High school swimming: Avon's Alexandra Downing and Avon Lake's Joe Swain multiple winners at sectional

CLEVELAND — Some things don't change.Avon's Alexandra Downing and Avon Lake's Joe Swain picked up right where they left off last year, repeating as multiple winners at Saturday's Division I sectional swim meet at Cleveland State's Busbey Natatorium.Downing, a sophomore, dominated both of her individual events. She won the 100 fly in a meet-record time of 56.65 to break the mark of 57.03 set in 2017 by Highland's Ashley Mennenga, topping Wadsworth sophomore Madelyn Schnelzer (58.10) for the win. It was the second-fastest 100 fly time of her career.She also defended her sectional title in the 100 back with a time of 57.43, leading Medina junior Sophie Schoch (59.81) wire-to-wire."My races definitely felt good, better than I thought, especially the 100 fly," Downing said. "I did feel a little tired but I think that's normal because I haven't even started tapering yet. The record was very surprising. ... The 100 back definitely hurt a lot more than the 100 fly. My legs felt a lot more tired than usual. I think once I taper that tiredness will go away. I'm very excited with how I did. I think our relay did very well. We did exactly what we needed to."Downing earlier teamed with junior Bridget Kurtzweil, junior Rayna Swope and sophomore Eva Molenaar to win the 200 medley relay (1:51.30)."I'm super pleased with what we did," Avon coach Adam Crabtree said. "Six of our girls aren't really rested so this week was just a matter of getting them out to next week. They actually swam very well. They did their jobs. Some of them get a little frustrated when they don't have their tech suits on and a lot of the other teams do, but they got themselves into good lanes for next week (at the BGSU district) to give us a shot to do some good things."Alex's 100 back was consistent to what she's been doing this year. The real shock was the 100 fly. She's been telling me for two to three days that she's not feeling 100 percent in the water. For her to put that swim together was super exciting."Swain, a junior, repeated as 200-yard freestyle champ with a wire-to-wire win over Medina junior Brayden Morford, 1:44.00 to 1:46.16. Swain later rallied in the second 50 of the 100 back (52.41) to edge St. Ignatius junior Erik Seicean (52.43) and Highland senior Henry Wilkes (52.77).Swain clocked 25.45 for his first 50 as he trailed both Seican (24.97) and Wilkes (25.14), last year's sectional winner. A year ago, Swain won the 500 free for his other sectional victory but opted this year to make the 100 back his second open event."I thought things went pretty well," Swain said. "I ignored the tired. I thought I could have been a bit faster, but it is what it is. Erik is good. I didn't think it (winning the 100 back) was going to happen. I didn't think I was going to win that. I thought I took out the 200 free a bit too fast (23.54 first split). I definitely need to get into the right mental state for districts and start to come down on the taper. Hopefully, everything goes well at districts. I'm feeling good overall."Swain is trying to be smarter with his taper. Last year he finished third in both his events (200 and 500 free) at districts, missing the automatic state berth by one spot and failing to qualify for state at-large. The near-miss left a bitter taste."I was upset with myself last year," he said. "I know I could have done better and didn't."In between his individual events Saturday, Swain participated on two fourth-place relays. He teamed with juniors Quinn Kroneker, Nathan Buck and Nick Haven for a fourth in the 200 free relay (1:32.79) then teamed with Kroneker, sophomore Dakota Bedient and Haven for a fourth in the 400 free relay (3:30.09)."For coming into sectionals not tapering at all, not shaved, not dress suited up I'm very, very pleased," Avon Lake coach Dan Smith said of Swain. "Our goal was to be in the top three. All the sharpening skills paid off today, especially for the backstroke. That's what won it for Joe, right at the last stroke. Fine-tuning and technique work is what we're working on right now."We're working on building, so we've doing a lot of broken sets off very little rest trying to pick up our rate at the end. That's what he did today. That's the whole point of the training effect. When you do it in practice you hope it shows up. That's the goal. It's nice that he not only met his goal but he surpassed it. He works his butt off. Most days he trains three times daily. I'm proud of him and the whole team." