418.
“We haven’t done that before in our program and we’re really proud of it, especially swimming against a really strong Orange side,” Chagrin Falls Head Coach John Reagan said. “We just had to try to stay within ourselves and focus on our work we put in at practice while doing all the little things right.”
Chagrin Falls got off to a great start with a second-place finish in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. Simone De Stantis brought home the 200 Yard Individual Medley race with a time of 2:12.12, as teammates Durry Freese, William Wagner and Liam Nash brought home second, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Chagrin Falls took home another CVC title in the 200 Yard Free Relay with De Santis, Wade Daugherty, Adin Ignatowski and Noah Publicover all pitching in for a Chagrin Division-best time of 1:34.33
With a mix of all swimmers competing in different races, both relays and individual, swimming is as much of a team sport as any other.
“It was a great meet for us, and there was a lot of competition, which meant we just needed to be humble,” Publicover said. “No matter where you’re seeded, it’s about motivating our teammates and going into each race with an open mind. Things like that are really good for us because we work hard.”
Moving toward Hawken, a tough tooth-and-nail battle with them, Orange, and Chagrin Falls, the Hawks prevailed with 389 points.
One difference-making race in particular was the Girls 400 Yard Free Relay. Those three sides vied for the conference crown, and Hawken took home the trophy with a time of 3:50.73.
Mackenzie Duncan and Ellery Losch put in 37 points apiece for the Hawks, as they were both on the 200 Yard Medley Relay and 400 Yard Free Relay-winning teams, both with an individual event win, as well in the Girls 100 Yard Backstroke and Girls 100 Yard Free, respectively.
The boys took third in the Chagrin Division and were guided by Everett Losch, who was a part of four first-place events: the Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay, 100 Yard Free, 100 Yard Back and 400 Yard Relay.
Meanwhile, the Tigers were pleased with their girls’ results in their back-and-forth battle with the Lions and Hawks.
“The three of us were four points apart going into the 400 Free Relay, and that was a winner-take-all, and I thought our girls performed well,” Coach Reagan said. “They took third, and we fell by 11 points, but we’ll take that. The girls swam out of their minds today.”
Rounding out the notable county placers was Vera Caudill of West Geauga, who took home an individual CVC title in the Girls 500 Yard Free for the Chagrin Division with a time of 5:51.08, the best time of all swimmers at the meet by nine seconds.
In the most challenging race of 20 laps, besting the competition — in-division and out — by nine seconds was quite impressive.
Caudill strategized to stay in it, both mentally and physically, for the extended period of time.
“For me, it just really helps me mentally if I just think about what I can do better as I’m swimming,” she said. “Especially in these long events, there’s room for improvement while you’re swimming.
“I’m a club swimmer outside of the high school season, and I just have to try and stay consistent practicing, doing my distance sets, and focusing on keeping consistent in knowing I can do it and knowing what I’m capable of.”
Between the utter confidence it takes to win, and the thrill of bringing it home, a perfect storm created a truly memorable victory.
“That (confidence) helps me know what I can do, and I just have to do it,” Caudill said. “I know how I’ve been swimming, I know I can do it better. (Winning), it’s really great. I was so happy at the end, and I was just ecstatic to go out there and race today.”
