O'Halloran starts strong

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
CANTON -- Boardman junior Conner O'Halloran used last year's state swimming meet as a learning experience. This year, he's making a name for himself.
O'Halloran swam a personal-best time of 21.40 in the 50-yard freestyle to finish first in Friday's morning preliminaries and nearly matched the feat in the evening's finals, finishing with a time of 21.43 to place fourth in the event at C.T. Branin Natatorium.
"I was really happy with this morning's time," said O'Halloran, who placed 14th in the event last season with a time of 22.14. "It was a great way to open up and I was shooting for a faster time in the evening, but I wasn't able to get it."
Sidney senior Paul Miller finished first with a time of 21.04. O'Halloran's previous best time in the event was 21.69 and he entered the meet seeded seventh among the 24 competitors.
Although he obviously wanted to win a state title, his father, Boardman coach Terry O'Halloran, came away satisfied.
"Obviously he has that competitive spirit, but we knew the two guys ahead of him were 21-point swimmers," he said. "We figured they'd overtake him but it was still the best meet of his career."
Later in the meet, O'Halloran swam the best backstroke split of his career to help the Spartans place 10th in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:39.43. They were the 12th seed after the preliminaries.
"That's sort of the litmus test," Terry O'Halloran said. "If you're improving from your seed, you know you're doing well. We were real pleased with how everyone swam today."
The top eight in each event after the prelims move on to the finals, while the next eight (9-16) compete in the consolation finals.
Other area finishers
Canfield junior Eric Davis placed 15th in the 100 butterfly (52.50), while his teammate, freshman Garrett Trebilcock, placed 17th in the 200 individual medley.
On the girls side, Beaver Local's Jessica Steve placed 24th in the 200 free.
The meet continues today. Davis and O'Halloran will each swim in the 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay. Davis will also swim in the 400 free relay.
The Spartans are seeded fifth in the 200 free relay. No relay in school history has finished in the top eight.
"That's definitely a goal and it's a lot of motivation for us," Conner O'Halloran said. "We're definitely hoping to get into the medal round."
Westerville Central senior Austin Staab tied a national record to cap off Friday's first day, defending his 2006 championship in the 100-yard butterfly, winning in 47.10 seconds. That tied the national mark set in 1997 by Nate Dusing of Covington (Ky.) Catholic.