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Boys 200 medley relay: 1. St. Ignatius, 1:35.69; 2. Strongsville, 1:38.25; 10. Avon Lake, 1:49.51; 11. North Ridgeville, 1:53.87; 12. Avon, 1:55.91200 free: 1. Joe Swain (Avon Lake), 1:44.00; 2. Brayden Morford (Medina), 1:46.16; 7. Mike Petrillo (Amherst), 1:50.55200 IM: 1. Nick Begany (Strongsville), 1:55.39; 2. Zach Marinis (Medina), 1:57.99; 14. Logan King (Avon Lake), 2:18.33; 16. Dakota Bedient (Avon Lake), 2:18.55; 17. Nicholas Mackin (Avon), 2:18.8250 free: 1. Micah Murtha (St. Ignatius), 21.15 (TIES MEET RECORD, record first set in 2015 by St. Ignatius' Dimitri Simcox); 2. Jonathan Merimee (St. Ignatius), 21.37; 5. Ethan Belak (Amherst), 22.51; 7. Andrew Margolin (North Ridgeville), 22.64; 8. Nick Haven (Avon Lake), 22.85; 10. Quinn Kroneker (Avon Lake), 23.26100 fly: 1. Dan Argalious (St. Ignatius), 51.99; 2. Jackson Stump (Olmsted Falls), 51.99; 7. Margolin (North Ridgeville), 54.23100 free: 1. Murtha (St. Ignatius), 46.90; 2. Josh Toothman (St. Ignatius), 48.37; 13. Nick Haven (Avon Lake), 52.63; 14. Kroneker (Avon Lake), 52.6515. Jack Tindera (Avon), 52.95500 free: 1. Nathan Herbert (Highland), 4:49.13; 2. Brayden Morford (Medina), 4:49.69; 6. Petrillo (Amherst), 5:08.50200 free relay: 1. St. Ignatius, 1:24.89 (MEET RECORD, old record 1:25.82 set in 2013 by St. Ignatius); 2. Strongsville, 1:30.71; 4. Avon Lake, 1:32.79; 9. Amherst, 1:35.41; 10. Avon, 1:37.62100 back: 1. Swain (Avon Lake), 52.41; 2. Erik Seicean (St. Ignatius), 52.43100 breast: 1. Seth Waldow (Wadsworth), 58.94; 2. Begany (Strongsville), 59.54; 15. Tyler Grabowski (Avon Lake), 1:06.45400 free relay: 1. St. Ignatius, 3:11.37; 2. Highland, 3:21.45; 4. Avon Lake, 3:30.09; 6. Amherst, 3:31.76; 10. Avon, 3:38.17 Girls 200 medley relay: 1. Avon (Alex Downing, Bridget Kurtzweil, Rayna Swope, Eva Molenaar), 1:51.30; 2. Strongsville, 1:53.51; 10. Amherst, 2:06.54; 11. Avon Lake, 2:06.62200 free: 1. Abby Calaway (Berea-Midpark), 1:59.01; 2. Mallory MacKay (Avon), 1:59.37; 5. Molenaar (Avon), 2:01.05; 6. Katie Williams (Avon Lake), 2:01.07; 12. Olivia Slivinski (Avon Lake), 2:04.26200 IM: 1. Taylor Devorace (Rocky River/Avon Lake resident), 2:12.88; 2. Taylor Stockard (Magnificat), 2:15.26; 3. Kurtweil (Avon), 2:17.25; 7. Violet Siftar (Avon), 2:21.01; 8. AJ Sliman (Amherst), 2:22.7150 free: 1. Cora Mathewson (Rocky River), 24.47; 2. Brooke Farrell (Magnificat), 24.81; 4. Sierra Dorobek (Amherst), 25.16; 11. Natalie Hicov (Avon Lake), 26.28100 fly: 1. Downing (Avon), 56.65 (MEET RECORD, old record 57.03 set in 2017 by Highland's Ashley Mennenga); 2. Madelyn Schnelzer (Wadsworth), 58.10; 7. Stockard (Magnificat), 1:01.03; 8. Swope (Avon), 1:01.85100 free: 1. Mathewson (Rocky River), 53.01 (MEET RECORD, old record 53.09 set in 2021 by Rocky River's Gianna Miller); 2. Ella Russell (Rocky River), 53.50; 5. MacKay, 54.77; 8. Dorobek (Amherst), 55.05; 10. Williams (Avon Lake), 55.66; 11. Molenaar (Avon), 55.66500 free: 1. Estelle Friedrich (Strongsville), 5:21.32; 2. Jordyn Miller (Strongsville), 5:25.02; 3. Grace Grove (Amherst), 5:26.01; 5. Slivinski (Avon Lake), 5:32.14; 10. Sara Lipowski (Avon), 5:41.64200 free relay: 1. Rocky River, 1:39.84; 2. Wadsworth, 1:40.19; 6. Amherst, 1:44.25; 7. Avon, 1:45.04; 8. Avon Lake, 1:45.51100 back: 1. Downing (Avon), 57.43; 2. Sophie Schoch (Medina), 59.81; 4. Kurtzweil (Avon), 1:01.05; 7. Swope (Avon), 1:03.8; 10. Allison McDaniel (Avon Lake), 1:05.29100 breast: 1. Morgan Vogel (Medina), 1:08.73; 2. Abbey Kutchel (Strongsville), 1:10.69; 4. Violet Siftar (Avon), 1:11.92 11. Ashley Porr (Avon), 1:14.46400 free relay: 1. Rocky River, 3:39.48; 2. Strongsville, 3:41.59; 3. Avon, 3:44.42; 6. Amherst, 3:51.43; 9. Avon Lake, 3:55.65