Strassner is first Avon swimmer to bring home a state title

Avon’s Riley Strassner in January 2013

MIDDLETOWN, March 18 – He was trailing by a hair after 50 yards and at the midway point of the 200 yard freestyle at the Class M boys swimming championships at Wesleyan University Tuesday afternoon.

But Avon sophomore Riley Strassner had a little extra in the tank. Strassner beat Brookfield’s Daniel Krentsa to the wall before the third and final turn and pulled away in the final 50 yards to become the first Avon swimmer to win a CIAC state championship with a team-record time of 1:42.94 seconds.

Strassner beat Krentsa by 0.12 of a second. “He had a real great swim,” Avon High coach Diana Cesaro said. “At the last turn, Riley nailed it. Riley beat him to the wall. It was a great race.” 

Avon finished ninth in the field of 23 teams with 252 points. It matches the Falcons’ best-ever finish in Class M. They were also ninth in 2008.

Strassner took third in the 100-yard freestyle while freshman Kyle Emery finished fourth in the 100 backstroke and senior Bill Holoman took fifth in the 100 breast stroke with a team-record performance. Avon’s 200-yard medley relay (Emery, Holoman, Matt Begley, Devon Chambers) took fifth, just a shade off the school record.

Now, the Falcons will wait for the completion of the Class LL and L meets on Wednesday. The top 24 times from the Class LL, L, M and S meets earn spots in the State Open at Yale University’s historic Kiputh Pool on Saturday, March 22.

Nearly every individual Avon swimmer swam faster at the championship meet than the qualifying trials. “We had some great swims,” Cesaro said. “Everyone was keyed up. We had a good support system. A lot of the kids who didn’t qualify came down to cheer. It was a lot of fun.”

The only other Avon athlete to win a state championship in swimming was diver Jon Feldman, who won the Class S title in 2007.

Strassner had a goal of swimming faster than 1:43 in the 200 freestyle this season. He swam a 1:45.67 in the trials and was seeded second behind Krensta.

“He has been working so hard this year,” Cesaro said. “It was exciting.” Strassner also broke the school record in the 200 free, previously held by Zach Cesaro, who swam 1:44.08 in 2012.

In the 100 freestyle, Strassner took third with a time of 47.90, breaking his own team record that he set earlier this year (48.33). Krensta barely beat him for second place in 47.54 seconds. Emery took 15th in the race with a time of 51.27 seconds.

Strassner earned All-State honors with his two top three finishers. The top three individuals and top two relays in each event earn All-State recognition.

Emery’s best race came in the 100 backstroke, where he was fourth with a time of 55.97 seconds. He slipped off the wall at the start and had to make up time. He was less than a 0.3 of second off his qualifying time. Freshman Stephen Pang and senior Katherine Emery also scored in the race with season-best times. Pang was 17th with a time of 1:00.22 while Katherine Emery was 22nd with a time of 1:00.71.

In the 100 breast stroke, Holoman brought home a medal with a fifth place finish in 1:01.58, a new team record and about 1.4 seconds better than his qualifying time. He broke the record of 1:02.04 set by John Hla in 2011.

Avon’s 200 medley relay (Emery, Holoman, Begley, Chambers) was fifth in 1:43.35, a shade of its school-record performance of 1:42.95 in the Class M trials, and nearly two seconds ahead of Notre Dame-West Haven.

Avon’s 400 freestyle relay (Emery, Begley, Erin Hartigan, Strassner) was 12th in 3:30.61 while the 200 freestyle relay (Stephen DelGallo, Fabrizio Tropea, Sam Mallery, Chambers) was 14th in 1:39.37.

Other swimmers scoring points for Avon were Pang, who had a season-best time of 2:12.19 to finish 17th in the 200 IM and Hartigan, who was 19th in 2:13.64.

Hartigan, a senior, was 18th in the 500 freestyle with a school-record time of 5:16.59. She broke her own record of 5:20 that she set in February at the Splash Classic.

The top 24 swimmers in each event qualify for the Class M finals and each earn points.

Brookfield (646.5) easily won its third straight Class M championship and its fourth title in the last five years. East Lyme (475) was second with Torrington (361) in third place.

NOTE: Before Strassner, the closest an Avon swimmer had come to winning a state championship was Chris Xistris, who finished second in the 200 IM and 500 freestyle at the 1995 Class S championships.

2014 Class M results