LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Rocky River swimmers came up just short in a bid for a boys-girls sweep of the Rocket Relays on Saturday. The Pirate girls' team won while the boys placed second in the event hosted by Bay High School.
The Rocky River girls showed some depth with no fewer than seven athletes (Peyton Spearry, Ella Russell, Mackenzie Schuld, Morgan Schuld, Kira Katterle, Anna Skapoulas, Gianna Miller) being a part of three winning relays. The Pirates took seven firsts and one second in the eight-event, all-relay format. River tallied 109 points, dominating a field of 10 teams.
The River girls logged several come-from-behind efforts in posting their seven wins. And then there was the 400-yard medley relay, an event that saw the Maroon & White quartet of Russell, Skapoulas, Blair Pichola and Morgan Schuld post a time (4:25.02) some 18 seconds clear of the closest pursuer.
On the boys' side, Rocky River garnered a win (200-yard breaststroke), five seconds and a third. River was nipped by four-hundredths of a second in the 200-yard medley event. In the 200-yard butterfly relay, a would-be win was taken down due to a disqualification. But the Pirates still finished with 79 team points, a total topped by only the Westlake Demons (83) in a field of 10.
Braden Devorace was in for a piece of a first and two seconds on the night, as was Nart Yilmaz. Gavin Shi was a member of three runner-up squads.
The event kicked off a busy stretch for Pirate Swimming & Diving -- it was the first of six events in a 14-day period ending Dec. 14. That stretch continues on Wednesday with a Great Lakes Conference home meet against Parma (6:30 p.m.).
by Skip Snow
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