ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- Rocky River Swimming & Diving is back in the water. We check in with River's aquatic athletes with the season's first edition of Lane Lines:
The Pirates opened their 2021-22 campaign with a Great Lakes Conference tri-meet at North Olmsted High School on Dec. 1. In a meet against the host Eagles -- for the first time as a GLC foe -- and the Elyria Catholic Panthers, the Double-R boys clocked wins of 81-19 (vs. North Olmsted) and 81-2 (vs. EC). The River girls also went 2-0: they beat the Eagles 83-19 and Panthers 81-15.
Junior Michael Esdon highlighted the meet by touching in with a pool-record time of 4:58.12 in the 500-yard freestyle. The meet got the six-time defending GLC champs off to a good start in the circuit standings.
On Dec. 3, Rocky River hosted Hawken. Against Ohio's defending DII champs on both the boys' and girls' sides, the Pirates performed well. In fact, the River boys nearly pulled an upset, losing to the Hawks by just 11 (97-86). On the girls' side, Hawken prevailed 124-61.
"The final score does not come close to telling the story of what this team did tonight against the defending state champs," said boys coach Mark Harris. "The effort was unreal, and I'm so proud of our athletes."
Eight River boys (Matt Esdon -- 200 free, Luke Nolan -- 200 IM, Drew Helms -- 50 free, Adam Cain -- 50 free, Mekhi Herring -- 50 free, Trey Roe -- 100 fly, David Lazuka -- 100 breast, Ezra Linville --100 breast) clocked personal bests against Hawken. Ten Pirate girls (Carolyn Wanosik -- 200 free, Taylor Devorace -- 200 IM, Kate Tlapa -- 200 IM, Zoe Satayathum -- 50 free, Katelyn Heavey -- 50 free, Ellis Resar -- 50 free, Allison Gorious -- 50 free, Mila Petkovic -- 100 fly, Sarah Knox -- 100 free, Sofia Baker -- 100 free) did likewise.
The following day, Rocky River traveled to Lakewood for the Rocket Relays, an event hosted by Bay High School. The Pirates swept their way to dual wins -- for the first time since 2016 -- in that meet.
Rocky River had a home dual meet against Bay nixed on Dec. 11. The Pirates returned to the water on Dec. 17 with a GLC meet against Westlake. The Pirates swept the Demons, winning 107-55 on the boys' side and 103-59 on the girls'.
The following day (Dec. 18), the Aquatic Buccaneers competed at the 47th Annual Viking High School Invitational at Busbey Natatorium on the campus of Cleveland State University. At that meet, the Maroon & White finished eighth-of-23 on the boys' side and 11th-of-20 on the girls. Highlighting the meet at CSU was Rocky River earning two top-10s in both the boys' 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle races. Junior Mathew Stankivicz was in on both, taking 10th and ninth, respectively. The Double-R qualified for a total of 26 individual swims and six relays in the finals.
CANNON FIRE ...
POOL SHARKS: Rocky River's senior captains -- Henry Fritz, Gavin Shi, Aidan Carter, and Drew Helms on the boys' side and Ella Russell, Kate Tlapa and Shaelan Schaedler on the girls' -- name a Swimmer of the Meet for each event. Boys honorees over the first three meets were Ethan Baker (North Olmsted duals), Matt Stankivicz (vs. Hawken), and Hudson Wissman (Rocket Relays). Girls tabbed for the award were Zoe Satayathum (North Olmsted), Mika Petkovic (vs. Hawken), and Ellis Resar (Rocket Relays). [Honorees for Dec. 17-18 unavailable at time of publication.]
UPCOMING EVENTS: River is scheduled to host a GLC dual against Valley Forge on Dec. 28. The team will then compete at the Wally Morton Relays at CSU Dec. 29. The Pirates will then host GLC-foe Fairview on Jan. 5. ... Both Double-R teams are 3-1 overall and 3-0 in GLC action.
by Skip Snow
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