Kiera Powers leads Upper Arlington girls to state swim title three-peat

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Kiera Powers leads Upper Arlington girls to state swim title three-peat

Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch · The Columbus Dispatch

Sun, Mar 1, 2026 ·

4 min read

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CANTON – Upper Arlington girls swimmers were almost as likely to be seen dancing in the aisles at Branin Natatorium during the Division I state meet Feb. 28 as they were to pose with first-place medals – or any other medal – atop the podium.

Sophomore Kiera Powers ' wins in the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.79) and 500 freestyle (4:55.92) and a sweep of all three relays powered the Golden Bears to their third consecutive team title and 15th all-time, but Powers said staying loose was as key as dropping time.

"There is some pressure, but you forget about it, pick a really good song and start dancing," Powers said. "Having fun tricks your mind. It gives you something else to focus on. I can control having fun. I might not be able to control other times or the stress component, but I can control how much fun I have."

Jack Mahaffey of Wellington swims the boys 100 yard backstroke in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Luke DeFrancisco swims out the breaststroke leg of the boys 200 yard IM for DeSales in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Katie Drummond swims the girls 100 yard butterfly for Bexley in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Luke DeFrancisco is on the podium as state champion for DeSales, having taken the title in the boys 200 yard IM in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Katie Drummond swims the butterfly leg of the girls 200 yard medley relay for Bexley in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Genevieve Bennett touches the wall for a second place finish for Bexley in the girls 200 yard medley relay in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

The ladies of Bexley are your second place medalists in the girls 200 yard medley relayin the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Powering throught the backstroke helped Luke DeFrancisco take home the state championship for DeSales in the boys 200 yard IM in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Luke DeFrancisco of DeSales touches the wall to claim the state title in the boys 200 yard IM in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Katie Drummond of Bexley makes it to the wall for a second place finish in the girls 50 yard freestyle in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Maddie Esposito saw a sixth place finish for Columbus Acsdemy in the girls 50 yard freestyle in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Katie Drummond of Bexley is on the podium with her second place medal from the girls 50 yard freestyle in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Bexley's Kattie Drummond touch the wall and takes third place in the girls 100 yard butterfly in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Katie Drummond of Bexley shows off her third place medal from the girls 100 yard butterfly in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Jack Mahaffey of Wellington made it to the wall fist to claim the state championship in the boys 100 yard backstroke in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Jack Mahaffey of Wellington is atop the podium with his first place medal from the boys 100 yard backstroke in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Dispatch)

Hartley freshman Charlotte Galbreath finished second in both paralympic events at state Feb. 27, the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
(Dave Purpura/Columbus Dispatch)

Reese Reilly of Roger Bacon placed first with Lily Schneider of Jonathan Alder taking second in the girls 100-yard breaststroke in the finals at the OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, Feb. 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Enquirer)

Jonathan Alder's Lily Schneider finished eighth in the 200-yard freestyle at the Division II state meet Feb. 27 at Branin Natatorium in Canton.
(Dave Purpura/Columbus Dispatch)

Granville's Nolan Schneider finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle at the Division II state meet Feb. 27 at Branin Natatorium in Canton.
(Dave Purpura/Columbus Dispatch)

Austin Carpenter of St. Charles scored a first place finish in the boys 100 yard freestyle preliminaries at the OHSAA State Swimming Championships, Canton, Ohio, February 27, 2026.
(Geoff Blankenship for The Enquirer)

Upper Arlington's Griffin O'Neill finished third in the 200-yard freestyle at the Division I state meet.
(Dave Purpura/Columbus Dispatch)

Upper Arlington's Kiera Powers celebrates her Division I state championship in the 200-yard individual medley.
(Dave Purpura/Columbus Dispatch)

St. Charles senior Jake Lloyd celebrates his 50 free state championship, which he earned in a state-record time of 19.32 seconds.
(Dave Purpura/Columbus Dispatch)

Powers, who entered state seeded first in the 200 IM and second in the 500 free, dropped 1.45 seconds in the former and 0.68 of a second in the latter from the prelims Feb. 27.

"I couldn't have asked for more," she said. "I just really wanted to drop time and feel like I handled things well."

UA won the 200 medley (1:42.99), 200 free (1:33.67) and 400 free (3:24.51) relays, had 10 top-eight finishes and amassed 310 points to finish well ahead of runner-up Mason (214).

Upper Arlington's Kiera Powers shows off one of her Division I state championship medals.

Junior and North Carolina commit Maren Berg was second in the 50 free (23.09) and fourth in the 100 free (50.62), both to Olentangy Berlin senior Leah Nebraska .

