YMCA swimmers trim times at University of Akron meet

Although considerably short-handed, the Euclid/Hillcrest YMCA “Hurricanes” made their presence felt at the yearend Division 2 swim meet held Feb. 4 in the University of Akron pool. Six individual swimmers and two girls’ relay teams contributed to the Hurricanes’ point total in the nine-team competition.

“All of the kids who participated throughout most of the season showed definite improvement in their times and overall stroke development,” notes head coach John Graves, the Euclid Y aquatics director.

Unfortunately, two of the team’s top boy swimmers, Salvion Neal and Alex Neyman, came down with viruses the day of the big meet and were unable to participate. However, one of the youngest members of the team, 8-year-old Audrey Zorman, put on quite a performance.

            Audrey, the only Hurricane swimmer to qualify for the next level of competition—the March 3 League Championships at Cleveland State University—placed sixth in the 25-yard breaststroke for girls 8-under with a time of 23.6 seconds, nearly two seconds faster than her previous best time.  The meet at CSU will feature the top swimmers from three divisional competitions.

          Audrey was also a place-winner in the 25-yard freestyle and performed on two relay units that contributed to the team point total at Akron. The girls’ 8-under 100-yard medley relay team (which finished 9th with a time of 1:55.6) also included Gabriella Cicerini, Isabelle Lashley, and 7-year-old Carmen Cicerini. The same foursome also placed in the 100-yard freestyle relay. Gabriella Cicerini added seven points to the team total by finishing 10th in the 25-yard individual freestyle. (Points are awarded to the top 16 finishers in each event.)

          On the boys’ side, Mark Csoltko and Josh Lashley each placed in two events. Csoltko contributed five team points by finishing 12th in the 100 backstroke finals for boys 13-14 with a time of 1:50.4, lowering his personal record by nearly 7 seconds. He also placed in the 50-yard freestyle.

          In the finals at Akron, Lashley placed 12th in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 54.7 seconds. He also scored in the 50 freestyle with a time of 40.5 seconds, nearly five seconds faster than his previous best performance.

          Also chipping in team points were Dan Csoltko, who finished 13th in the 50-yard backstroke finals for boys 10-under, and Thomas Jennings-Sanders who placed 16th in the same event. Csoltko’s time of 54.0 seconds in the finals represented a 14-second improvement over his previous best time. Leading up to the finals, he had won two of his heat races at Akron.

          Swimmers from the Euclid and Hillcrest YMCAs will receive ribbons at a yearend awards ceremony March 9 at the Euclid Y. The summer swim meet season begins in May.