ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Jan. 14, 2025) -- Rocky River has flipped the calendar to January and after some time off, training, and a pair of canceled events, the Pirates got back in the water against War by the Shore rivals on Jan. 9. We check in with the Aquatic Buccaneers in a mid-January edition of Lane Lines ...
After successful meets the week between Christmas and the New Year, River then had meets nixed on Jan. 4 and Jan. 6. But the Buccaneers did not disappoint when they did return to action Jan. 9. In that contest, River swept Bay with the boys winning 102-80 and the girls prevailing by a final score of 103-75. Highlight performances were turned in by freshman Aryan Valunj on the boys' side and junior Isabel Pangrace on the girls'. Pangrace took first place in the 100-yard freestyle, second in the 100 backstroke, and was in on two first-place relays.
On Jan. 11, Rocky River competed in non-conference duals with Avon and Solon. Both sides earned 1-1 splits in the meet. The boys defeated Avon 161-133 and lost to Solon 187-123. The girls lost to Avon 188-120 and downed Solon 164-81.
In that event, hosted by Solon High School, the Pirate boys got a big lift from freshman Brayden Herring and junior Maceo Tabora. Both were part of a Rocky River quartet that posted the day's best time in the 400 free relay. Herring also clocked the third-best time in the 500 free and was in on a second-place finish in the 200 free relay. Tabora had two individual seconds (500 free, 100 free) and was part of a second-place foursome in the 200 individual medley relay. River's 400 free relay (Herring, Keegan Hoy, Trey Roe, Tabora) registered a win by less-than-half-a-second against runner-up Solon.
For the girls, freshman Alice Wanosik continued her fine rookie campaign with triumphs in the 200 free and 500 free. In the latter, Wanosik touched in with a time of 5:25.95; that best all comers by more-than-half-a-minute. For good measure, the freshman swimmer swam the anchor legs of two first-place relays (200 free, 400 free).
Through Jan. 11, the Rocky River boys are 8-1 overall and 6-0 in CWC action. The girls check in at 7-2 and 6-0, respectively.
Upcoming events for the twin Pirate programs include a home Cleveland West Conference dual meet versus North Olmsted on Jan. 15 and an invitational meet -- the Northeast Classic at Branin Natatorium (University of Akron) -- on Jan. 18.
by Skip Snow
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