Westlake’s Casey Hamilton played a big role in leading her Demons to a fourth consecutive title. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Demons sweep SWC titles
By Matt Pawlikowski
Sports
Published Feb. 6, 2008

Just when you thought you could count them out, well guess what? They’re back.

This was supposed to be a down year for Westlake when it came to boys swimming this season. The team graduated a talented group of seniors from last year’s SWC champs, and with only 13 members, including a large core of underclassmen, everyone was talking Brecksville,

The Bees gave it their best shot and led with two events to go. But in the end, the Demons came out on top, eking out a 293-289 win Saturday at Westlake. In layman’s terms, you couldn’t have gotten any closer, and the meet wasn’t assured until the final race was over.

It took a while to sort out the scores, but when they were announced, the place erupted. Coach Jim Walsh clinched his fists high in the air, and the kids were jumping in each other’s arms, with good reason.

In addition to being the underdogs for the first time in many years, the Demons, who went 7-0 in the regular season, also clinched a third consecutive title.

“Typically, we don’t taper for the conference meet,” said Walsh. “But we had a meeting three weeks ago and decided that because of the things that had happened to us over the course of the year, that we were going to go for it, go for the conference, and make history.”

Normally, Walsh says his boys teams shave down when it comes to post season action. But at the urging of his young squad, they decided to go for it all at conference.

“The kids really wanted this badly, and I didn’t disagree with them at all,” said Walsh. “I’m really proud of them.”

Westlake got its boost from two freshman swimmers who looked like veterans in the pool.  Jack St. Marie and Joe Craven were stalwarts for the Demons.

St. Marie won two events, taking home first in the 500 free with his 5:08.98, and also was part of the winning 200 free relay that included Bobby Knurek, Scott Bechtel, and Doug Astler. In addition, he took home second in the 200 free with a nice time of 1:54.98.

“We felt down early this year because of the seven guys who quit,” said St. Marie. “And based on the seeded times, we were slated to lose this meet by 15  points. But we kept reminding ourselves that we won all our dual meets, and that while we were the underdogs that we could pull this off. It is absolutely amazing, but we knew we could do it.”

Craven’s day was equally impressive in the pool, as he pulled a major upset in the 100 fly, besting Berea’s Pat Chadowski by a few tenths of a second with his 55.33. Then he took home third in the 100 back with a time of 59.13.

What made his feat even more incredible is the fact he had not practiced much since breaking his wrist in a touch football game on New Year’s Day.

Bobby Knurek also had a nice day,  as he was second in the 200 IM, and also struck silver in the 100 back, in addition to his first in the 200 relay. Barret Hetzel was fourth in the 100 breast.

North Olmsted took home fourth in the meet. The Eagles got a nice day from Dave Hunyh, who won the 100 breast in 1:05.36, while Jeff Mackey also struck gold with his first in the 100 free (49.97). Mackey also was second in the 50 free, while Anthony Zunno took home third in the 200 IM.

On the girls side, it was a rout for the Demons as they crushed runner-up Brecksville 461-244 to take home their fourth consecutive SWC crown. It marked the 16th overall for the girls squad.

The girls were led by junior Casey Hamilton, a two time state qualifier. She won the 100 free (55,89), and teamed with Emily Splain, Grace Pophal and Alaine Perconte to win the 200 free relay, and also took home first in the 400 free relay with Meghan Splain, Emily Splain, and Perconti. In addtion to the three firsts, she was also second in the 50 free, just being outouched at the finish.

“This feels really great,” said Hamilton. “We haven’t started to taper yet, and can’t wait to get out there for sectional and district action. Winning the conference four times in a row is amazing. We wanted to show our freshman what it is like and keep this going. I think this is a special team, and that Westlake is going to surprise some people this year.”

The Demons got off to a great start on Friday night when MacKenzie Wickliffe won the diving event in impressive fashion, scoring 455 points. But a number of Demons fared well in the meet.

Emily Stephenson was second in the 100 fly, while Meghan Splain took home second in the 100 back. Emily Splain was third in the 100 free, as was Katie Knurek in the 100 back.

Olmsted Falls also had a nice meet and took home fourth overall. The Bulldogs were led by Amanda Paliska, who is just a freshman. She took first in the 200 individual relay, also the 100 fly and became the first Bulldog to win a conference crown in swimming since the program was established in 1995.

Her win in the 200 IM was a huge surprise, as she beat defending champ Erin Graffis of North Olmsted, who was third behind Westlake’s Meghan Splain.

The Eagles took home sixth as a team and were led by diver Tiffany Platko, who was second in the meet. Graffis also took home second place in the 100 breast (1:12), while teammate Kristen Troyer was third in the 500 free with a time of 5:42.94.