Although 2008 Aurora Greenmen graduate Kelley Mehallis is no longer the head coach of her alma matter’s swimming team, she still remains connected to program she swam for during high school. The Greenmen will once again host the Alumni Meet under her direction on Wednesday at Hiram College’s pool at 7 p.m.
“I am so excited to still be part of everything,” Mehallis told The Weekly Villager. “It means a ton to me because not only was I the coach for the past four years, but I am also an Aurora alumni swimmer. It is just a really cool event to be able to bring back. Last year was the inaugural event and it was so cool to see everyone. I think we had over 20 alumni swim with the current team members, and it was so much fun to see them all swim and race against each other.”
According to the previous Aurora swimming coach, she had the idea during her first two years with the program when she served as an assistant coach. In her final season at the helm as head coach, she put her idea into action.
She contacted Hiram College’s swimming coach Michael Barber and he agreed to let Aurora host the event at its old home pool. The program created fliers to hand out with a link on the form that allowed interested parties to sign up for the event online.
“It was just about telling people and getting people excited and then everybody showed up that night and it was awesome,” she added. “We put together a fun lineup and it essentially was the kids racing each other and then we had a pizza party after which was really fun.”
Mehallis noted that last year’s event raised over $500 for the Aurora swimming program fund, giving them enough money to buy postseason shirts for the squad, food, hold team parties and also purchase gifts.
The Greenmen will also host a 50-50 raffle, where spectators are invited to purchase tickets and the total amount will be added together with winning ticket being pulled during the event. The winner will win half of the pot while Aurora keeps the other half.
“Having that money is like having a camp fund that is raised throughout the season that supports the team so just having that additional cash really helps gives the kids everything they need during the season,” Mehallis noted.
The event will have the usual 11 races that swimmers compete in during a traditional high school meet but the distances will be shorter, with each race being only one or two laps.
Each race will have only six competitors including the relay events and the lineups will be posted on the day of the event. Mehallis said that should give current swimmers opportunities to compete against their older siblings who competed for Aurora and also the alumni a chance to once again dip their toes in the water for the Greenmen.
“They just get excited about being a part of the high school team and you just build that excitement for the team and that just builds on after these kids graduate,” she noted. “They want to come back and see their coaches and their friends and remember how much fun the team was.”
Mehallis spoke fondly of the nostalgia that the event brings back, reflecting on her swimming days at Aurora and the tight bonds formed by the alumni when they competed at the varsity level.
In addition to the fun and competitive nature of the event, Mehallis said it also paved the way for Aurora’s return to Hiram College with this year marking the first time the Greenmen could compete there for their practices and swimming meets since the 2017-18 season.
“I do believe that definitely helped,” Mehallis acknowledged. “We built a relationship with their head coach, Michael Barber, who is really awesome. He has been super supportive of our team. I think it was an opportunity to open that door and say we want to come back and this is a great place for us to have our high school swim at again.”
Despite her brief time being on Aurora’s coaching staff, Mehallis has left a lasting impression by once again being invited to host the alumni event and said she can foresee a future where this Alumni Meet becomes the new norm for Aurora swimming.
“Hopefully we can continue marketing it and it becomes a normal event that people are asking when the date is and are planning on going to it and being excited about it,” she said. “I think it will take a couple of years of us saying we are doing this every year and this is how it is done before people get really excited and the alumni are like this is an event I am going to come back for it every year.”
