The Boardman Spartan Swim and Dive Teams qualified 21 athletes to compete in the 2019 Northeast District Division I High School Swimming and Diving Championships in Cleveland. Seventeen swimmers and four divers will represent the Spartans at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium on the campus of Cleveland State University. The divers will compete on Thursday and the swimmers will compete on Saturday with the goal of qualifying for the state meet the following weekend in Canton. Only 24 total athletes qualify per event for the Ohio State Swimming Championships.
The Girl’s Medley Relay team of Ella Huston (Fr), Hayley Ho (Fr), Sarah Varga (Jr), and Abby Yocum (Jr) placed 6th with a time of 1:58.81 and dropping 3 seconds to qualify for Districts next weeked. “This was a great race to start of the morning for us,” Coach Cordon commented. “For the rest of the team to watch them light it up in the first event was an indication on how well the rest of the team was going to do. We had so many personal best, and we still need to rest a few of our kids.”
The girl’s 200 and 400 free relay members of Mikel Flatley, (Sr), Ali Kuras (Sr), Alyssa DiNapoli (Jr), and Jennah Markovitch (Sr) also qualifed for Districts by placing 3rd and 4th respectively. “Coach DeAngelo and Coach Ebie got these girls ready to race and they did exactly what they needed to do at this level. They were also happy to see Coach O’Halloran cheering for them in the stands! They were safe with their starts and swam well in the water. This sets us up nicely for next weekend in trying to get both of these relays into the State meet. They will have to go faster, but we feel they have more in the tank to give,”Coach Cordon explained.
2019 Spartan Girls’ Sectional Recap: PB=Personal Best: QU=District Qualifier
200 Medley Relay:Ella Huston, Hayley Ho, Sarah Varga, Abby Yocum 6th 1:58.81 QU
200 Freestyle: Casey Wert 25th 2:18.04 PB, Allyson Schwendeman 30th 2:20.05 PB, Tyler Williams 2:23.70 35th, Aadia Brinkley 2:34.80 42nd PB,
200 Individual Medley: Hayley Ho 13th 2:26.55 PB, Abby Yocum 2:32.84 21st, Madison Kelso 2:42.91 26th PB, MacKenzie Widrig 2:43.69 29th.
50 Freestyle: Alison Kuras 8th 25.11 PB QU, Jennah Markovitch 11th 25.38 QU, Mikel Flatley 14th QU, 25.53, Ella Huston 38th 29.06
1 Meter Diving (11 Dives): Madison Ricciuti 4th 331.95 QU, Gizzy Kelso 6th 321.20, QU, Jordan Jones 11th 274.55 QU
100 Butterfly: Mikel Flatley 7th 1:02.41 QU, Sarah Varga 15th 1:06.15 PB, Julia Castellano 24th 1:12.60 PB, Ava Velasquez 27th 1:14.16.
100 Freestyle: Jennah Markovitch 9th 55.50 PB QU, Alison Kuras 14th 56.59 QU, Alyssa DiNapoli 18th 57.10 QU, Casey Wert 29th 1:01.43 PB.
500 Freestyle: Sarah Varga 18th 6:04.51 PB, Ava Velasquez 24th 6:14.91 PB, Tyler Williams 29th 6:26.91, Madison Kelso 30th 6:26.93 PB.
200 Freestyle Relay: Mikel Flatley, Alison Kuras, Alyssa DiNapoli, Jennah Markovitch 3rd 1:41.32 QU
100 Backstroke: Alyssa DiNapoli 10th 1:04.30 QU, Ella Huston 21st 1:09.82, Allyson Schwendeman 28th 1:12.26 PB, Aaidia Brinkley 46th 1:28.17 PB.
100 Breaststroke: Hayley Ho 4th 1:11.10 QU, Abby Yocum 9th 1:12.89 PB QU, MacKenzie Widrig 25th 1:22.41 PB, Julia Castellano 28th 1:24.01 PB
400 Free Relay: Jennah Markovitch, Alison Kuras, Alyssa DiNapoli, Mikel Flatley 4th 3:45.37 QU
BOYS: Matthew DunLany wins 500 Freestyle, Noah Basista wins 100 Butterfly, 400 Freestyle Relay places 1st at Sectional Meet
“Our boys swam solid races. We snuck in a few kids for next week’s District meet along with getting all three of our relays in. We were safe on our relay starts and raced the other teams once we hit the water. Our boys have been driven all season and very excited for next week,” Coach Cordon quoted. Noah Basista was Sectional Champion in the 100 Butterfly by placing 1st with a time of 51.92. Matthew DunLany also won Sectional Champion honors by placing 1st in the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:53.20. Also winning Sectional Champion honors were the Boardman Boys 400 Freestyle Relay consisting of Will Linker, Jordan Stackpole, Matthew DunLany, and Noah Basista in a time of 3:14.26. “This relay was at the end of the meet so all teams are pretty tired going into this final event. Right next to us was North Canton Hoover, a perennial swim power and great motivation for us to finish strong. This was a great race to the end the meet with the entire natatorium going wild. Each relay leg from both teams were dead even! When Basista entered the water he didn’t want to let down his teammates and found the strength within to out- touch the Hoover team by .49th of a second. A great way to end the meet!”
2019 Spartan Boys’’ Sectional Recap: PB=Personal Best: QU=District Qualifier
200 Medley Relay: RIver Flatley, Jordan Stackpole, Mason Rassega, Siman Mascola 1:41.84 2nd QU
200 Freestyle: Will Linker 2nd 1:46.03 PB QU, Jordan Stackpole 4th 1:48.83 QU, Steven Vasko 22nd 2:02.37 PB, Liam Parker 28th 2:15.59 PB
200 Individual Medley: River Flatley 7th 2:07.98 PB QU, Siman Mascola 10th 2:13.29 PB, Andy Beichner 13th 2:18.22 PB, Justin Yocum 17th 2:21.78,
50 Freestyle: Mason Rassega 6th 22:55 QU, Ben Henderson 17th 24.13 PB, Brendan Beam 26th 25.61 PB, Jackson Behun 28th 26.25 PB.
1 Meter Diving (11 Dives): Teddy Anzevino 2nd 348.90 QU
100 Butterfly: Noah Basista 1st 51.92 QU, Matthew DunLany 3rd 52.64 QU, Jordan Stackpole 6th 54.56 QU, Brendan Beam 16th 1:00.42 PB QU
100 Freestyle: Will Linker tied 4th 48.42 PB QU, Mason Rassega 11th 50.02 QU, Ben Henderson 21st 54.78, Jackson Behun 34th 1:01.60 PB
500 Freestyle: Matthew DunLany 1st 4:53.20 QU, Carter Cailor 10th 5:13.35 PB QU, Steven Vasko 21st 5:40.88 PB, Jacob Thomas 27th 6:34.50.
200 Freestyle Relay: Noah Basista, Mason Rassega, Will Linker, Matthew DunLany 3rd 1:28.71 QU
100 Backstroke: River Flatley 6th 56.79 QU, Carter Cailor 14th 59.53 PB, Justin Yocum 21st, Liam Parker 1:09.37
100 Breaststroke: Noah Basista 2nd 59.82 QU, Siman Mascola 8th 1:04.60 PB QU, Andy Beichner 15th 1:08.62 PB, Mattis Striggow 1:23.75 PB
400 Free Relay: Will Linker, Jordan Stackpole, Matthew DunLany, Noah Basista 1st 3:14.26 QU