Strongsville Girls Dominate Sectional, Win Swim Crown

There was very little if anything wrong with the Strongsville girls swim team in winning the Division I sectional championship on Saturday at Lakewood High School.

The Mustangs had a double win day from sophomore distance swimmer Sammi Hargis along with titles from sophomore Jenna Barrus in the 100 free and freshman Gabi D'Abato in the 100 fly. Strongsville also swept the three relays.

The Mustangs finished with 475.5 points, running away with the team title. Runner-up Magnificat was a distant second (360).

"Overall, again I am very happy with our day," said Strongsville coach Tom Stacy, whose boys won the sectional crown the day before in the same Lakewood High pool.

"The thing that is nice is that we have a blend of youth and experience," added Stacy. "Our relays are very young but were able to win here. Our 200 free relay has three freshmen and a sophomore. Our 400 free relay has three sophomores and a freshman while our 200 medley relay has two juniors and two freshmen. That gives us great strength for the future."

Hargis got the Mustangs on the right path with her win in the 200 free with a time of 2 minutes, .50 seconds. Sophomore teammate Grace D' Amico was second in 2:00.97.

Hargis then took the 500 free with a 5:25.03 where D'Amico was sixth in 5:30.43. The top two advance to the Cleveland State district this weekend with at-large selections based on time at all area Division I sectionals.

D'Abato added to the Mustang sectional champions list with a 1:00.31 in the 100 fly with junior teammate Maddy Kawiecki second in 1:00.63.

Barrus gave the Mustangs titles in three of four freestyle events with a 55.99 to best runner-up Heather Smith of Westlake (56.58) in the 100 free. The Mustangs also had a 5-7 finish in the event with freshman Caroline Granger (57.15) and senior Carly Brown (57.68).

Brown may have had the longest day of all for the Mustangs, swimming the 50 free three times. She initially tied for fifth with Lakewood sophomore Maddie Mahoney and North Olmsted freshman Jacquelyn Jarachovic with a 26.11. Catie Horwood of Magnificat was first with a 24.91.

After the meet, that trio returned to the water to break the tie only to see Brown and Mahoney tie again at 26.03. That forced a third swim with Brown edging the Lakewood sprinter, 25.65 to 25.81. The tie was broken to establish at-large placing and possilble seeding if both advance to the district meet.

The swim-off featured a match-up of father and son coaches as Stacy's father, Jim, is the Lakewood coach. They joked that a third tie between Brown and Mahoney would send the coaches into the water to break the tie.

The Mustangs' had a 5-6 finish in the 100 back with junior Briana Schrage (1:03.93) and junior Tia Simpson (1:04.06) behind sectional champ Amanda Paliska of Olmsted Falls, who won with a 1:01.16 after earlier winning the 200 IM.

D'Abato was denied a second individual win when Berea's Peyton Kranz won the 100 breast with a 1:09.46. D'Abato runner-up time was 1:10.50. The Mustangs also had senior Amy Donohoe finish fourth at 1:13.08 and senior Christine Darkes seventh in 1:14.93.

To open the day, the Mustangs grabbed the 200 medley relay, falling just short of the sectional record with a 1:52.84 using juniors Schrage and Kawiecki along with D'Abato and freshman Molly Washko.

Strongsville freshmen Washko, D'Abato and Granger teamed with sophomore Barrus to give the Mustangs the 200 free relay in 1:42.38 to hold off Magnificat's 1:43.10.

The relay sweep came with the Mustangs winning the 400 free relay with a 3:43.62, which was 2.7 seconds ahead of runner-up Westlake. The Strongsville foursome included sophomores Hargis, D'Amico and Barrus and freshman Washko.