State swimming: Brunswick boys medley continues to exceed expectations

The Brunswick boys 200-yard medley relay has exceeded expectations all season. The Blue Devils don't plan to stop now. Freshman Levi Hancock, sophomore Jacob Sepesy, senior Joey Sheely and senior Noah Surovey will become the first Brunswick boys relay to compete in the preliminaries of the Division I state meet Friday at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. "It's definitely a great accomplishment for me and my teammates," Sepesy said. "From the start of the season, it's been nice to think about how good our relay could be. These past few weeks, we've dropped a bunch of time and swam our best races of the year." The Blue Devils are just the beginning for Medina County competitors, as the county's four D-I schools account for 20 qualifiers. The action kicks off this afternoon in the girls' diving competition, where Highland freshman Elisabeth Lutzko and Brunswick senior Alex Burns, who finished second to Lutzko at the Northwest District, will compete. Burns is one of eight competitors for Brunswick, which won the Northwest District for a second consecutive season. The Blue Devils are led by four-event qualifiers Rylan Sheets (200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle relay and 400 free relay) and Lillian Giacomazza (50 free, 100 butterfly, 200 medley relay, 200 free relay). Cameron Briggs, Anya Dragan and Zoey Lesko qualified in two of the three relays, while Olivia Hruschak will compete in the 200 medley relay and Reagan Sherry will compete in the 400 free relay. The county's final entrant in the girls' competition is Wadsworth's Hailey Otradovec in the 50 free. On the boys' side, Highland also qualified in the 200 medley relay, as sophomore Braden Studd, junior Aaron Moore and freshmen Zachary Onopko and Jack Clark finished one spot behind Brunswick. Clark will also compete in the 200 free and 500 free, Onopko qualified in the 100 fly and Moore advanced in the 500 free. Finally, Medina's Brady Ryba is back to the state meet for a third time, competing in the 200 IM and 100 back. Manny Heming represents the Bees in the 500 free. The Blue Devils broke the school record to take fourth at the Northwest District and qualify for state with a 1:37.54. Brunswick is looking to shave even more time in hopes of qualifying for one of two finals Saturday when the field is trimmed from 24 to 16. "We're currently seeded 17th for the state meet, and obviously the top 16 make finals," said Sepesy, who swims the breaststroke leg. "We're just fixing some small, little mistakes that we could have had to drop as much time as we can from last weekend." With Hancock, a key addition, kicking things off with the backstroke before handing over to Sepesy, Sheely (fly) and Surovey (free), being counted out is nothing new to the Blue Devils. "We've always been the underdogs this whole year," Surovey said. "We started the year and nobody would have thought we'd make it to state, but we dropped seconds every meet. We've come so far, and we definitely believe that we belong and deserve it." Sheely and Surovey, who said it will be especially sweet to finish his career as a state qualifier after swimming at C.T. Branin as a freshman in the junior varsity championships, were part of the district-qualifying 200 free and 400 free relays last season. The bond between the relay members is strong, which allowed the always-fired boys to push to even greater heights. "We've grown a lot closer as a relay," Sheely said. "Last year, we weren't together as much as we are this year. We added Levi, a freshman, and he added a lot to our relay. I feel like we're all better friends this year, and that helps us push each other really well." That bond goes beyond just the boys, who feed off the girls' success and vice versa. "The boys and girls teams at Brunswick are really connected," Surovey said. "We do such good job of making practice fun. People always talk about how you have to work hard and be competitive and disciplined. I agree with that, but it's all easier to do when the people around you make it so much fun like we have on our team." The Blue Devils were also quick to credit the contributions of fifth-year coach Mike Milliken. "I would say the credit is definitely due to coach Mike," Sepesy said. "He definitely helps us build strong connections with each other and trains us to be the best swimmers possible." If Brunswick reach its goal in Friday's qualifiers, the Blue Devils will cap the season with a final high note by earning All-Ohio honors. "At the beginning of the season, I really didn't think we'd make it to state in a relay," Sheely said. "Once sectionals came around, my mindset really started to shift. "Once we figured out we could get to state and make history, we really pushed it a lot more and we're going to continue to keep pushing." Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.