The Elyria Catholic swim team made enough ripples over the last two years that it likely won’t be a surprise to anyone any time soon. The Panthers are a well-established and well-respected program that has excellent seed times heading into this weekend’s Lakewood sectional meet.
The Division II girls meet leads things off. It gets under way at 5 p.m., Friday. The Division I girls meet is at 9 a.m., Saturday, followed by the Division I boys meet at 3 p.m.
Sectional diving is at Solon High School. The Division I girls meet is today at 5 p.m. The Division I boys meet is Friday at 5 p.m. Divers from the Division II girls competition automatically advance to the Cleveland State district (Feb. 14-16).
The sectional meet is a very tough meet to prep for. Coaches with top-level kids taper their athletes little, if at all, even though the level of competition is very tough.
“Our top kids won’t be tapered for sectionals. They’ll be tapering for districts and state,” said Elyria Catholic coach Jack Dibee. “At the same time, we can’t afford to do anything careless. The kids know that. We have to be safe with our relay starts. We can’t take anything for chance or for granted. Our kids know that and how to respond to that.”
The EC girls are seeded well across the board in the Division II girls field.
Junior Evann Heidersbach is the top seed in the 50 free (24.40) and 100 free (53.84). Senior Brittany Tweardy is seeded in the top three in the 50 free (25.01) and 100 free (57.15). Freshman Kelly O’Dell is the fifth seed in the 100 breast (1:15.85). All three of EC’s relays are seeded in the top three.
The 200 medley relay consists of Heidersbach, O’Dell, freshman Caroline Hamp and Tweardy. The 200 free relay is Tweardy, senior Brianne McLaughlin, freshman Caroline Hamp and Heidersbach. The 400 free relay is composed of McLaughlin, senior Emily Fenik, freshman Rachel Buckley and freshman Brooke Bartlebaugh.
For the EC boys, junior Michael Weber is the top seed in the 200 individual medley (2:04.40) and is seeded fourth in the 100 free (49.76). Senior Keith Everhart, the North Coast League MVP, is the second seed in the 50 free (21.85) and 100 free (48.12) behind St. Edward senior Zach Turk.
The Panthers’ 200 free (1:29.53) and 400 free (3:21.84) relays are seeded second behind St. Edward. The 200 free relay seed time of EC is faster than the meet record.
Elyria Catholic has defeated St. Edward twice in head-to-head 200 free relay matchups. Both relays consist of Weber, Everhart, junior Jimmy Reitenbach and junior Alex Miehls. Reitenbach is the third seed in the 50 free (22.55) and eighth in the 100 free (50.27).
Last year, the Elyria Catholic girls finished fourth (236) at the Lakewood sectional behind Hathaway Brown (397), Rocky River (260) and Gilmour Academy (252½). The EC boys were eighth (152). St. Edward (300½) won its second straight sectional title with Strongsville (225) second and Westlake (218) third.
“We should finish in the top five for the girls field and the top eight for the boys,” Dibee said. “I didn’t try to score it out. My focus is to get as many kids to the state meet as possible.”
The toughest call for Dibee most likely is relays. Typically, most teams are able to load up only two of three relays.
“I really like our chances,” said Dibee. “Our boys 400 free relay should do well in addition to our 200 free relay, which is one of the top-ranked relays in the state in that event.”
The Elyria Catholic boys 400 free relay came on very well at the end of the year. It clocked a school-record (3:21.84) on Jan. 29, against Walsh Jesuit, breaking the old school record by six seconds.
“Our 200 medley relay was ranked No. 15 in the district, but our 400 free relay was ranked No. 8 after the Walsh meet,” said Dibee. “We weren’t even ranked in the district for that event before that.”
The scenario is slightly different on the girls side. The Panthers will load their 200 medley and 200 free relays.
“When our 200 medley went 1:57.04 at the NCL meet that made up my mind right then and there,” Dibee said. “We have three very good relays for the girls. All three of them have a chance to do very well.”

Record-setter

Westlake senior MacKenzie Wickliffe broke a 12-year-old diving record in winning last Friday’s Southwestern Conference meet.
Wickliffe, who finished second at the SWC as a sophomore and junior, scored 455.00 in the 11-dive competition. She broke the record of 450.20 set in 1996 by Westlake’s Katie Caratelli.
Wickliffe will be attending Clemson University in the fall on an athletic scholarship.

Wengerd repeats

Amherst senior Kirsten Wengerd successfully defended her Southwestern Conference titles in the 200 free (2:01.62) and 500 free (5:31.52). She won out despite the fact she was seeded only fourth in the 200 free and second in the 500 free. Wengerd’s two wins were the fifth and sixth league titles of her high school career.
“I think it (the underdog role) helped a little bit, but I wasn’t that worried about it,” said Wengerd, a two-time Division I state qualifier in the 200 free. “Training has been tough this season. We’re all very tired and kind of crabby. It’s nice we can put all that behind us and come together.”
Paul Heyse covers high school swimming and diving for the Chronicle-Telegram. Contact him at  phheyse@aol.com.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Joe Craven, Westlake

YEAR: Freshman
LAST WEEK: Won the 100 fly (55.33) and took third in the 100 back (59.13) at Saturday’s Southwestern Conference meet, just four days after coming out of a cast for a broken right wrist. He helped the Demons to win their third straight SWC title.
BIO: Last summer, Craven barely missed the Y Zone cut-off times for the 50 free (long course) and 100 fly (short course). His club swim team is the Lake Shore Swim Club. Craven competed cross country and track for Burneson Middle School. He enjoys playing the guitar and the Halo 3 video game. Craven has a
4.8-grade-point average.
PARENTS: Paul and Donna Craven

Amanda Paliska, Olmsted Falls

YEAR: Freshman
LAST WEEK: Took home gold medals in the 200 individual medley (2:19.45) and 100 fly (1:02.96) at Saturday’s SWC meet. Her 200 IM time was a career-record by nearly two seconds. She is the first Olmsted Falls girl to win a conference title in the 13-year history of the program. She helped the Bulldogs finish fourth, it’s best finish ever.
BIO: Paliska played a lot of rec softball growing up and even trained in ballet, but swimming is her main focus now. She is a member of West Shore Swim Club now after formerly training with the Berea-Midpark and Westlake Waves swim clubs. Paliska plans to competed the 100 fly and 100 breast at Division I sectionals. She has a 3.6 GPA.
PARENTS: Ken and Tammy Paliska

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