High school swimming and diving: Avon Lake's Will Moses and Amherst's Sierra Dorobek lead locals with thirds at EC Pentathlon

OBERLIN — All they could do was chase, but Avon Lake senior William Moses and Amherst freshman Sierra Dorobek gave it their best shot Saturday against a talented field at Saturday's 10th annual Elyria Catholic Pentathlon. The two Lorain County swimmers chalked up third-place finishes to lead local athletes at Oberlin College's Carr Natatorium. Moses clocked 57.61 in the boys 100-yard individual medley championship A final as he matched his third-place effort at Oberlin from a year ago. Defending champ Brandon Stoia of Normandy (53.03), a senior, and Rocky River senior Aiden Morris (57.36) led the way. Dorobek was timed at 1:02.87 in finishing behind Normandy sophomore Grace Bodrock (1:01.24) and Bay senior Maja Miedza (1:02.58) in the girls 100 IM. Bodrock and Miedza finished 2-3 in last year's final behind Normandy's Megan Irwin. Like most swimmers at this juncture of their seasons, Moses and Dorobek are balancing a heavy training load. "I'm kind of feeling it right now, but I'm pleased," Moses said. "We swam a dual meet last night versus Olmsted Falls and I'm recovering from a slight rib displacement. According to my doctor, the rib displacement is just something about my joints which are just a bit more fluid so it's easy for them to over-rotate. "I've been doing a lot of double practices so I'm feeling pretty good with how my events went given how my body is pretty tired. I've kind of hit the lowest point of my season where my body is the most tired right now, like broken down. It's definitely tiring and sucks the life out of you. After these next few dual meets I'm going to start trying to build myself back up for districts and hopefully state." Dorobek didn't set a particularly high bar for herself being a freshman. "I thought it was a good swim overall," she said. "I really wasn't expecting to do what I did. I just tried focusing on my swims, just taking each lap as it comes. Freestyle felt the best. I wasn't expecting to feel that good at the end (of the A final)." Dorobek moved from sixth to third in the final 50 of the A final with a split of 33.71. Of the eight finalists in the A final, only Bodrock had faster split (32.76) in the final 50. Led by sophomore Ethan Belak's fifth-place finish (58.12), the Amherst boys had a nice showing in the championship final. Seniors Kevin Heyd (59.12) and Jacob Rakar (59.52) were fifth and sixth, respectively. Junior Chase Aruskevicius won the consolation final in 59.29 to finish ninth overall. "It felt great. I consider myself an IM person," Belak said. "The fly (in prelims) was a big event for me because I was worried about getting into the A finals. It was a lot of work but the whole team pushed me. They're a huge help." Belak had quite a solid day overall. He also finished second in the 11-dive competition, coming in just behind Avon Lake senior Michael Slaughter, 237.50 to 236.10. Both Slaughter and Belak were Division I state qualifiers in diving last year. Like Avon Lake, the Amherst team was feeling a bit tired, as well. The Comets were coming off a Friday dual meet against Lakewood at Oberlin College. "Michael really pushed me to be better," Belak said of Slaughter. "My diving is coming along quite well. I've PR'd several times this year." Several other local swimmers also did well in the girls championship A final. Avon freshman Mallory Mackay was fifth (1:03.75), while freshman Bridget Kurtzweil (1:04.39) and sophomore Katie Susi (1:06.35) of Elyria Catholic finished seventh and eighth. "I've been practicing well and I think it was reflective in my performance," said Kurtzweil, who specializes in backstroke with fly her No. 2 event. "I wasn't expecting myself to do this well or to make it to finals at all. I'm happy that happened. I'm shocked." