When it comes to the Ohio High School Athletic Association swimming postseason, Aurora Greenmen Coach Anthony Telerico is more concerned with the making sure his swimmers are in the best position to advance than team standings. Aurora achieved the best of both worlds as the Greenmen boys qualified six swimmers to the district meet to finish in fifth place with a score of 158 points in the Division II sectional meet and the Aurora girls advanced five swimmers to take eighth place with 134 points last weekend at the University of Akron’s Ocasek Natatorium.
“I think overall I would say 90% of all the times were dropped times,” noted the first-year coach. “Everybody did exceptionally well. We had some absolutely stellar and standout performances on both sides, so it was definitely some good performances across the board. Seeing that we got fifth and then ninth was honestly a very pleasant and welcoming surprise.”
Last Friday, the boys qualified for the OHSAA Division II district meet in six of eleven races and crowned a relay and individual sectional champion.
“I had expectations, and they completely exceeded my expectations,” Telerico said. “I had general ideas of what would make it to the district mee and would not make it or what would be at least a very strong challenge to make it to the district meet. I even had some that I did I not even expect to see make it to the district meet make it.”
The quartet of seniors Xander Roy, Jaxson Rhea, Ben Mulvaney and junior Cameron Good earned a district berth when they placed fourth in the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:52.06.
Good captured first place in the 100-freestyle, clocking 47.91 seconds followed by Roy, who took sixth by clocking 49.97 seconds.
Sophomore Zach Best, freshman Elijah Shim, Mulvaney and Rhea teamed up to capture seventh place in the 200-freestyle relay, checking in at 1:38.70.
Good secured another district berth when he snagged third place in the 100-backstroke with a time of 54.39, followed by Roy who took eighth with 58.44 seconds.
Rhea came in 13th place in the 100-breastroke with a time of 1:06.74.
“Jaxson’s breaststroke was not something I was even expecting,” Telerico said. “He was in the realm of 1:17.00 to 1:14.00 all season with the biggest hindrance in his dropping of time being his second 50. He threw caution to the wind and did not care about his fatigue, and he went all out and absolutely did what he needed to do to qualify.”
Good, Roy, Shim and Rhea won the 400-freestyle relay with a time of 3:24.49, two seconds shy of matching the school record.
Last Saturday, the Aurora girls advanced swimmers in six races, two relays and four individual events to the OHSAA Division I district meet.
“The girls are in Division I so the girls had to step up and do the best that they could possibly do because Division I is very competitive and very fast,” added Telerico. “They still did what they needed to do to make the district meet.”
The quartet of senior Annabelle Reece, Ollie Salgado, sophomores Hannah Rapko and Kelsey Krizansky took fifth place in the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:57.20.
Salgado placed fourth in the 200-freestyle relay, clocking a time of 2:04.70.
Reece came in sixth place in the 100-butterfly, stopping the clock with a time of 1:04.72.
“Annabelle was feeling a little but under the weather after that,” Telerico said. “She made it in the butterfly and so she was pleased with that and was excited to see what she could in districts.”
Salgado came in fourth place in the 500-freestyle with a time of 5:31.94.
Krizansky qualified for an individual district berth when she took fifth in the 100-breastroke with a time of 1:12.11.
“Kelsey added a little bit of time, but we are going to work with her this week to make sure that the week leading up to the district meet is going to be an effective learning session for her and see what she can do to drop down and see how far she can go in that event,” Telerico said.
Senior Alexandra Yuhasz, Reece, Salgado and Krizansky teamed up to take fifth place in the 400-freestyle relay by clocking 3:52.39, also two seconds away from the school record.
The boys will fight to become state qualifiers in the OHSAA Division II district meet on Friday at 12 p.m. and the girls will compete in the OHSAA Division I district meet on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Cleveland State University’s Robert F. Busbey Natatorium.
“There is no room for excuses or anything of that matter,” said Telerico. “You have to do everything as best as you can, or you are going to be left in the dust so everyone is adjusting their mentalities and adjusting their goals and getting dedicated for that upcoming meet.”
