Clearfield swim teams sweep Brookville
Friday, January 22, 2010
By Josh Mlot Sports Writer
HYDE - A new guard served notice of its arrival Thursday at Robert L. Shearer Natatorium.
Lady Bison freshman diver Jessica Shomo may have been an unknown quantity to other teams, and even to herself, thus far this season, but she won't be overlooked anymore. Shomo dove her way to a 189.60, while unseating the defending regional champion in the main highlight of a night full of victories for the Clearfield swimming and diving team, which swept the visiting Blue Raiders 125-58 (boys) and 106-80 (girls).
"Jessica was a surprise to a lot of teams this year," Clearfield diving coach Chad Gearhart said. "We set up a lineup and I told her, ‘Just go out and do your best and we'll see what happens.'"
The rookie diver jumped with a poise that belied her true experience, going toe-to-toe with Brookville's Jamie Hays, the top diver in the region a year ago. The two girls had a nearly identical set of dives, leaving Shomo with a task easier said than done - simply out-dive the champ.
"Jessica would step up and say, ‘OK, I have to do the same dive and I have to do it as good as that one,'" Gearhart said. "She came through throughout the night and, being a freshman, showed a lot of poise."
She consistently matched Hays, a junior, and posted the highest individual judge's score of the night with a 7.0 midway through the 1-meter event. And when things went final, Shomo had topped Hays' 180.60.
"She really didn't know what she was getting into," Gearhart said. "She was just ecstatic when she found out the score."
"She really doesn't have a grasp of what's happening around her," head swimming coach Jackie Morrison said, "which might be a good thing."
The rest of the male and female divers did their part as well to contribute to the team victory. Sarah Lowder finished third for the Lady Bisons, posting a 140.75.
"The girls are starting to come together as a team and they're starting to push themselves a lot more," Gearhart said.
"For Sarah Lowder, she posted a nice score for how much difficulty she threw tonight. It wasn't a lot, but it was very solid scoring with some bright spots."
For the boys, junior Elliot Lauder was the top diver, ahead of teammate Jason Maines, as he leapt to a 143.35. Garrett Lauder added a third-place result.
"Elliot Lauder, something's clicked with him," Gearhart said. "He's really come around and he's posted some good scores and I think he'll be tough the rest of the year."
But while the diving stole the show, the dual meet was filled with quality efforts from Clearfield. The hosts won all but two events on the night.
"We swam much better tonight than we did Monday night (against DuBois)," Morrison said. "We just had a much better meet.
"We knew that Brookville had upset Bradford, which hasn't happened since I've been coaching. We knew that they were going to come in fired up. ... I said, ‘They're coming gunning for you. How are you going to respond?'"
Clearfield answered with some top-notch swims, most notably from Jordan Mumma and Clairisse Peterson.
Mumma took on Brookville's freshman gun, Justin Ransel, in the 50 free and 100 free, and topped him both times. The junior's 50.86 in the 100 free was a career-best dead start for him in the event.
"Jordan Mumma had some battles tonight and I thought that he did a nice job," Morrison said. "(Brookville's) got a freshman boy that can stay right with him, so he wanted to make a statement. It's not over yet, though. There'll be a return trip on (Ransel's) turf."
Peterson answered the call for the Lady Bisons, fighting through illness to post a comeback victory in the 500 free. Trailing for much of the race, the sophomore found a second wind, driving to the front with a finishing punch on the final lap to pull out the victory by just over a second.
"I thought Clairisse Peterson, who was a little under the weather tonight, really battled tonight in the 500," Morrison said. "She didn't give up on it. She was pretty far back for a while and she came back. ... Now she knows when she's not 100 percent, she can do things."
Brandie Centi was a dual winner for the girls, taking the top spot in a close 50 free and again in the 100 free, and Juliana Mellgard joined the double-dip club thanks to a 2:17.21 in the 200 free and a career-best 1:18.73 in the 100 breast.
Ashley Durandetta (100 back) and Kaylee Bowser (100 fly) were both individual victors.
"I would say on the girls side there's as much parity with the five District 9 teams as there's ever been," Morrison said. "That's going to make for some fun, exciting meets, which means that the kids are going to be into them more and they're going to be put under pressure more. I think that's going to be useful ... in the coming years.
