Boys and girls swimming earn dominant victory over Amherst
At first glance, it appeared Tuesday’s dual swim meet between Avon and host Amherst was business as usual for the Eagles, but it all depends on how you look at it.
Sure, Avon continued its undefeated season at Oberlin’s Splash Zone, as the girls upped their record to 9-0 and the boys moved to 8-0.
But that’s not how Avon coach Adam Crabtree saw it. He didn’t see the Eagles winning a majority of the events. Instead, he saw a team that practiced twice a day during the two-week holiday break and then battled through a very long day to defeat the Comets, putting in the work that will pay off in a few weeks once the postseason starts.
“We’re super tired right now,” Crabtree said. “We lifted this morning. They’ve been up since, I think 5:30 was our beginning lift this morning. So, we’re pretty exhausted. What stood out today is we’re pretty tired. We raced pretty well. We had some nice swims. But we’re really tired.”
This is the part of the season in which the final buildup of exhaustive work is put in before tapering for the postseason. Thus, the point of the meet against Amherst wasn’t to win, but to put in the work.
“Ultimately, we’re just trying to make sure we’re doing the little things right,” Crabtree said. “They were saying the water is pretty warm, so I’m not really all that concerned with times. We just want to make sure we’re doing our process well, that our turns are good, our underwaters are good, our streamlines are tight. Just making sure that we’re doing the things we need to do when it comes time for the postseason.”
Perhaps the best example of that came in the girls 500-yard freestyle, which saw Avon senior Ashley Merical win a very tight race against Amherst’s Bridget Sonntag. The two battled throughout, with neither swimmer building much of a lead until Merical pulled it out at the end.
“Ashley Merical won a real tight race in the 500 by not breathing inside the flags,” Crabtree said. “Those are things as a coach that I want to see. I mean, the time wasn’t fantastic, but it was a solid swim. But not breathing inside the flags at the end of a 500 free to touch somebody out, that’s the stuff we practice and that’s the stuff that actually matters.”
Several swimmers had big days for the Eagles. Among the girls, Sierra Kobak (200 medley relay, 50 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay) and Emma Molenaar (200 medley relay, 200 individual medley, 100 free, 200 free relay) were each in on four victories. Freshman Raelyn Laursen (100 fly, 200 free relay, 400 free relay) had a hand in three victories, as did Leah Slivochka (200 medley relay, 100 back, 400 free relay), and Clare Blayney (200 free relay, 400 free relay) won twice.
Leading the boys were Tommy Lipowski (200 medley relay, 200 individual medley, 200 free relay, 100 breast), Luke Lundgaard (200 medley relay, 100 fly, 200 free relay, 100 back) and Gavin Bello (200 free, 500 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay), who each had a hand in four victories. In addition, Sean Flanigan (200 medley relay, 400 free relay), Ian Cibulskas (200 medley relay, 400 free relay) and Elliott Brooks (200 free relay, 400 free relay) each won twice.
