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Canfield swim coach needs more gas in her tank
Canfield High swim coach Andrea Linnelli will be making two trips to the district swim meet at Cleveland State University.
The Canfield boys will be in Div. II today and the girls will compete in Div. I on Saturday.
“I feel bad for the kids,” said Linnelli. “Usually, the boys are present to cheer for the girls and vice-versa, but it won’t work that way this year.”
For the past eight years, girls have had two divisions, but the boys only had Div. I.
“This is the first year there’s been a population of swimmers to justify going to two divisions for boys,” said Boardman coach Terry O’Halloran.
Linnelli doesn’t mind, though, because Canfield will be well-represented with 18 total qualifiers.
“Hopefully, we’ll have quite a few make it on,” Linnelli said of several boys, led by the Trebilcock brothers, Ryan King and John Stefanski.
Junior Garrett Trebilcock is seeded third in the 100 butterfly. His sophomore brother, Gavin, is qualified in the 100 breaststroke and 50 freestyle and two relays. Gavin is fifth in the 100 breast and sixth in 50 free.
Both Trebilcocks are on two relays, including the top-seeded 200 individual medley relay, along with King and Stefanski.
King, a senior, is the No. 1 seed in the 100 backstroke and No. 2 seed in the 100 freestyle. King is also on the third-seeded 200 free relay, with Stefanski and the Trebilcocks.
The fifth-seeded 400 freestyle relay of Steve Dalvin, Sam Garea, Ryan O’Malley and Stefanski has a chance to advance to state.
Stefanski is qualified in all three relays and in the 100 freestyle.
Ryan O’Malley is a sophomore and Sean O’Malley, a senior.
Garea, a senior, also qualified eighth in the 100 fly and 10th in the 200 IM. Another senior, Scott Kamenitsa, is seeded eighth in the 200 free and 10th in the 500 free.
Junior Emily King, Ryan’s sister, has an outside shot in the 50 free in Div. I, Linnelli said. She is seeded ninth. Sophomore Gia Velasquez is seeded seventh in the 100 breast.
Spartans sophomore Ashley Aldan is a district qualifier in the 100-yard butterfly after reaching state last year.
“She swam well at sectionals last week, so we’re hoping she’s going to be fast enough to qualify for state,” said O’Halloran.
Aldan is seeded fifth in the 100 freestyle (54.52) and sixth in the 100 butterfly (1:00.70).
A top-five finish at Cleveland State this weekend will guarantee a swimmer a state berth, but, depending on times in other districts in Cincinnati, Toledo and Columbus, at-large berths may become available to fill the field of 24 qualifiers.
O’Halloran was surprised that his boys 200 free relay did so well to gain a No. 5 seeding at CSU.
“I kind of figured they’d get to district, but they jumped up a couple notches,” O’Halloran said of sophomores Tommy Slagle, Carlo DeAscentis and Michael Henson and senior Dewey Slagle and their time of 1:31.37.
“I thought they’d be another year from contending at the state level,” he added.
Because Slagle wasn’t 100 percent healthy at the sectional, O’Halloran believes his swimmer should be a half-second faster this weekend.
Canfield’s Trebilcocks and O’Malleys are joined by the Boniface brothers — Joe and Nick from Cardinal Mooney — to comprise three sets of swimming siblings.
They are the sons of Mooney coach Thomas Boniface
“We’re all from the same swimming community,” said Thomas Boniface. “But the Trebilcocks are the rock stars of our area.
“We all know each other well. No matter who wins, you’re shaking hands.”
Mooney’s swimmers will compete at CSU today: Nick, a junior, in the 100 breast and 50 free and Joe, a freshman, in the 50 free and 100 backstroke.
bassetti@vindy.com