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Boys Top 3 plus other top local 50 free: 1. Brandon Stoia (Normandy), 21.94; 2. Aiden Morris (Rocky River), 22.28; 3. David Kreis (Fairview), 22.48; 4. Tie - William Moses (Avon Lake) and Luke Minnick (Hoban), 23.03; 6. Ethan Belak (Amherst), 23.04; 7. Jacob Rakar (Amherst) and Jack Rini (Vermilion), 23.21; 10. Kevin Heyd (Amherst), 23.33; 12. John Belak (Amherst), 23.86; 13. Chase Aruskevicius (Amherst), 23.96 50 fly: 1. Stoia, 25.57; 2. Ethan Belak, 26.84; 3. Aruskevicius, 26.87; 5. Moses, 27.26; 6. Rakar, 27.43; 11. Heyd, 28.47; 12. Joe Swain (Avon Lake), 28.53; 13. Steven Malloy (Avon), 28.53; 16. Jeremy Oncila (Amherst), 29.00; 17. Nathan Thain (Avon Lake), 29.02 50 breast: 1. Stoia, 27.41; 2. Heyd, 29.37; 3. Moses, 30.28; 4. Rakar, 30.61; 5. Evan Hammerschmidt (Avon), 30.84; 13. Tie - Ben Rini (Vermilion), Derek Odelli (Amherst) and Simon Miedza (Bay), 31.49; 16. Aruskevicius, 31.58 50 fly: 1. Stoia, 23.72; 2. Rami Almassri (Normandy), 24.93; 3. Morris, 24.97; 5. Heyd, 25.36; 6. Steven Malloy (Avon), 25.41; 7. Ethan Belak (Amherst), 25.42; 9. Moses, 26.03; 12. Aruskevicius, 26.29; 15. John Belak, 26.61; 17. Onacila, 26.80; 18. Joe Haas (Amherst), 26.84 100 IM: A championship final: 1. Stoia, 53.03; 2. Morris, 57.36; 3. Moses, 57.61; 5. Ethan Belak, 58.12; 6. Heyd, 59.12; Rakar, 59.52. B consolation final: 1. Aruskevicius, 59.26; 13. Hammerschmidt, 1:03.03; 14. Owen Bornhorst (Avon Lake), 1:03.28; 15. Malloy, 1:03.64; 16. Rini, 1:05.86 Diving: 1. Michael Slaughter (Avon Lake), 237.50; 2. Ethan Belak (Amherst), 236.10; 3. Liam Pellow (Bay), 214.95; 4. Ryan Flaherty (Avon), 162.45; 10. Sean McTaggart (EC), 148.45 Girls Top 3 plus top local 50 free: 1. Grace Bodrock (Normandy), 25.04; 2. Maja Miedza (Bay), 25.07; 3. Sierra Dorobek (Amherst), 25.32; 6. Mallory Mackay (Avon), 25.64; 11. Emily Hauck (Avon Lake), 26.49; 13. Katt Benny (Avon), 26.65; 14. Bridget Kurtzweil (EC), 26.69; 15. Katie Susi (EC), 26.75 50 back: 1. Peyton Spearry (Rocky River), 27.88; 2. Morgan Schuld (Rocky River), 28.81; 3. Bodrock, 28.86; 5. Bridget Kurtzweil, 29.23; 6. Dorobek (29.40; 8. Benny, 29.91; 11. Allison McDaniel (Avon Lake), 30.64; 15. Maggie Williams (Avon Lake), 31.09; 16. Brooke Lumpkin (Avon Lake), 31.12 50 breast: 1. Susi, 31.98; 2. Bodrock, 32.01; 3. Nina LaRosa (Bay), 32.25; 5. Dorobek, 32.40; 7. Emma Okuma (Avon Lake), 8. Bridget Kurtzweil (EC), 34.05; 9. Tie – Nina Kurtzweil (EC) and Mallory Mackay (Avon), 34.17; 15. Emily Presley (Avon Lake), 34.75 50 fly: 1. Anna Skapoulas (Rocky River), 26.78; 2. Miedza, 27.28; 3. Bodrock, 27.44; 4. Susi, 27.44; 4. Mackay, 28.35; 9. Bridget Kurtzweil (EC), 28.63; 16. Gabrielle Smith (Amherst), 30.05; 18. Dorobek, 30.17 100 IM: A championship final: 1. Bodrock, 1:01.24; 2. Miedza, 1:02.58; 3. Dorobek, 1:02.87; 5. Mackay, 1:03.75; 7. Bridget Kurtzweil, 1:04.39; 8. Susi, 1:06.35. B consolation final: 1. Ella Russell (Rocky River), 1:04.16; 2. Schuld, 1:04.91; 3. Nina LaRosa (Bay), 1:05.72; 7. Benny, 1:08.19 Diving 1, Erica Ebel (Normandy), 226.25; 2. Casey Schmidt (Olmsted Falls), 211.15; 3. Emma Schum (Hoban), 174.65; 4. Alyssa Chonko (Avon), 171.25; 5. Emma Sekerak (Amherst), 160.40; 6. Corrine Madej (Avon Lake), 154.45; 7. Riley Petonic (Avon Lake), 142.60