Swimming | Aurora defeats Nordonia and Copley to complete unbeaten season

The Greenmen boys and girls swimming and dive teams were back in action on both Friday night and Saturday afternoon, with a conference championship on the line for both.

On Friday evening they faced non-conference opponent Nordonia, and while the boys won easily, the girls had a tough back-and-forth fight against a very talented Nordonia team. When the final scores were announced, the girls were able capture a tie in order to remain undefeated on the season, along with the similarly undefeated boys. All that was left in order for both teams to claim a conference championship was their re-scheduled meet on Saturday afternoon.

The following day both teams hosted Copley for the final meet of the season. A win against them would ensure the conference title for both the girls team and the boys team, but a loss by either could see it slip away. For the girls, it would be their third consecutive conference championship. For the boys, it would be their second in three years, as well as a redemption for last year, where they were close, but came up short in an unusual, COVID-altered season.

The Greenmen girls and boys were all loose on the deck and having fun before the start, but once the meet began, they were all business in wrapping up their titles. Neither the girls nor the boys wanted to leave any doubt about which team was the best in the conference, and they ensured that there would be no split championships with any other team by defeating Copley. The Aurora girls notched a 115-48 point victory, while the Aurora boys defeated Copley with a final score of 123-51.

After the scores were announced, the celebration began, with victory dives off the diving board and team photos. Athletic Director Paul Powers was present and congratulated the coaches for bringing home two more conference titles to Aurora. Coach Kelley Mehallis, in her first season as head coach, was elated for the swimmers she had worked so hard with all season.

“I am so unbelievably proud of this team and the hard work they’ve put in all season,” said Mehallis after the win. She went on to say that her assistant coaches, Whitney Leiberth and Larissa Czupik, deserve a lot of credit too, and she was “thankful for their dedication to the kids. Our team would not have been as successful without them.”

Coach Mehallis also went on to say that she is “most proud of our team morale and spirit” because the “support the team gives each other helps everyone swim faster.”

Once the pool-side celebration wrapped up, the Greenmen swimmers headed back to the buses and were given a celebratory escort by the Aurora Police Dept. with sirens on and lights flashing all the way back to the high school.

With the titles in hand, the competition ramps up from here, with sectionals on Feb. 11-12, followed by districts on Feb. 18-19, with the state championships Feb. 22-26 in Canton.

The following swimmers and relay teams scored in the top three of their events:

Girls

200 Medley Relay: 1st - Susan Zamary, Alayna Brooker, Annalise Bender, Annabelle Zamary 2:00.75; 3rd - Lyla Stock, Avery Hendl, Alexandra Yuhasz, Maggie McVicker 2:21.48

200 Freestyle: 2nd - Alexandra Yuhasz 2:28.21

200 Individual Medley: 1st - Alayna Brooker 2:18.76; 2nd - Susan Zamary 2:39.01; 3rd - Julia Sapochetti 2:40.53

50 Yard Freestyle: 1st - Annabelle Zamary 27.12; 2nd - Annalise Bender 29.20; 3rd - Maggie McVicker 29.27

100 Yard Butterfly: 1st - Annabelle Reece 1:08.83; 2nd - Julia Sapochetti 1:11.90

100 Yard Freestyle: 2nd - Annabelle Zamary 1:00.57; 3rd - Annalise Bender 1:05.75

500 Yard Freestyle: 2nd - Julia-Marie Cooch 6:11.57; 3rd - Annabelle Reece 6:23.17

200 Yard Free Relay: 1st - Susan Zamary, Julia-Marie Cooch, Annalise Bender, Annabelle Reece 1:56.64; 2nd - Julia Sapochetti, Sydney Langell Avery Hendl, Maggie McVicker 2:04.13

100 Yard Backstroke: 2nd - Susan Zamary 1:08.78; 3rd - Lyla Stock 1:21.12

100 Yard Breaststroke: 1st - Alayna Brooker 1:07.75; 2nd - Julia-Marie Cooch 1:20.30

400 Freestyle Relay: 1st - Annabelle Zamary, Julia Sapochetti, Annabelle Reece, Alayna Brooker 4:10.40; 2nd - Alexandra Yuhasz, Sydney Langell, Lyla Stock, Julia-Marie Cooch 4:35.33

Boys

200 Medley Relay: 1st - Jacob Good, Max Bailey, Connor Zamary, Jon Hybil 1:43.57; 3rd - Xander Roy, Adam Killian, Andy Ploskunak, Drew Meyer 1:55.91

200 Freestyle: 2nd - Nate New 1:59.63

200 Individual Medley: 1st - Cameron Good 2:11.79; 3rd - Ben Mulvaney 2:40.67

50 Yard Freestyle: 1st - Jacob Good 23.54; 2nd - Jon Hybil 23.75; 3rd - Nate Ruehr 24.00

100 Yard Butterfly: 1st - Connor Zamary 55.26; 2nd - Nate New 1:01.98

500 Freestyle: 2nd - Max Bailey 5:21.24

200 Free Relay: 1st - Connor Zamary, Nate Ruehr, Cameron Good, Jon Hybil 1:34.30; 2nd - Nate New, Andy Ploskunak, Drew Meyer, Jacob Good 1:37.70

100 Yard Backstroke: 1st - Connor Zamary 59.44; 2nd - Jacob Good 1:01.02

100 Yard Breaststroke: 1st - Max Bailey 1:05.29; 3rd - Chase Nessel 1:12.17

400 Free Relay: 1st - Nate New, Drew Meyer, Nate Ruehr, Cameron Good 3:37.44; 2nd - Andy Ploskunak, Porter Aardema, Ben Mulvaney, Adam Killian 4:00.57

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: The Aurora High School boys and girls swim teams are Suburban champs