Fallsnewspress.com - Falls swimmers close season on strong note

by Jim Isabella

Correspondent

The Northeast Division I high school district swim meet Feb. 25 at Cleveland State University left the Cuyahoga Falls coaching staff with a lot of smiles on their faces.

Though junior diver Haleigh Bartlett was the lone Black Tiger to reach the state championships at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, those swimmers who qualified for the district meet did very well.

Amanda Shackelford swam in the 50 freestyle swimming a 26.45 seconds and finishing 40th in the district.

"The coaching staff was pleased with her swim because of her attention to detail and being able to listen to the coaches and put their advice to use in the pool. The coaches look forward to working with Amanda in the future," said Falls girls coach Peter Nauman.

Morgan Lydic swam a 25.21 in the 50 free which scored her in 16th place and a 54.72 in the 100 free which placed her 17th in the district.

"This young lady has been through a great deal this year and these swims were great for her on the day of the competition. She continues to work hard and realizes her potential," Nauman said. "The feat that impressed Coach (Mike) McDonald was she already has her goals established for the post-season and next year. This young lady has a great head on her shoulders and knows what she wants from this sport." With these swims and Bartlett's district diving championship, the CFHS women scored enough points to place 24th in the district.

As for the boys, freshman Andrew Appleby impressed the coaching staff with two great swims. He swam a lifetime best of 2:03.06 in the 200 individual medley and placed 13th in the district.

Appleby followed that personal record swim with another lifetime best swim in the 100 free of 49.07 placing him again 13th overall in the district.

According to coach Mike McDonald, Appleby swam well and finished his freshman year in spectacular fashion.

"He is one of the fastest freshman in the state and is always looking ahead to figure out what he needs to do better," McDonald said.

Appleby scored enough points for the men's team to finish 28th in the district with 8 points.

McDonald said the season for both the boys and the girls was a success to the entire coaching staff.

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