GIRLS STATE SWIMMING Linnelli is fourth in 100 freestyle

Junior Meghan Linnelli of Canfield High added to her seventh-place finish Friday in the 50 freestyle.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CANTON -- Canfield junior Meghan Linnelli, clad in a pink tie-dye shirt, stood on the fourth-place spot of the podium and glanced up at the crowd.
She caught someone's eye, waved and pointed to a word on the back of her shirt -- "Cubbey."
It's the nickname of her sophomore sister, Ashley, who was waving red and white pom pons in the crowd.
"It feels really good," said Meghan, who placed fourth Saturday in the girls state Division I 100-yard freestyle. "I'm very, very happy."
So was her mother Andrea -- Canfield's swimming coach.
"This is phenomenal," Andrea said. "I'm so pleased for her. I'm excited as a coach and a parent, so it's like double."
Meghan -- who placed seventh in Friday's 50 freestyle, seemed surprisingly calm. Not so for Canfield's coaches.
"We were more worried than she was," Canfield assistant coach Dan Swanson said.
Added Andrea, "Yeah, and that's not even his child."
Robinson 10th: Boardman freshman Hayley Robinson finished 10th in the Div. I 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:07.19. Her personal best time is 1:06.98.
She was a little disappointed to not make the finals, but was happy for the experience.
"I had a really good time and I think seeing all these swimmers is truly amazing," Robinson said. "I wanted to make the finals very badly. I'm going to try for top-eight next year."
Poland team 12th: Poland's Div. II 200 freestyle relay of Raeanne Coppola, Audrie Plant, Liz Rothenberg and Carey Venglarcik missed making the finals by .03 seconds, and finished 12th with a time of 1:42.84.
"We're a little disappointed," said Rothenberg, a sophomore. "We were so close to being in the finals."
The team broke a school record earlier in the day with a time of 1:42.71.
"I think it's pretty amazing," said Plant, a junior who led off the relay. "We stepped it up."
Big plans: Poland returns all four swimmers, and they have big plans for next year.
"We wanted to get ninth and we went a little slower in the finals," said Coppola. "We want to get into the finals next year."
Venglarcik, last year's state champion in the Div. II 100 backstroke, finished fourth on Saturday with a time of 59.48. Mooney senior Rachael Feurtado placed 19th in the Div. II 100 freestyle with a time of 56.01.
scalzo@vindy.com