The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Silver is golden at Viking
Riverside senior wins 100 butterfly; Hawken’s Hart reign in meet at Cleveland State
It might have been getting a bit lonely for Kyle Silver on Dec. 8 during the Viking Invitational.
The proverbial breadth of Painesville Township was on the Riverside senior’s shoulders alone in the Viking ‘A’ finals, as the Beavers couldn’t make a dent in one of their signature events,
the 200-yard freestyle relay, due to sickness and ACT testing.
That dent might not have come as preferred, but plenty of dents came from a program hammer in his signature event.
Silver won 100 butterfly at Cleveland State’s Busbey Natatorium with a time of 51.56 seconds.
Coming off the first individual state berth of his career last winter in Division I 100 fly, the longtime Riverside program staple turned in an impressive preChristmas swim.
Silver recorded a 23.70 opening 50, not too far off a 23.55 opener in a D-I sectional-title performance and 23.60 opener at district a year ago.
His 27.86 closer was a .03 drop from district, when he took ninth at CSU in a treacherous D-I field.
Silver is just the third Riverside swimmer since 1999 to crack the top five at Viking and first boys swimmer to do so. Bettina Hahn-Lawson was second in 200 free in 2007, and Michaela Hahn-Lawson was second in 200 IM and third in 100 breaststroke in 2003.
“Today just felt really good,” Silver said. “I was definitely thinking of those times from sectional and district last year. And it’s really nice that I’m close to those times at this point in the season. So now I know I can just take off toward the end of the season. That will be a lot of fun.
“This morning at prelims was a little shaky. I was coming up a little high. The strokes were a little short. This afternoon felt a lot more smooth. Underwaters were definitely a lot cleaner. I had an even amount of strokes, so that worked out well. So yeah, it felt good.”
Hawken junior Bainon Hart enjoyed her usual good work, taking first in 50 freestyle and second in 100 free.
Hart went 23.61 to capture 50 free, just .05 off her D-II district-championship time last season, and a 52.20 in 100 free was a .09 drop from district in 2018.
The 200 medley relay, in which Hawken took second in 1:46.29, was a tablesetter
for Hart, as she went 23.00 on her free anchor in a commendable rally bid off the wall coming home. From there, the rest of the meet went very well.
“I was really happy with my relay split earlier,” Hart said. “I was hoping to go closer to that, but still, I was happy because it’s very close to where I was last year and we’re not halfway through this season.
“I was getting really nervous for tonight. That happened, and I was like, ‘I know I can do this.’ This is my race. These are my races. I know how to do them. Getting that good time or good split, a good mood even, on the medley relay, it set up the meet so well for everyone, especially myself. Individually, it set the mood. But on a team level, I was supporting everyone else, and it was great.”
Coming soon
For much more from Viking, including Hart discussing her move in the new calendar year to Vermont, check back in the coming days on News-Herald.com and in our print edition.