Cuyahoga Falls Riverfront YMCA Tigersharks

defeat David YMCA Phantoms

CUYAHOGA FALLS: The Cuyahoga Falls Riverfront YMCA Tigersharks swam
to another victory this month against the Jackson Township David YMCA swim team.
The Tigersharks captured first-place finishes in 15 of 16 relay events and 51 of 58
individual events against the Phantoms.
“The swimmers are hitting their stride and showing great improvements on their
times as we approach the mid-season mark,” Tigersharks head coach Dale Craddock said.
“The victory against David YMCA was a great team effort with many outstanding
individual performances.”
The biggest individual time improvement of the meet came from Nathan Moretti,
10, of Stow, who dropped 24.50 seconds from his 200-yard freestyle time, finishing third
in the 9-10 boys age group with a time of 3:10.11.
Kevin Houk, 12, of Stow, also cut 21.93 seconds from his 200 freestyle time to
capture second place in the 11-12 boys age group with a time of 2:48.56.
Grace Turner, 10, of Hudson dropped 17.03 seconds in the 200 freestyle,
finishing second in the 9-10 girls age group with a time of 2:35.48.
Other swimmers with major improvements in their times included first-year
Tigersharks swimmer Hannah Kirmeyer, 10, of Stow, who dropped 18.96 seconds in the
100 individual medley and Rebecca McClellan, 10, of Cuyahoga Falls, who cut 17.05
seconds in the 200 freestyle.
The dual-meet victory followed an impressive showing by numerous Tigersharks
swimmers during a regional competition last month in Cleveland.
During the Mark J. Braun Fall Classic Invitational in November at Cleveland
State University, several Tigersharks swimmers achieved qualifying times for the YMCA
Great Lakes Zone Championships. The five-state competition will be held in March at
Ohio State University.
Among the Tigersharks who swam to zone times in one or more of their
individual events were: Andrew Appleby, 15, of Silver Lake; Giovanna Cappabianca, 9,
of Stow; Rebecca Hoffman, 15, of Solon; Richie Kurlich, 10, of Kent; Lauren Heller, 12,
of Stow; Morgan Lydic, 16, of Cuyahoga Falls; Braden Nold, 11, of Cuyahoga Falls;
Gaby Palazzo, 11 of Hudson; Ross Palazzo, 14, of Hudson; Marcella Spann, 12, of
Cuyahoga Falls; and Macy Trattner, 12, of Hudson .
A total of 12 Tigersharks team records were broken during the Braun meet,
including nine by Lauren Heller in the 11-12 girls age group. Ross Palazzo set new team
records among 13-14 boys in 100 breaststroke (1:03.18) and 200 breaststroke (2:19.06),
and Andrew Appleby established a new Tigersharks record for 15 and older boys in 50
freestyle (22.50).
Last month, the swim team also suffered its first loss of the dual-meet season.
The Lake County West End YMCA Wildcats narrowly defeated the Cuyahoga Falls team
380-360, even though many Tigersharks achieved their personal best times of the season.
‘‘I'm proud of the efforts by all of our swimmers,’’ Craddock said. ‘‘Some of our
team's top-ranked swimmers weren't at the dual meet because of another event that
weekend, but we still managed to be very competitive and almost pulled out a victory.’’
The biggest improvement in an individual event came from Tierra Haas, 9, of
Cuyahoga Falls, who dropped 13.22 seconds in the 50 butterfly.
Rory Capriola, 13, of Cuyahoga Falls, cut 8.10 seconds in the 13-14 boys 100
backstroke, finishing second with a time of 1:19.69.
Chloe Fritz, 7, of Cuyahoga Falls dropped 7.85 seconds in the 25 butterfly, while
Tanner Nelson, 13, of Hudson cut 7.61 seconds in the 100 backstroke, finishing third
with a time of 1:25.56.
Evie Lewis, 7, of Cuyahoga Falls captured first place in 25 breaststroke with a
time of 28.07 her first time swimming the event. Her sister, Lily Lewis, 10, also had a
good meet, dropping 6.04 seconds in the 200 freestyle to swim to a second-place finish
with a time of 2:41.39.
The Tigersharks swim team is based at the Riverfront YMCA and competes in
dual meets against other YMCA teams throughout the region. Tigersharks swimmers also
can participate in events through USA Swimming, the national governing body for the
sport. For more information about the program and for a list of upcoming meets, visit
http://www.cfyntigersharks.com
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