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Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 26F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..
Partly cloudy in the evening with more clouds for later at night. Low 19F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Updated: February 1, 2023 @ 2:56 am
Solon senior Grace Perlberg’s last Greater Cleveland Conference meet had her win two individual races and two relay races, including the 400-freestyle relay when the Comet girls broke the GCC record. The Solon girls came in second place with a team score of 402 points last Saturday at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium at Cleveland State University.
Comets’ sophomore George Libecco won two races on the boys’ side, including setting a conference record with his 100-freestyle victory. The Solon boys were the runners-up by scoring 467 points.
Solon junior Sophia Chen came in fourth place in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:15.97 and also was a member of the first-place 200-medley relay team.
Solon senior Grace Perlberg’s last Greater Cleveland Conference meet had her win two individual races and two relay races, including the 400-freestyle relay when the Comet girls broke the GCC record. The Solon girls came in second place with a team score of 402 points last Saturday at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium at Cleveland State University.
Comets’ sophomore George Libecco won two races on the boys’ side, including setting a conference record with his 100-freestyle victory. The Solon boys were the runners-up by scoring 467 points.
Solon junior Sophia Chen came in fourth place in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:15.97 and also was a member of the first-place 200-medley relay team.
The Greater Cleveland Conference really needs to make sure they list meet records in the program guide.
After the Solon Comets girls’ “A” team relay of seniors Niya Fried, Kate Molyneaux, Ava Shaker and Grace Perlberg took first place in the 400-freestyle relay with a time of 3:39.01 last Saturday, it was just another swim for them.
According to Coach David Perchinske, the Solon quartet did not realize they had just made GCC history by setting a new conference record until the announcer acknowledged the milestone while they were recognized on the podium.
“It was a very special moment for them because all four of them, Niya, Kate, Ava and Grace are seniors,” said the seventh-year coach. “I think the idea of doing it together after four years made it double special and I think that played a big role in it.”
It was a strong ending to Solon’s potentially final GCC championship where the girls finished in second place with a team score of 402 points and the boys were also runners-up by scoring 467 in a six-team field at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium at Cleveland State University.
The Comet girls finished only 35 points behind GCC champion Strongsville despite having a squad of only nine swimmers.
“The girls did a nice job with the numbers they had and I talked to them before and we just said, we knew where our numbers are at and this is what we have and we cannot change that fact but can only change how we swim so they had to rise up and perform and I felt like they did,” Perchinske said.
It marked the fourth time in the last five seasons the Solon girls took second place at the conference championship but they still have a chance to snag a share of the league banner.
The winner of the GCC meet receives a certain number of points but teams also win points when they defeat their conference foes in dual meets.
If the Solon girls can top Strongsville in their dual meet and stay undefeated in their other league dual meets, they will be crowned as co-league champions.
“If your kids can face adversity even in defeat and decide that is not how it is going to be and say we are going to rise above it, there is nothing else,” Perchinske said. “That is the absolute epitome of being a competitor and a student-athlete and being ready to do those things.”
The Comet girls won six races, headlined by the 400-freestyle relay team’s record-setting performance.
The “A” team of juniors Grace Chen, Sophia Chen, Perlberg and Fried won the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:50.34.
Fried captured first place in the 200-freestyle with a personal record of 1:57.95, followed by Shaker who took fifth place by clocking a time of 2:03.28 and Molyneaux placed seventh with a personal best 2:03.28.
Perlberg was crowned the 200-individual medley champion when she out-touched the competition with a time of 2:08.26, followed by Sophia Chen who came in fourth with a time of 2:15.97.
Junior Sophia Polyakov placed seventh in the 50-freestyle with a time of 26.92.
Grace Chen won the 100-butterfly with a personal record 1:00.02, followed by Sophia Chen who finished as the runner-up with a time of 1:00.47 and senior Hannah Jones took fourth with a time of 1:02.72.
Fried came in second in the 100-freestyle with a personal best 53.63.
Shaker placed third in the 500-freestyle with a time of 5:28.66, followed by Molyneaux who captured sixth place with a personal record 5:31.00.
The “A” team of Molyneaux, Grace Chen, Sophia Chen and Shaker snagged third place in the 200-freestyle relay with a time of 1:42.31.
Jones came in sixth place in the 100-backstroke with a time of 1:06.35.
Perlberg earned first place in the 100-breaststroke with a time of 1:06.36, followed by Grace Chen who took second with a personal record 1:08.07.
The Solon girls saved their best for last when their “A” team eclipsed the GCC record in the 400-freestyle.
“Niya led off with a 54.49 but in the individual event she was a 53.63 so we still have some nice room to improve as far as the time is concerned as well,” said Perchinske. “We took each girl aside and they did exactly what they were supposed to.”
The Solon boys’ second-place finish saw them finish 79 points behind the Mustangs for their fourth consecutive season as the runners-up at the conference championship.
“I thought it was really good for them, especially for the younger and novice swimmers to help them out and to see what everything is about and there were some younger swimmers that had some breakout swims,” said Perchinske.
The Comet boys won three races, paced by sophomore George Libecco, who set a conference record in the 100-freestyle.
The “A” team of senior Logan Solonche, sophomores Drew Yagour, Jayden Wang and Libecco won the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:40.04.
Solonche took fourth place in the 200-freestyle with a personal record of 1:51.13, followed by Wang who snagged sixth place with a lifetime best 1:57.41.
Sophomore Zach Han came in seventh place in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:18.43.
Libecco earned the top spot in the 50-freestyle with a lifetime best 21.61 seconds.
Yagour clinched third place in the 100-butterfly with a personal record 52.73.
Libecco then won the 100-freestyle with a lifetime best and conference record-setting 47.40 seconds, followed by sophomore Dylan Kotov who came in eighth place with a personal record 54.20 seconds.
“George is only a sophomore so for him to be moving that fast is great and he was pretty excited when he heard so he is looking forward to being able to compete in those events moving forward but he was pretty excited,” said Perchninske.
Solonche earned third place in the 500-freestyle with a personal best of 5:08.35, followed by Wang who took sixth with a time of 5:25.61.
The “A” team of senior Jaladi Sashank, freshman Sam Kim, Han and Kotov finished in fifth place in the 200-freestyle relay with a time of 1:40.68.
Yagour was the runner-up in the 100-backstroke with a personal record 54.28.
Senior Dandy Gong snagged fifth place in the 100-breastroke with a lifetime best 1:07.45.
The “A” team of Yagour, Solonche, Wang and Libecco took third place in the 400-freestyle relay with a time of 3:21.64.
The Comets will welcome Strongsville to the Solon High School Natatorium for a dual meet at 5 p.m. Friday, then travel to face GCC rival Medina for another conference dual meet at 2 p.m. Saturday.
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