"This meet is so hard after district and the prelim session," UA coach John Sands said. "That can be such a slog with all the pressure coming in that I was really, really happy with how our girls swam tonight, and it paid off.

"I don't think [Powers] was super happy last year at this meet [finishing seventh in the 200 free and eighth in the 500], and she came back very determined."

Junior Riley Hollingsworth was fifth in the 200 IM (2:05.37) and sixth in the 100 fly (55.92).

Five area teams finished in the top 10. Olentangy was fifth (123), followed by Gahanna Lincoln (seventh, 90), Worthington Kilbourne (eighth, 80) and Watterson (10th, 71.5).

Leah Nebraska of Olentangy Berlin, Maren Berg of Upper Arlington and Brooke Nagy of Olentangy finished first, second and third in the 50-yard freestyle in the Division I state meet.

Olentangy Berlin's Nebraska captures two titles

Competing about 20 miles south of where she will swim collegiately at Akron, Nebraska won the 50 free (22.84) and 100 free (49.98).

Nebraska, her program's first state champion in its eight seasons, was seeded second and fourth, respectively, in those events.

She also led off the Bears' seventh-place 200 medley relay (1:47.95).

"It's been a long journey," Nebraska said. "I was injured my freshman year and got [disqualified] my sophomore year [in the 50 free preliminaries], so to come and do this today is exciting. It's been a steady climb, but this year was super exciting. I've been training really hard. I knew I could do it. It was a matter of putting all the pieces together into my races."

Hilliard Darby's Alexis Peltcs, bottom, finishes third in the 100 breaststroke in the Division I state meet. Cincinnati Walnut Hills' Quinn Schureck, top, won and Cincinnati St. Ursula's Aubrey Buchanan was second.

Peltcs-Davidson duo shines for Hilliard Darby

Darby senior Alexis Peltcs felt it was appropriate that her last high school race resulted in standing next to one of her toughest competitors on the podium.

The Purdue signee finished third in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.04), and flanking her for the medal ceremony was junior teammate and fifth-place finisher Maddie Davidson (1:03.18). Peltcs and Davidson were fourth (2:03.87) and seventh (2:07.44), respectively, earlier in the day in the 200 IM.

"The way we support each other is really important," said Peltcs, who was 100 breast champion as a sophomore. "I just wish the best for the both of us. I think it's so cool that we just do the best we can for our school."

Davidson admitted having an eye on Peltcs during their races.

"Obviously you can see people in your peripheral [vision], but a big thing I've worked on is remembering I have a lane, staying in it and keeping my mind straight," Davidson said. "But it's awesome to see her next to me and working so hard."

Other central Ohio swimmers who reached OHSAA Division I state podium (top-eight finish)

200 medley relay:Olentangy (sixth, 1:46.48)
200 freestyle:Olivia Crock, Watkins Memorial (seventh, 1:52.55); Ellie Snider, Upper Arlington (eighth, 1:53.81)
200 individual medley:Cameron Graham, Watterson (sixth, 2:06.4)
50 free:Brooke Nagy, Olentangy (third, 23.43); Adelyn Espy, Olentangy (fourth, 23.65); Abi Goodrich, Worthington Kilbourne (fifth, 23.73)
100 fly:Nagy (fourth, 54.99); Riley Hollingsworth, UA (sixth, 55.92); Ava Dutton, Watkins Memorial (eighth, 55.36)
100 free:Alexa Briseno, Gahanna Lincoln (third, 50.2); Mia Boccio, Olentangy Orange (eighth, 52.35)
500 free:Crock (fourth, 5:02.31); Charlotte Ehret, Dublin Coffman (eighth, 5:02.31)
200 free relay:Olentangy (third, 1:35.24); Kilbourne (fourth, 1:36.35); Watterson (sixth, 1:38.03); Gahanna (seventh, 1:37.06)
100 backstroke:Briseno (third, 54.85); Laken Wenclewicz, Hilliard Davidson (fifth, 55.54); Goodrich (sixth, 55.62); Jessica Brown, Coffman (seventh, 56.1)
100 breaststroke:Grace Largent, Granville (sixth, 1:04.08)
400 free relay:Dublin Jerome (fifth, 3:32.46); Gahanna (sixth, 3:32.88); Kilbourne (eighth, 3:35.07)

(This story has been updated with new photos.)

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: Upper Arlington girls swimmers win third straight OHSAA state title

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Kiera Powers leads Upper Arlington girls to state swim title three-peat

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Olentangy Berlin's Nebraska captures two titles

Peltcs-Davidson duo shines for Hilliard Darby

Other central Ohio swimmers who reached OHSAA Division I state podium (top-eight finish)