Andrei Dordea dominates district swim meet to lead Wooster's huge day

It was another strong day in the pool for Andrei Dordea Saturday at the Cleveland State Division I District.

Check that, it was another strong day for the entire Wooster program.

The Generals had four boys advance and a total of six individuals, along with all three relays — helping the team to a third-place finish overall — while the girls had an individual swimmer, diver and relay all qualify for next weekend’s state championships in Canton.

Once again, it was Dordea having a banner day as he captured the district title in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events, as well as helping the 200 free and 400 free relay teams to school-record times.

The senior put together an efficient victory in the 50 free, clocking a 20.94 to outlast Normandy’s Alex Cucu, while his 100 free win came in 0.10 seconds as he recorded a 46.51 to beat Massillon Jackson’s Daniel Ham (46.61).

Dordea, along with teammates Luke Boucher, Aidan McMillan and Gabe Bosler-Kilmer, combined for a program-record 1:25.87 in taking first in the 200 free relay by nearly two full seconds, while the same group placed second in the 400 free in 3:08.83. Both groups broke the previous-best marks of 1:26.53 and 3:10.95, respectively, each set in 2020.

Along with Dordea, Bosler-Kilmer also advanced to state in the 50 free after his fifth-place swim of 21.51, as well as moving on in the 100 butterfly, thanks to a seventh-place finish of 52.27.

Boucher will also be busy this upcoming weekend in Canton as he qualified individually in the 200 individual medley, placing third in the district in 1:55.66, along with swimming on the 200 medley relay team that was sixth. The relay unit, which also included Santiago Salazar, Cooper Udell and Aidan McMillan, swam a 1:38.31.

The other individual qualifier for Wooster, senior Cole Walenciak, was third in the 500 free (4:51.57) and just missed moving on in the 200 free (8th, 1:49.50).

Salazar also was 12th in the 100 backstroke, coming up just shy of a state berth, while Udell and McMillan also came up just short of qualifying individually in the 100 fly and 50 free, respectively, each posting 14th-place finishes.

On the girls side, Colleen Frantz advanced to her second straight state meet with an impressive eighth-place finish in the 1-meter dive. After falling back to 11th overall after the semifinals, the junior regrouped to post a 371.50.

Freshman Alessandra Gerber placed fifth in the 200 IM to earn a trip to Canton, clocking a 2:12.42. Gerber, who also was ninth in the 100 free, also anchored the 200 free relay to a state appearance in 1:40.63 with teammates Miley Green, Lauren Hershberger and Piper Udell.

The 400 free relay just missed qualifying after a seventh-place showing in 3:41.41 with Gerber, Udell, Ellie Hansen and Hershberger. Udell also had top-20 finishes in both the 200 free (14th, 2:02.72) and 100 free (17th, 56.13).

Division II

Smithville’s Trei Durstine punched his ticket to state in a pair of events, while Waynedale’s Anna Pittman also advanced to highlight locals competing in the small-school division meet. Durstine was district runner-up in the 500 free, clocking a 21.70 in finishing behind University School’s Brad Perry (21.39), while the junior’s 48.72 in the 100 free was enough to earn his first career trip to state.

Pittman had an equally as impressive day as her third-place finish of 24.53 — just off the pace of Akron Hoban’s Rylee Jackson (23.56) and Gilmour Academy’s Laina Collis (23.80) — was enough to move on. The sophomore also was 15th in the 100 free (56.36), just missing a state berth.

Waynedale’s Clara Sundberg came up just short of a qualifying after an 11th-place finish of 1:11.91 in the 100 breaststroke, while Orrville’s Aleah Daugherty placed 13th in the 500 free in 5:38.23 and 13th in the 200 IM in 2:25.72. Fellow Red Rider Brenna Martin took 18th in the 100 fly in 1:07.21.

Orrville’s 400 free relay also had a strong finish, placing 17th (4:14.02).

Noah Michaels of Dalton took 21st in the 100 fly, clocking a 57.16.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Swimming & Diving: Dordea leads Wooster's record-breaking district day