Sports
Michael Meldon is First Strongsville Swimmer to Win State Titles
Snares victories in 50 free and 100 free
Strongsville senior Michael Meldon will leave large footprints on the Mustang swimming program after winning the 50-yard free and 100-yard free at the 84th annual Ohio High School Athletic Association swimming and diving championships on Saturday at Canton's C.T. Branin Natatorium.
The top seed in both events, Meldon was able to hold off the challenges and win twice to become the first state swim champion in school history. He joins Strongsville diver Kyle Prandi who won a state crown off the board back in 1996.
Meldon opened by taking the 50 free in a time of 20.51 seconds, shaving .09 seconds from his meet-best prelim time of 20.60. In the final, Meldon bested runner up Austin Caldwell, a senior from Loveland, who was timed in 21.03 and third place finisher Dan DiSalle, a junior from Toledo St. Francis DeSales who had a 21.21.
The 100 free had a number of the same swimmers trying to prevent Meldon from a double win evening. This time Meldon swam a 45.09 with second going to Toledo St. Francis DeSales senior Michael DeSalle, who was timed in 45.62. Caldwell settled for third in 45.90 while fourth fell to Dan DiSalle at 46.29.
"I felt I had (the win) going into the final 25 (yards)," said Meldon of his win in the 100 free. "But I had to keep going and finish out the race and not let down," added Meldon, who told reporters he was going to attend Ohio State.
For Strongsville head coach Tom Stacy, who came to the program four years ago with the current seniors, the state meet brings and end to a tough weekend but a wonderful four years together.
"These guys have come a long way," said Stacy, who spent time in the hospital on Friday with a virus and missed the preliminary meet. "They moved up from 13th place last year at this meet to sixth, which is the best for the team in school history."
As for Meldon, Stacy said, "I'm excited for him. "He has gained a lot of experience and he expected to win but I think he's more concerned about our relays."
Meldon was also part of Strongsville's 200 free relay and 400 free relay that both finished fourth later in the meet.
Strongsville also had senior Colin Lyon qualify for the state meet in both the 50 free and 100 free. He failed to get out of the prelims, placing 20th in the 50 free with a 22.10 and 22nd in the 100 free with a 48.72.
The top eight prelim times advance to the championship final while the next eight qualify for the consolation finals.
Meldon and Lyon were both part of the Mustang free relay teams. In the final of the 200 free relay, Strongsville placed fourth using Meldon and Lyon along with sophomore Mitchell Delventhal, who qualifed for the 500 free and senior Chris Hoffman.
After a prelim-best time of 1:25.74, the Mustangs fell back in the final, swimming a 1:25.44 where Toledo St. Francis DeSales won with a 1:24.45.
Using the same foursome in the 400 free relay, the Mustangs qualified for the championship finals by placing third in 3:10.04. They fell back one slot in the finals with a 3:08.41 as Toledo St. Francis DeSales won in 3:05.66 on the way to a second consecutive runner up finish in the team scoring to 32-time state champ Cincinnati St. Xavier.
Delventhal, the other Strongsville individual qualifier, placed 18th in the 500 free prelims with a 4:47.19 where it took a 4:44.29 by Connor Feher of Shaker Heights to get the final consolation finals slot.
Strongsville's 200 medley relay that included freshman Ian Simpson, seniors Craig Barrus and Danny Nemeth and junior Joey Ferrante took 19th in 1:39.30 to miss the consolations by three spots.
The Strongsville girls had all three relays qualify for the state meet along with junior Maddy Kawiecki in the 100 fly and freshman Gabi D'Abato in the 100 breast.
Both missed advancing to Saturday's final as Kawiecki placed 21st in the fly with a 59.22 and D'Abato was 23rd in the breast with a 1:09.42.
The Mustang 200 medley relay with juniors Briana Schrage and Kawiecki along with freshmen D'Abato and Molly Washko reached the consolation finals and finished 11th with a 1:50.77.
Strongsville's 200 free relay also finished 11th with a 1:38.34 behind D'Abato, Washko, freshman Caroline Granger and sophomore Jenna Barrus. The Mustangs with a 3:39.24 using sophomore Sammi Hargis, freshmen D'Abato and Washko and sophomore Jenna Barrus were 17th in the prelims of the 400 free to miss out of the consolations by one spot. It took a 3:38.9 by Thomas Worthington to make the Saturday consolation field.