The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bay’s Trevor Lake wins MVP of Viking Invitational
Senior named most valuable swimmer at meet
Records are made to be broken. Some may just take longer than others, and that is what Bay senior Trevor Lake showed at the 40th annual Viking Invitational at Cleveland State’s Robert F. Busbey Natatorium on Dec. 20, breaking a pair of records that stood for over 20 years en route to being named the meet’s Most Valuable Swimmer.
“I started swimming year-round, and that has helped a lot,” Lake said. “It’s helped me get a jump-start. Instead of my first month being me trying to get into shape, I’ve been able to concentrate on getting my times lower.”
Lake started his record-breaking performance in the 50 freestyle, fin- ishing in a time of 20.50, breaking the record of 20.72 set by Byron Davis of Gates Mills Hawken in 1986.
The record was the longest-standing Viking Invitational record.
Lake continued his record-breaking night in the 100 freestyle, where he finished in 45.14 seconds, breaking the previous record of 46.02, set in 1994 by Dod Wales of St. Xavier.
“It’s awesome,” Lake said. “It’s cool to think that someone’s record has been there for 20 or 30 years. It’s cool to break it. And I can only hope that maybe my records will be there for another 30 years.”
For Bay coach Kelley Knaack, Lake breaking the 50 free record held a special significance, as we was on the swim deck the night that Davis set the record in 1986.
“I was a kid on deck,” Knaack said. “I know who that guy (Davis is). I watched him set the record, and now I got to watch Trevor break it. It was awesome.”
“I even told Trevor, ‘I know who set that record, so you gotta beat it.’” Knaack said.
“Just seeing Trevor swim, you are kind of in awe. I send him first in our relays because the guys see what he’s doing, and it just gets them pumped up. He has that effect on people.”
Lake also helped the Bay 400 freestyle relay to an 11th-place finish.
While Lake was the clearcut best boys swimmer at the meet, Avon sophomore Ben Brooks and Rocky River senior Sam Stankivicz also had strong meets.
Brooks finished second in the 200 freestyle (1:43.10) and third in the 100 breaststroke (59.30). He also helped guide the Eagles to a 17thplace finish in both the 200 medley relay (1:45.92) and 400 freestyle relay.
Stankivicz took second in the 100 back (53.04) and fourth in the 100 fly (51.86). The high finish in the 100 fly was a particular surprise, as Stankivicz’s preliminary time placed him as the 10th and final entrant in the championship heat.
Other high finishers in the Morning Journal coverage area include Perkins’ Sean Mulvin (fourth, 200 free, 1:45.45; third, 100 free, 47.42), Elyria Catholic’s Kevin McCaffrey (ninth, 200 IM, 2:03.51; tenth, 100 breast, 1;03.09) and Perkins’ 200 freestyle relay team of Mulvin, Ryan Singler, Mitchell Bruer and CJ Capizzi (ninth, 1:31.81).
On the girls’ side, Rocky River junior Lauren Devorace paced the Morning Journal coverage area with a pair of second-place finishes.
Devorace took second in the 200 IM (2:07.58) and the 500 freestyle (5:00.32), in which she was narrowly edged out for first by Hawken’s Maureen Rakovec’s time of 4:59.56).
“I feel like I did pretty well,” Devorace said. “I mean, as a team we really haven’t rested at all this week. So coming in and getting two best times in my events, I feel like I did pretty well.”
Devorace was also a member of the Rocky River 200 and 400 freestyle relays that finished fifth and ninth, respectively.
“I think we did really well,” Devorace said. “Last year at the state meet, our 200 relay only did a 1:40. Today we went a 1:41, so we’re already almost down to where we were last year. I think that’s a good sign.
“Our 400 wasn’t as great, but at that point in the meet, we were all just so tired. We haven’t tapered at all, and this is one of the first big, allday meets that we have done.”
Avon junior Rachel Stark also had a successful night, placing fourth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:57.19.
“It felt good to place fourth,” Stark said. “We’ve been working really hard this season, so to finish that high midseason without any tapering, it feels good.”
Stark said that she credits her 10th-place finish in the 100 freestyle at the 2014 state meet as the reason for her successful start to the season.
“After making a run in state, I became a lot more confident in myself,” Stark said. “I used to get down on myself after races. Now I’m taking what I can get and accepting the bad with the good. I know that if I work hard and keep improving my times, making it back to state is definitely a possibility.”
Other strong performances from the Morning Journal coverage area came from Rocky River’s Flynn (fifth, 200 IM, 2:12.44; sixth, 100 fly, 59.60), Brandt (10th, 50 free, 25.97) and Laura Banks (fifth, 100 breast, 1:03.46), Amherst’s Allie Thorson (eighth, 200 free, 2:00.26; eighth, 500 free, 5:23.11), Westlake’s Maggie Guilfoyle (10th, 200 free, 2:02.53; tenth, 500 free, 5:28.09), Avon’s Erin Pettigrew (ninth, 50 free, 25.16), Avon Lake’s Catrionna Bruce (ninth, 100 fly, 1:00.01) and Libby Smith (eighth, 100 breast, 1:09.24), North Olmsted’s Ismary Puentes (eighth, 100 free, 55.18) and the Avon Lake 200 medley relay team of Kasey O’Rourke, Smith, Bruce and Brittany Menzer (10th, 1:55.61).