Story by
Central Ohio swimmers ready to make splash at OHSAA state meet
- Story by
- Central Ohio swimmers ready to make splash at OHSAA state meet
Central Ohio swimming programs swept the Division I team championships at last year's state meet, with the Upper Arlington girls winning their second in a row and 14th all-time and St. Charles boys earning their first title in 17 years with a win in the event's final race.
Two local athletes are back at state this week to defend individual championships, and several more contributed to five relay victories.
Advertisement
Division II preliminaries are Feb. 26, followed by finals the evening of Feb. 27. Division I preliminaries are that morning, and big-school finals cap the week Feb. 28.
Here is a look at the state meet from a central Ohio perspective:
Upper Arlington sophomore Kiera Powers swims the 500-yard freestyle during the Division I district meet Feb. 21 at Ohio University. Powers is top-seeded statewide in that event.
Division I girls: Younger group leads Upper Arlington back to state
The Golden Bears racked up their usual massive point total at district Feb. 21 at Ohio University, winning five individual events and all three relays to roll up 512 points and easily outdistance second-place Olentangy (182) and third-place Watterson (179).
Younger swimmers have played a larger role than in previous years for UA, which advanced 16 individuals to state.
Advertisement
Junior and North Carolina commit Maren Berg is seeded first statewide in the 50-yard freestyle (22.85 seconds) – an event in which the top four seeds are from central Ohio – and second in the 100 free (50.28).
Sophomore Kiera Powers is top-seeded in the 200 individual medley (2:01.11) and No. 2 in the 500 free (4:56.49). She and Berg both swept their individual events at district.
Junior Riley Hollingsworth won the 100 butterfly (55.05) and is the third seed at state.
"This is a different group," coach John Sands said. "We had a lot of seniors over the past couple years, so it's been fun to watch the younger girls step up and understand that getting four girls to the state meet in every event is part of what we talk about. Doing it together instead of competing against each other is huge for our success."
Advertisement
Watterson rode a slew of secondary points to its best district finish since tying for second in 2012. Sophomore Cameron Graham's runner-up finish in the 200 IM (2:05.02) led four individuals or relays to top-four finishes for an Eagles team that finished 12th, 18th and 13th at district the past three years.
"We have a lot of good [underclassmen]," said junior Eloise Gerlach, who qualified in the 100 breaststroke and 100 free. "We have done so much and come a really long way. It's a great feeling."
St. Charles senior Jake Lloyd is the only swimmer statewide with a time of less than 20 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle (19.83).
Division I boys: St. Charles, UA prepare for tight battle
UA coach Eric Limkemann thought early in his first season with the program that the Bears could advance approximately 14 swimmers to state, and that ended up being the exact number after UA edged St. Charles 430-421 for the district title.
Advertisement
"[St. Charles'] top end is just unbelievable, so we never really thought about winning this meet," Limkemann said. "We just thought about doing our job and moving on to the state meet, and this was above what we expected to do."
UA's 400 free relay (3:02.07) earned the top seed, and the Bears got district titles from seniors Vince Masters (500 free, 4:35.17) and TJ Rucker (100 fly, 49.36) and junior Sammy DaJusta (200 free, 1:38.65).
Still, Limkemann cautioned, "St. Charles will show their pedigree" at state. The defending champions will try to build on a district meet that saw them win four individual titles and the 200 free (1:22.49) and 200 medley (1:29.79) relays.
St. Charles senior Austin Carpenter is the top seed and defending state champion in the 100 free (43.06) and top seed in the 100 breast with a state-record mark of 52.97. Senior teammate Jake Lloyd's time of 19.83 in the 50 free is the only mark statewide under 20 seconds.
Advertisement
Senior Alex Wu won the 200 IM (1:48.41) at district.
Carpenter planned to swim the 200 free in the postseason but switched back to the breaststroke.
"We were looking at the lineup and we saw that making the switch really wouldn't hurt the team at all and it favored my schedules and others too, so it was a good switch," Carpenter said. "I did want to swim the 200 free but as the season went on, the 100 breast was just the better event for me, the better option."
Division II girls: Youth propels Bexley back to state
Sophomore Katie Drummond will try to defend her 50 free title as the second seed in the event (23.26), and she is fourth in the 100 fly (55.98) to lead a Lions team that advanced nine girls to state – six of whom are freshmen or sophomores.
Advertisement
Bexley scored 482 points at district Feb. 20 to roll to its fourth straight team championship. Now the Lions, who were third at state a year ago, will try to challenge three-time defending champion Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown.
"They're so young and so eager to get to that next level of competition, see what they can do at the state level," Bexley coach Sandy Sliwowski said. "Most of them have been swimming together since they were 5 years old, from summer swim teams to different club teams. They have a good idea of how to work together.
"For me, this exceeds expectations. You don't really know how they'll do in high school because it's different from summer swimming [and] club swimming. We figure out where to place them and where they can help the team as a whole."
In addition to Drummond's two titles at district, Bexley swept the relays and got an individual title from sophomore Sophie Dankof in the 100 back (58.31).
Advertisement
Jonathan Alder senior Lily Schneider is seeded third in the 100 breast (1:03.96) after winning the event at district. Schneider also will swim the 200 free.
DeSales senior Luke DeFrancisco is the top seed in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley at the Division II state meet.
Division II boys: DeSales' DeFrancisco, Granville lead area to state
Granville used district championships in the 200 medley (1:37.55) and 400 free (3:18.95) relays and a win from Nolan Schneider in the 200 free (1:44.41) to edge Columbus Academy 288-257 for its first team title since 2020 .
DeSales has the area's top individual at state in senior Luke DeFrancisco, the top seed in the 100 breast (55.98) and 200 IM (1:49.33). DeFrancisco was second and third in those events, respectively, a year ago.
Advertisement
"He's definitely on a mission," DeSales coach Ryan Buechner said. "Coming in freshman year, (breaststroke) was not his stroke. It was his fourth best … and suddenly it became his best. It's amazing how much he's improved.
"The biggest thing is his pullouts. He's improved on how to make those much longer and get every inch out of each part of the pullout. Strength-wise, he is so much stronger that he uses that to propel himself."
Hunting Valley University School has won four straight team titles.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Central Ohio swimmers ready to race at OHSAA state championships
