The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mayfield senior finds redemption at CSU
The table in the corridor of Busbey Natatorium on which Mayfield senior Gianna Ferrante sat and lamented what could have been last winter after 200-yard individual medley at the Division I Cleveland State District wasn’t there this year.
After her 200 IM on Feb. 16 at CSU, along with the usual strong work on relays, the table wasn’t the only thing that was cast aside.
So was the weight that moment entailed one year ago, replaced by a moment for elation.
Ferrante turned in the premier 200 IM of her decorated career to earn the lone automatic berth by a D-I swimmer from The News-Herald coverage area, taking second with a time of 2 minutes, 4.30 seconds.
The longtime program staple also split beautifully on the Wildcats’ 200 medley, 200 freestyle and 400 free relays. Ferrante had splits of 29.17 on breaststroke on the fifth-place 200 medley (1:46.28), 23.80 to anchor the fourth-place 200 free relay (1:38.03) and a 51.63 anchor for an exclamation on 400 free relay, which was fourth with a 3:33.67.
According to projections prior to the OHSAA releasing official psych sheets, all three Mayfield girls relays will qualify as at-larges for state next weekend in Canton.
The 400 free relay had a 1.09 drop from when it was fifth at district a year ago.
“I think it’s awesome,” Ferrante said of 400 free relay. “It’s a huge confidence boost, seeing that we were that much faster than last year and that we made it last year.
“I just think we don’t have anything to worry about. All the stress, everything is over.”
In 2018, Ferrante recorded a 2:07.24 to take sixth at district, a swim with which she was clearly yearning for more. While she did advance to state in 200 IM, taking 15th in the D-I ‘B’ final, she admittedly took that district swim hard.
Ferrante is the fourth Mayfield girls swimmer in the last 20 years to crack the top two at district individually — and it’s pretty good company: Alana Arnold, Erin Abbey and Jen Nemeth.
“One-hundred percent,” Ferrante said when asked if the day felt like redemption. “I think the fact that we were in relays has a lot to do with the amount of stress put on our shoulders. We all have one less individual event to worry about. We got to focus on just that one. We were in most of our events, and we did it together.
“So we had each other to rely on. I came into this
meet not really nervous, and that kind of scared me. So last night, I was kind of like, ‘Oh gosh, I have to get nervous. I have to be nervous.’ But I just wasn’t. Everything just went so smoothly today.”
Riverside’s Kyle Silver managed a tough back-toback nicely, taking fourth in 50 free with a 21.63 and third in 100 fly with a 49.81.
His fly, which projections place the Beavers’ senior standout as the top at-large qualifier in Ohio, featured a 26.72 closer that was a 1.17 drop from CSU a year ago, when he was ninth.
“That is really nice to see,” Silver said. “Getting that sub-50 mark, that’s been my goal forever. So it’s really great to see that. It’s really nice. I’ve just been working my underwaters and working my walls, working my swim, so it all just kind of came together.
“For me, each length is about feeling really smooth, really strong, and nothing going bad. Everything just works out well. It just feels good when you finish. You can tell when you go a fast time, even after the first 50.”
According to projections, other area D-I swimmers headed to state as at-larges are Riverside’s Charles Marshall (100 back) and boys 200 medley relay, Kenston’s Billy Glime (100 back) and Chardon’s girls 200 free and 400 free relays.