Canfield’s Trebilcock advances to state swim meet in four races

Staff report

CLEVELAND

Canfield High senior Gavin Trebilcock won a gold, Boardman sophomore Ryan Bailey earned a silver and a handful of area swimmers proved their mettle at Saturday’s Division I district swim meet at Cleveland State University.

Trebilcock, an Ohio State recruit, qualified for next week’s state meet in four events. He automatically qualified in the 200-yard individual medley, the 100 breaststroke and the 200 free relay and helped the Cardinals earn an at-large bid in the 200 medley relay.

Trebilcock won the 200 IM in a season-best time of 58.99 and was fourth in the 100 breast in 58.99, also a season-best.

Senior Ryan O’Malley, Trebilcock, junior Mark Dalvin and sophomore Nick Montalto swam on the fifth-place 200 free relay.

The top five individuals/relays in each event automatically advanced to next weekend’s state meet at Branin Natatorium in Canton. Eleven at-large swimming qualifiers will be selected on the basis of times recorded in all district tournaments statewide. Those qualifiers will be announced today.

O’Malley was seventh in the 100 free and swam on the seventh-place medley relay, which finished in 1:28.21. Trebilcock swam backstroke, followed by O’Malley (breaststroke), senior Drew Wellham (butterfly) and Dalvin (freestyle).

“We swam well and had a good meet,” said Cardinals coach Andrea Linnelli. “Those guys knew at the beginning of the year that they wanted to make it in the two relays and they kept themselves motivated and dropped considerable time to get in.”

Bailey had a pair of career-best performances, finishing second in the 100 butterfly (51.32) and fifth in the 100 breast (59.40) as the Spartans placed seventh with 119.5 points.

Canfield was eighth with 116.

Bailey also swam on the sixth-place 200 free relay team, which tied Mayfield for that spot with a time of 1:28.32 to earn an at-large bid.

Joining O’Malley on the relay was senior Tommy Slagle, senior Mike Henson and senior Steven Moss.

Boardman senior Steven Brooks was sixth in the 100 back in 55.10.

“This meet is a really competitive meet and overall, we were very pleased,” said Spartans coach Terry O’Halloran. “Pleased, but never satisfied.”

On the girls side, Boardman senior Ashley Aldan was third in the 100 breast in 1:07.37.

“We got a couple kids to state and that’s always the goal,” O’Halloran said.

Warren Harding junior Alli Thirion placed fifth in the 200 free (1:56.71) and seventh in the 500 free (5:16.33).