Bees' Swimmer Savage Places 11th At State

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights High girls swim team got its feet wet at the 35th annual Ohio High School Athletic Association girls swimming and diving championships by qualifying both sophomore Claire Savage in the 50-yard free and its 200 free relay to the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton.

"This team has done well and has put in the hours," said Bees coach Mike Schmidt. "We have three underclassmen on that (200 free) relay."

Savage passed her first test on Friday in her preliminary heat of the 50 free.

By gaining a tie with Valerie Borger of Cincinnati Turpin for ninth with a time of 24.11 seconds in the prelims, Savage advanced to Saturday's consolation finals.

Both Savage and Borger were edged out of the final spot for the championship finals by Natalie Rohr of Kettering Fairmont, who advanced as one of eight in that heat with a qualifying time of 23.97.

On Saturday, Savage finished third in the consolation heat with a 24.15 to claim 11th in the state.

The Bees' state qualifying relay took to the water in Canton on Friday, but fell just short of returning to the Saturday finals session by finishing 17th (only the top 16 advance).

The relay team of Savage, senior Jacquelyn Zola, sophomore Kelly Roddy and junior Megan Zart had a time of 1:39.94. The final spot in the consolation finals went to North Canton Hoover with a clocking of 1:39.53.

Savage's six points from her 11th place finish in the 50 free allowed the Bees to finish in a tie for 31st with North Canton Hoover.

The Bees, who won the Southwestern Conference (SWC) regular season title and finished second to Westlake in the SWC championship meet, were one of two SWC girls' teams to score in Canton. Avon Lake, with a second-place finish from diver Morgan Srail, finished 17th with 17 points.