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Sports

Westlake Girls Finish Third, Boys Fifth At Sectional

Joe Craven wins 100 fly; Girls trio of Splain, Smith, and Choban finish second.

The Westlake swim team took third place in the Division I girls sectional meet at Lakewood High on Saturday after seeing the Demon boys team place fifth in the Division I boys sectional meet in the same pool the day before.

With 228 points, the Demon girls placed behind champion Strongsville (475.5) and Magnificat (360). Westlake was led by a trio of second-place finishes from seniors Megan Splain in the 200 individual medley, Heather Smith in the 100 free, and junior Lauren Choban in the 100 back.

Splain had a time of 2 minutes, 17.34 seconds in the 200 IM where double winner Amanda Paliska of Olmsted Falls won in 2:15.23. Smith swam a 56.58 to place behind only Jenna Barrus of Strongsville (55.99) in the 100 free. Choban had a 1:02.21 in the 100 back where Paliska again was champ in 1:01.16.

The Demons also placed second in the 400 free relay behind Choban, Smith, Splain and sophomore Nora Lee with a time of 3:46.32, bettered only by Strongsville at 3:43.62.

"We did real well, especially just one week after our conference meet," said Westlake coach Jessica Dye. "Most of them have not tapered so we are excited about what they will do next week (districts at Cleveland State)."

A day earlier in the Division I boys sectional, the Demons were fifth as a team with 189 points where Strongsville was first with 488.5.

Leading the Demon boys was senior Joe Craven, who won the 100 fly in 52.68 and placed third in the 100 back with a 55.53.  Craven goes to the Cleveland State Division I district meet as an automatic qualifier in the fly and an at-large selection in the 100 back as the top two at each sectional receive automatic bids.

While not an automatic qualifer in either distance event, Westlake senior Jack St. Marie will most likely advance as an at-large in both the 200 free, where he was fourth in 1:52.77 and third in the 500 free with a 5:05.81.

The top Demon relay finish was fourth in the 400 free relay with a 3:28.89 using St. Marie, juniors Sean Phillips and Keith Astler and anchored by Craven.

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