Exploring dominance: Hudson rules Suburban League swimming again

Versatility and depth are the hallmarks of any quality swimming program.

Those traits have allowed Hudson to dominate Suburban League swimming since joining the conference in 2015.

The Explorers reasserted themselves Saturday at the Suburban League National Conference meet, running away with both titles at Ocasek Natatorium in Akron.

The Explorers boys lead the team race with 531 points, well ahead of second-place Stow with 328. The Hudson girls have a similar lead (558-348) over Nordonia.

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Results from the National Conference will be finalized after the diving event, which is set for Thursday at the Twinsburg Recreation Center.

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Coach Matt Davis finds the Explorers in a familiar spot — coming out of "Hell Week" with momentum for the second half of the season.

"It was a good team win. I think every one of our swimmers scored top 16 today, and that's what we pride ourselves on," he said. "We have a lot of great swimmers, but we have a lot of depth and a lot of kids that contribute. It says a lot about our program."

Evidence of that depth came from the fact the Explorers swept the relay events in both genders.

"We try to give some younger kids an opportunity today, especially on those relays to see how they responded," Davis said. "Those guys are our future."

Deep as Hudson is, it never hurts to have a leader like Carrie Caniglia. The senior was Hudson's top female swimmer, winning four conference titles.

Caniglia won the 100-yard freestyle in 54.02 seconds and dominated the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.55. She also swam as part of Hudson's winning 200 medley relay (1:54.62) and led off its 200 free relay (1:41.68).

"I'm pretty happy with how today went," Caniglia said. "I might swap the 100 [breaststroke] for the 200 [individual medley] and do the same events as last year, but we'll see. Whatever helps the team, I'll do it."

That attitude is part of why Davis loves Caniglia.

"She swims a lot of things really well," Davis said. "As I told her last year, she makes my job harder and harder because she's so good at everything. I think we'll focus on the events she swam last year. I think that's what she wants to focus on."

Speaking of switching focus, Hudson senior Andrew Ketler has traded distance for sprinting and looks locked in.

After focusing last year on the 500 freestyle, Ketler won the title in the 50 freestyle (22.88) and 100 freestyle (49.99). He also anchored Hudson's winning 200 free relay (1:32.57) and swam in the winning 400 free relay (3:23.12).

"I'm definitely in a good place going into the postseason, especially in those sprint events I haven't been swimming as much," Ketler said. "It's fun to get up and race and see what we can do, even when we've had a terrible week of practice and a terrible week of lifting. Even though we're all sore , it's fun to see what we can do."

"The one thing I've learned here in 17 years at Hudson is that when kids want to do something … they're going to put more focus into that event than maybe the event I want to see them swim," Davis said. "We have a lot of conversations."

Hudson wasn't the only team that a good meet. The Nordonia girls were among the most raucous on their way to second place, led by sophomore Emily Yorkievitz.

Yorkievitz won the tightest race of the meet, edging Hudson's Ava Sawicki by .12 seconds to win the 200 freestyle title in 1:59.18. She also was part of Nordonia's 400 free relay team that almost chased down Hudson, but set a school record of 3:46.9 while taking second.

"Our team has grown a lot over the last year," she said. "Even before I joined the team, we were nowhere near this level. Our goal this week was to have fun, cheer for our team and hopefully get second in the conference. We crushed our relays."

Nordonia coach Glen Yorkievitz, Ava's father, was just as pleased.

"It's really good just to see her happy," he said. "She's had some success in the early season, as have all our swimmers. We just have to hit the grind and see if we can keep it going."

Although the Stow boys were unable to secure any individual wins, Bulldogs coach Ryan Miller was ecstatic with his squad's progress.

"I couldn't be more proud, really. For how they're swimming right now, as tired as they are, I'm thrilled, " Miller said. "They're ahead of where I wanted them to be. We're our own program here. I'm not saying anyone doubted us, but after graduating the class we had last year ... we had a chip on our shoulder. The kids are leaps and bounds ahead of where anyone anticipated."

Stow did manage one win Saturday, as sophomore Kaitlyn Casalinova won the 50 freestyle in 25.05.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Caniglia, Ketler lead Hudson to National Conference swim dominance