Erie Mason-Ida swimming coach Andy Mosley brings alma mater to top
DUNDEE – Andy Mosley’s high school coach was Jack Michael.
The bond between Michael, the man who launched swimming at Erie Mason and turned it into a program that was respected around the state, and his pupil always has been tight.
It became even more special when Mosley was named swimming coach at Erie Mason-Ida six years ago.
“I still call him after every meet to update him on how the kids are doing,” Mosley said.
That call must have been special Saturday.
Mason-Ida which has been relegated to the backwaters of swimming for many years, took home the trophy at the Monroe County Boys Swimming Championships Saturday.
“When I took over six years ago, we were not very good,” Mosley said.
How long has it been since a Mason team won the county championship?
“I have no idea,” Mosley said. “Not in the six years since I’ve been here. … We were fourth last year.”
Mason-Ida finished with 323 points, 29 better than runner-up Milan. Dundee was third with 290, Monroe fourth with 236 and Bedford fifth with 203.
Mosley said Saturday’s title was a team effort.
More: Dundee overpowers Bedford to cap special event
“Everyone got faster,” the 1995 Mason graduate said. “We didn’t prepare for this meet at all. Our goals are the league meet and state.”
Cameron Tross led the Eagles with wins in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles,
Mason Reynolds (200, backstroke), Aaron Koehn (butterfly) were second for Mason-Ida and Nelson Brenner (200) third.
Milan’s Sam Kennedy won the butterfly in 57.75 seconds, but the Big Reds racked up most of their points on depth.
Ben Heikka was econd in the individual medley and 500 and Tadas Zukovskis placed second in the 100 and third in the 50. Gunnar Kruise (50) also was a runner-up and Matthew Johnson (backstroke), Elias Hobbs (breaststroke) took third.
“We swam very well,” Milan coach Dan Heikka said. “The boys started caring a little. I am looking for the start caring a lot.”
Dundee captured most of the individual hardware, winning nine events – including all three relays with state-qualifying times.
Drew Bylow (individual medley, backstroke) and TK Westbrook (200, 500 freestyle) were double winners, senior Jack Brunner won the breaststroke and hit a state cut for the first time and Lukas Neukirk was the diving winner.
“We had a great day,” Dundee coach Sarah Irwin said.
The problem for Irwin was that were not enough Vikings.
“We only have 17 guys,” she said. “In a meet like this, you have to get a lot of seconds, thirds and fourth.”
Bylow, who was part of two winning relays to go along with his two individual wins, was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Swimmer.
“I had four lifetime bests,” Bylow said. “All the glory goes to God.”
Bylow is a St. Mary Catholic Central student who swims for Dundee on a co-op program.
“I love representing my school,” said Bylow, who wore an SMCC varsity jacket on the deck following the meet. “Dundee has done so much for me.”
Monroe coach Erin Dowen was thrilled with the performance of her team.
“We had a great day of swimming,” she said. “We had a lot of personal bests. We had 90 more points than last year in this meet.”
Jayce Hay (IM) and Alec Adams (500) placed third to lead the Trojans.
Bedford’s leaders were Gage Blasingim (second diving), Aaron Majewski (second breaststroke) and Andy Nelson (third butterfly).
“We have a smaller team this year,” Bedford coach Holly Scheffer said. “We swam really well. I am very proud of how the boys did.”
Monroe County Boys Championships
Medley Relay: 1. Dundee (TK Westbrook, Jack Brunner, Isaak Rubley, Dallas Bensch), 1:46.22; 2. Milan, 1:46.88; 3. Monroe, 1:50.46.
200 Freestyle: 1. TK Westbrook, Dundee, 1:50.49; 2. Mason Reynolds, Mason-Ida, 1:53.14; 3. Brenner Nelson, Erie-Ida, 1:59.88; 4. Alec Adams, Monroe, 1:59.93; 5. Matthew Johnson, Milan, 2:00.13; 6. Rylan Sharus, Bedford, 2:02.98.
Individual Medley: 1. Drew Bylow, Dundee, 2:01.55; 2. Ben Heikka, Milan 2:13.89; 3. Jayce Hay, Monroe, 2:16.19; 4. Aaron Koehn, Mason-Ida, 2:17.49; 5. Bowie Jacobs, Erie-Ida, 2:18.15; 6. Garrett Wall, Erie-Ida, 2:19.82.
50 Freestyle: 1. Cameron Tross, Erie-Ida, :23.1; 2. Gunnar Kruise, Milan, 23:35; 3. Tadas Zukovskis, Milan, :23.76; 4. Jack Brunner, Dundee, :23.93; 5. Michael Gerweck, Dundee, :24.16; 6. Byland Nichols, Milan, :24.29.
Diving: 1. Lukas Neukirk, Dundee, 177.8; 2. Gage Blasingim, Bedford, 167.15; 3. Aaron Brewer, Dundee, 161.1; 4. Vishwas Joshi, Monroe, 159.6; 5. Leandro Alcantara, Mornoe, 145.65.
Butterfly: 1. Sam Kennedy, Milan, :57.75; Aaron Koehn, Mason-Ida, 1:00.27; 3. Andy Nelson, Bedford, 1:00.44; 4. Jayce Hay, Monroe, 1:01.04; 5. Isaak Rubley, Dundee, 1:01.82; 6. Brenden Perry, Mason-Ida, 1:02.94.
100 Freestyle: 1. Cameron Tross, Mason-Ida, :50.68; 2. Tadas Zukovskis, Milan, :51.93; 3. Michael Gerweck, Dundee, :53.13; 4. Garrett Wall, Mason-Ida, :53.79; 5. Brenner Nelson, Mason-Ida, :54.1; 6. Aaron Majewski, Bedford, :54.25.
500 Freestyle: 1. TK Westbrook, Dundee, 5:07.77; 2. Ben Heikka, Milan, 5:25.45; 3. Alec Adams, Monroe, 5:27.6; 4. Elias Hobbs, Milan, 5:32.08; 5. Rylan Sharkus, Milan, 5:32.08; 6. David Mills, Erie-Ida, 5:45.72.
200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Dundee (Drew Bylow, Jack Brunner, Dallas Bensch, Michael Gerweck), 1:33.22; 2. Milan, 1:33.75; 3. Erie-Ida, 1:33.84.
Backstroke: 1. Drew Bylow, Dundee, :53.08; 2. Mason Reynolds, Mason-Ida, :59.76; 3. Matthew Johnson, Milan, 1:01.49; 4. Bowie Jacobs, Mason-Ida, 1:01.49; 5. Gage Blasingim, Bedford, 1:03.23; 6. Alexander Roa-Garcia, Monroe, 1:04.57.
Breaststroke: 1. Jack Brunner, Dundee, 1:04.87; 2. Aaron Majewski, Bedford, 1:07.84; 3. Elias Hobbs, Milan, 1:08.18; 4. Joshua Riggers, Monroe, 1:08.36; 5. Parker Prior, Milan, 1:15.4; 6. Grantham Nelson, Erie-Ida, 1:17.76.
400 Freestyle Relay: 1. Dundee (Drew Bylow, Issak Rubley, TK Westbrook, Michael Gerweck) 3:27.76; 2. Erie-Ida, 3:28.48; 3. Milan, 3:28.49.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Mason-Ida brings home title in County meet; Bylow top swimmer
