The Corry Beaver boy's swimming and diving team competed in the 39th annual Iroquois Coaches Association Boy's swimming and diving invitational Saturday at Iroquois High School. There were 13 schools represented at the 2023 competition including the returning team champion Fairview Tigers. The Beavers looked to improve upon their 2022 showing where they finished 9th overall. 

The competition consisted of two sessions beginning with the preliminary events where athletes would compete for the top 12 spots to advance to the evening finals where they could score valuable team points. The Beavers entered 10 swimmers into this years preliminary competition with 6 finding their way into the finals. 

The Beavers opened up the morning prelim heats with a big time drop in the 200 Medley relay where they improved four spots, qualifying for the championship finals in the third position with a time of 1:47.43. The Beavers proceeded to ride that momentum qualifying two more relays into the finals. The 200 Freestyle relay clocked in 6th at 1:37.87 while the 400 Freestyle relay found their way to the 9 spot in the consolation final with a time of 3:55.36. 

Individually, Senior Jonathan Albers and Sophomore Logan Amy each found their way into the championship A final (1st thru 6th) in an event and the consolation B final (7th thru 12th) in an event as well. Albers qualified 6th in the 50 freestyle (23.48) and 7th in the 100 freestyle (52.83) while Amy qualified 2nd in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.66) and 8th in the 200 IM (2:24.35).

The Beavers also had some big time drops and close finishes in the morning preliminary session. Senior Aiden Knapp was a part of all three finals qualifying relays and also finished 13th in the 100 freestyle where he qualified for the District 10 championships. Brandon Jackson narrowly missed making the finals in the 100 Breaststroke, finishing 14th place with a District 10 championship qualifying time. Gavin Maleski improved his place and times in the morning finishing 20th in the 100 freestyle and 21st in the 50 freestyle. Jameson Dyne dropped some time in both of his individual events including a 7 second drop in the 100 Backstroke where he finished 19th. Other notable drops came from Tyler Aderhold and Levi Merrill in the 100 freestyle and Apache Swanson in the 50 freestyle. 

In the finals, the Beavers successfully improved on their 2022 9th place team finish with a 7th place effort. The Medley relay kicked off the evening improving a spot to finish 2nd place, making the award podium. The relay consisted of Levi Ehrhart, Logan Amy, Jonathan Albers, and Aiden Knapp. The four then proceeded to hold their 6th place spot in the 200 Freestyle relay. Then to cap off the evening, the Beavers 400 Freestyle relay of Levi Ehrhart, Gavin Maleski, Brandon Jackson, and Aiden Knapp dropped a couple of seconds from their prelim time and finished 10th place. 

Jonathan Albers held his preliminary positions in both of his events. He repeated his time of 23.48 in the 50 freestyle finishing 6th place. He then won the consolation final to finish 7th in the 100 freestyle (52.76). Logan Amy held his ground in the 200 IM finishing 8th with a 2:24.68. In the 100 breaststroke, he dropped a spot to finish 3rd overall at 1:06.80. 

The Union City Bears were well represented in the finals with Senior Tanner Pike garnishing a 5th place award in the 100 Breaststroke (1:07.85) and also an 8th place finish in the 50 freestyle (23.57). The Bears 200 Medley relay of Caleb Daubenspeck, Tanner Pike, Ryan Himrod, and Joseph Galbraith finished 5th overall, once again breaking their school record with a time of 1:52.30. The four also teamed up to finish 8th in the 200 freestyle relay (1:39.49). 

Sharon's Junior Mark Cattron was the meet's most valuable swimmer, winning the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. His time of 1:43.81 shattered the 8 year old meet record of 1:45.58 held by Mercyhurst Preps Griffin Shaetzle. 

The Beavers will be back in action Monday evening at the YMCA of Corry's Arlene and Bruce Smith Natatorium where they will host the Girard Yellowjackets in Region 2 competition.