"The big five - Brandie, Ashley, Kaylee, Clairisse and Juliana - they need to step up. They all need to be on. Without them, we will struggle until we grow and develop."
For the boys, Alex Fisher, Kraig Peterson and Connor Shirey topped the field twice, as Fisher controlled the 200 IM and 100 breast, Peterson took the 100 back and 100 fly and Shirey hit the wall first in the 200 free and 500 free - an event he had never competed in before.
"Connor stepped up and got out of his comfort zone and did a really good job," Morrison said. "He's never done the 500 before. He escaped for three years."
The evening's dominance continued in the relay events, as Durandetta, Mellgard, Bowser and Centi took a 6-second margin of victory in the 200 medley relay, and Centi, Peterson, Mellgard and Candise Day bested the rest in the 200 free relay.
The boys' teams were even better, winning all three relay events - 200 medley (Fisher, Peterson, Mumma and Caleb Baas), 200 free (Mumma, Peterson, Fisher, Shirey) and 400 free (Shirey, Baas, Dylan Swisher and Andrew Smith).
Clearfield is back in the pool on Monday, hitting the road to take on district front-runner St. Marys.
NOTES: Tori McAllister posted two career bests, including a time drop in the 100 back for the second straight meet. Her 1:17.19 in the event was just off the regional qualifying time. Boys
Clearfield 125, Brookville 58
200 MR: 1. Clearfield (Baas, Fisher, Peterson, Mumma), 1:49.78; 2. Brookville; 3. Brookville. 200 Free: 1. Shirey, C, 2:02.83; 2. Baas, C; 3. Beatty, B. 200 IM: 1. Fisher, C, 2:17.94; 2. Hale, B; 3. Swoope, C. 50 Free: 1. Mumma, C, 23.28; 2. Ransel, B; 3. Slimak, B. Diving: 1. E. Lauder, C, 143.35; 2. Maines, C; 3. G. Lauder, C. 100 Fly: 1. Peterson, C, 58.87; 2. Hale, B; 3. Swoope, C. 100 Free: 1. Mumma, C, 50.86; 2. Ransel, B; 3. Hetrick, B. 500 Free: 1. Shirey, C, 5:42.92; 2. Swisher, C; 3. Stiles, C. 200 FR: 1. Clearfield (Mumma, Peterson, Fisher, Shirey), 1:38.00; 2. Brookville; 3. Brookville. 100 Back: 1. Peterson, C, 1:02.64; 2. Baas, C; 3. Slimak, B. 100 Breast: 1. Fisher, C, 1:07.73; 2. Ananea, B; 3. Rollin, C. 400 FR: 1. Clearfield (Shirey, Baas, Swisher, Smith), 4:04.98; 2. Brookville; 3. Clearfield. Girls
Clearfield 106, Brookville 80
200 MR: 1. Clearfield (Durandetta, Mellgard, Bowser, Centi), 2:07.19; 2. Brookville; 3. Clearfield. 200 Free: 1. Mellgard, C, 2:17.21; 2. Ransel, B; 3. Thompson, B. 200 IM: 1. Hetrick, B, 2:38.73; 2. Durandetta, C; 3. Bowser, C. 50 Free: 1. Centi, C, 26.83; 2. Hays, B; 3. Turner, C. Diving: 1. Shomo, C, 189.60; 2. Hays, B; 3. Lowder, C. 100 Fly: 1. Bowser, C, 1:12.21; 2. Ransel, B; 3. M. Ruffner, B. 100 Free: 1. Centi, C, 1:00.44; 2. Foulkrod, B; 3. Turner, C. 500 Free: 1. Peterson, C, 6:22.43; 2. Thompson, B; 3. Lumadue, C. 200 FR: 1. Clearfield (Centi, Peterson, Day, Mellgard), 1:56.89; 2. Brookville; 3. Clearfield. 100 Back: 1. Durandetta, C, 1:11.88; 2. Hetrick, B; 3. McAllister, C. 100 Breast: 1. Mellgard, C, 1:18.73; 2. M. Ruffner, B; 3. A. Ruffner. 400 FR: 1. Brookville, 4:18.42; 2. Clearfield; 3. Brookville.
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