Geauga County swimmers were well represented at the OHSAA Swimming State Championships at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton on Feb. 26 to Feb. 28.
Geauga County swimmers were well represented at the OHSAA Swimming State Championships at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton on Feb. 26 to Feb. 28.
Swimmers from Chagrin Falls, Chardon, Hawken and NDCL participated in the State Championships.
And tops among Geauga County swimmers was Hawken Hawks sophomore Everett Losch who won the OHSAA Div. II State Championship in the Boys 100-Yard Freestyle.
In addition, Losch also finished runner up and All-Ohio in the Boys 100-Yard Backstroke.
After winning the 100-Yard Freestyle, Losch said it was a dream come true to win the State Championship.
“I’m so honored to be here,” Losch said. “It is really a dream come true, especially winning the State Championship.”
After qualifying for the finals as the 4th seed, Losch said that he came into the 100-Yard Freestyle finals with a clear mind.
He heeded the advice of his coach, Hawken Head Swimming and Diving Coach Doug Djang as he prepared for the 100-Yard Freestyle Finals.
“Doug told me to just race and that’s what I did,” Losch said. “I didn’t focus on kick counts, that’s what I did in prelims and I didn’t do as well. (Coach Djang’s advice for the finals) helped me so much.”
The OHSAA Div. II 100-Yard Freestyle Finals was an extremely close race in which only tenths of a second separated first and second place.
To win the OHSAA Div. II State Championship in the 100-Yard Freestyle, Losch swam 44.57 which defeated runner up, Levi Priddy from Bidwell River Valley, by .19 seconds.
With such a close, competitive race, Losch said that he did not know who had won when he completed the race.
“I saw the person to my left, and I saw him and honestly had no clue,” Losch said. “Then I looked over at the board. The first thing I saw was GMH, Gates Mills Hawken, and then first. I was so happy. I still am. I was shaking for the next 20 minutes. This was something I wanted to do for so long. It’s amazing. It truly is.”
As a team, the Hawks Girls Swim Team finished as OHSAA Div. II State Runners Up. It was the 30th time in the past 31 years that the Hawks Girls Swim Team has finished either first or second in the state.
In addition, the Hawks Boys Swim Team finished 11th in Div. II.
The Hawks Girls Swim Team finished on the podium and All-Ohio in seven events including the 200-Yard Medley Relay (Mackenzie Duncan, Nina Newton, Kate Rosenbaum, and Ellery Losch – 3rd – 1:47.11), 50-Yard Freestyle (Ellery Losch – 8th – 24.39), 100-Yard Butterfly (Rosenbaum – 4th – 56.97), 100-Yard Freestyle (Newton – 6th – 52.43), 200-Yard Freestyle Relay (Ellery Losch, Duncan, Rosenbaum, Leighton Lentz – 2nd – 1:37.63), 100-Yard Backstroke (Duncan – 8th – 58.85), 400-Yard Freestyle Relay (Ellery Losch, Rosenbaum, Lentz, Newton 2nd – 3:32.9).
In addition, finishing All-Ohio for the Hawks Girls Team were Leighton Lentz (100-Yard Freestyle – 15th – 54.39; 100-Yard Backstroke – 11th – 59.49), and Nina Newton (100-Yard Breaststroke – 10th – 1:05.6).
The Hawken Boys Swim Team also finished All-Ohio in the 200-Yard Medley Relay (Losch, Ben Azok, Cal McCoy, Atlas Lorion – 11th – 1:39.06), and 400 Yard Freestyle Relay (Everett Losch, Sabih Halim, Lorion, Azok – 11th – 3:17.36).
With the Hawks successful performance at the state championships, Everett Losch reflected on how the Hawks new coaching staff had a great impact on the success of the team.
“From a team perspective, we have come so far,” Losch said. “Our Coach Doug (Djang) completely turned this team around. We weren’t here last year. We didn’t have any relays. It was just me and two others. It’s just crazy to see how much progress we have made.”
In addition to the success of the Hawks, the NDCL Lions finished on the podium in three events. Senior Brooke Dynes finished third in the state in OHSAA Div. II for the Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke (1:04.00). Dynes also finished All-Ohio in the Girls 200 Yard IM (9th – 2:11.21). In addition Max Platz finished on the podium and All-Ohio in the Boys 50-Yard Paralympic Freestyle (4th – 39.9) and the Boys 100-Yard Paralympic Backstroke (4th – 1:58.12).
After finishing on the podium and All-Ohio for the 100-Yard Breastroke, Dynes talked about swimming in the state championships.
“It’s been a great run, I’ve been so encouraged by all of my teammates and coaches,” Dynes said. “It’s really been such a blessing to be able to compete at this level and be able to make it back to finals two years in a row. All of these girls are lovely girls to compete with. They are just great competitors and great people in general.”
Finishing on the podium and earning All-Ohio for the Chagrin Falls Tigers Boys Team was Simone De Santis who finished 6th in the 200 Yard IM (1:56.42). De Santis also earned All-Ohio in the 100-Yard Butterfly (16th – 53.14).
Also earning All-Ohio Honors for the Tigers Boys Swim Team was the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay (Noah Publicover, Wade Daugherty, Adin Ignatowski, De Santis – 15th – 1:30.32) and Noah Publicover (50-Yard Freestyle – 22.35).
Earning All-Ohio Honors for the Tigers Girls Swim Team were Catherine Eagar (100-Yard Backstroke – 14th – 59.74), 200-Yard Freestyle Relay (Eagar, Hayden Schron, Anna Wardrop, Claire Simon – 16th – 1:43.48) and 200-Yard Medley Relay (Eagar, Simon, Wardrop, Schron – 15th – 1:53.11).
Toby Rogers earned All-Ohio Honors for the Chardon Hilltoppers Boys Swim Team in the 100-Yard Backstroke (5th – 51.97) and the 100-Yard Freestyle (15th – 48.46).
