SWIMMING | Wooster relays, Gracie Chelf shine at district meet

The results weren't official Saturday night, but that didn’t dampen what was a terrific day for Wooster swimming at the Div. I Northeast District meet held at Cleveland State University.

There was senior standout Gracie Chelf, making herself at home in her future home waters by earning two automatic state bids, three relays qualifying for state and numerous personal best times being set. All in all, it was something to remember.

“It was the most incredible meet,” said Generals swim coach Chris Matthew. “It seemed like everyone who swam for us was dropping time like crazy.”

Chelf, who signed a couple weeks ago to become a Cleveland State Viking next year, hit the waters with a purpose. Swimming a :52.0 in the 100 freestyle, she became an automatic qualifier to state by being the district runner-up. In the 50 free, she was again on fire, this time blazing a :23.8 to finish as a district runner-up and another automatic qualifier to state.

As if that wasn’t enough, Chelf swam a personal best, :22.9 as the anchor in the 200 free relay that qualified for state. Her sister Gretchen had a personal best 24.4 in her split while another sister, Emma and Olivia Frantz, both swam lights out to finish with a time of 1:39.94 to finish fourth at districts and qualify for state as the 21st seed.

Gretchen had a day to remember as she broke the school record with a 5:11.4 in the 500 free to beat Madison Whitman’s time of 5:11.79 set in 2015. Even still in this fast district, that time earned Gretchen fourth place and she added a fifth-place time of 1:56.73 in the 200 free, which was a personal best as she dropped five seconds. Emma was also dialed in with personal best in the 200 IM with a time of 2:28.33 for 35th and another PB in the 500 free, where she dropped three seconds and had a time of 5:36.36 and was 21st.

Isabella Sarzosa swam a 5:50.50 in the 500 free and finished 34th, Frantz just missed her own personal best time with a :25.87 in the 50 free for 20th and Lillian Green was 33rd in the 50 free with a time of :26.54. Rounding out the girls day was the 400 free relay that finished seventh, but saw a personal-best overall finish.

On the boys side both the 200 and 400 relays punched the state ticket as they saw every swimmer set a personal best in their split. The 200 free relay finished fourth and will be seeded 16th at state and the 400 free relay was sixth and will be seeded 22nd at state. Making up the relays for the Generals are John Sibilia, Andrew Glasgow, Aiden Strand-Fox and Andrei Dordea.

“With three of the four members be seniors on the three relays, it’s awesome because you always love to see seniors have great meets,” said Matthew. “It’s important to be all together and we worked on that this week. It was successful and I think they will do even better next weekend, they can focus on that event next week.”

Strand-Fox dropped two seconds in the 100 free in finishing with a :49.4 and a 16th place finish, and added another PB, this time with a :22.3 in the 50 free for 13th. Glasgow knocked two seconds off his best time to get a :53.2 in the 100 butterfly for eighth place and then finished in a three-way tie in the 50 free at :22.13. That setup a thrilling swim off at the end of the meet that saw Glasgow finish second with a 22.02, for a personal best. Sibilia knocked off two seconds in the 100 breaststroke to finish with a 1:05.07 and was 24th. The only non-senior on the team, Dordea had a :48.9 in the 100 free for 10th and a 1:47.42 in the 200 free for eighth, which were both personal best times.

Rounding out the great day for the Generals was Cole Walenciak, who had personal best times in the 200 free (1:52.6) and the 500 free, where he knocked off eight seconds with a 5:00.67 for 11th place. Michael Buchholz, a freshman, was a huge time saver by taking eight seconds off his 200 IM time to finish with a 2:05.71 and was 15th.

Div. II Northeast District

Orrville junior Emily Batchlet and freshman Aleah Daugherty both set new personal times with strong performances at the Div. II Northeast District meet on Friday to highlight area swimmers.

“You can’t re-create that district experience, it’s intense,” said Orrville Area Conglomerate swim coach Tammy Lyons. “The pool deck is packed with swimmers and all their gear blanketing every dry space. The noise is deafening and the energy is palpable.”

Batchlet trimmed .13 off her previous personal best to swim a :25.76 and finished 11th in the 50 free. In the 100 free, she swam strong with a time of :57.51 to take 18th place. Not far away was Daugherty, cut .09 off her previous personal best to swim a 2:31.39 to take 24th and was 29th in the 500 free with a time of 6:00.16.

In the 200 free, Batchlet and Daugherty teamed up with Kaitlin Wile and Brenna Martin to put up some numbers in their splits. It all added up to a personal best time of 1:50.47 and 15th place and in the 400 free relay, cutting two seconds from their previous personal best to finish with a 4:09.46 and 20th place.

Norwayne freshman Scarlett Butler, is the first swimmer ever from her school and finished 20th at districts with a 1:06.68 time in the 100 butterfly to cap a big first year. More importantly for Butler, she shaved three seconds off her previous personal best with a new top time at districts.

"I was really surprised when I saw my time," said Butler. "I wanted to get a good time and coach said to go out fast, but I was worried I'd be too tired at the end. Still, that's what I did and after seeing how I performed, I was really happy. "

If anything, that excitement from her final results at districts will only serve as a motivator for the freshman, as she wants to get better and go further.

"I am hoping to get back to districts next year and go further," said Butler. "I was this close this year and if I push harder and I could make it further. It really starts with a great coach and I felt really included at Wooster."

On the boys side, Smithville freshman Trei Durstine was rock solid with a :23.64 in the 50 free and was 28th in the 100 free with a time of :52.77. Dalton's Noah Michaels competed well in the 200 IM and had a time of 2:13.21 and he swam a personal best.

“We walked off the pool deck proud of the strong swimming tradition that we upheld for the Orrville Area Conglomerate,” said Lyons. “Our sights are set on goals for next year.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Swimming: Wooster qualifies multiple relays for state meet