ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (Feb. 16, 2025) -- The Rocky River boys have qualified into seven slots in the upcoming DII state championships. The River girls have qualified into one event in the DI tournament.
The Pirate boys competed in DII Northeast District Championships at Busbey Natatorium on the campus of Cleveland State University Friday (with diving on Wednesday). River earned Ohio High School Athletic Association tournament qualifying slots in 1-meter diving (sophomore Connor Thomas) as well as the 200-yard medley relay, 200 freestyle (junior Keegan Hoy), 50 free (junior Maceo Tabora), 500 free (Hoy), 100 breaststroke (junior Charlie Wanosik), and 200 free relay.
In team scoring, the Double-R boys tallied 128 points which was fifth-best in the CSU waters. University School (429 points), Lake Catholic (185), and Beachwood (182) took first, second, and third, respectively.
The Buccaneer boys -- qualifiers into eight Buckeye State slots last season and nine the year before -- figure to be especially well-heeled at the Feb. 18-22 state meet in Canton (Branin Natatorium) in their two relays and in the 50 free. River's medley quartet (Trey Roe, Wanosik, Tabora, Luke Nolan), which took fourth in Friday's race at CSU, is tabbed with the No. 6 seed (1:38.23) for the state meet. The Pirates' 200 free relay (Ezra Linville, Nolan, Roe, Tabora) took fifth at the district meet and is seeded seventh (1:29.38) for the title test in Canton. In the 50 free, Tabora touched in with a fourth-place time of 21.65 at the district meet. He's seeded 12th for Canton.
On the girls' side, Rocky River competed in Saturday's DI Northwest District Championships in Bowling Green (diving on Friday). The Pirates racked up team points in 10 events (their score of 120 was eighth-best) and logged a few near-misses on qualifying for state swims. But freshman Alice Wanosik did break through in the 500 free. Wanosik clocked a final time of 5:17.21 to edge into the DI Canton field by a fraction-of-a-second. The Raider rookie just missed on qualifying in the 200 free.
In individual events, Tabora and Thomas are now two-time state qualifiers.
In 2024, the boys took 30th in the DII state meet; the girls placed 39th in the DI meet. The two programs have combined for eight top-20 state finishes in the last 10 years.
by Skip Snow
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