2022 Swimming & Diving State Tournament Coverage

CANTON, Ohio- The Gates Mills Hawken girls swimming team captured its 24th-consecutive state title and 32nd championship overall in school history at the 2022 OHSAA Swimming State Tournament on Friday night at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. The Hawks have won the girls swimming state championship crown every year since 1999. Hawken tallied a total of 269.5 points, which was 26.5 points better than state-runner up Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown (243).

 

The Hawks compiled 10 top-five finishes including the 200-yard freestyle (1:35.00; first) and 400-yard freestyle (3:26.54; second) relays. The relay teams was led by seniors Maggie Mallett and Jessica Eden, junior Chloe Bautista, sophomore Sarah Pophal and freshman Addy Pruce. Eden took first place in the 200-yard individual medley (2:00.38) and 100-yard backstroke (54.99). Senior Tori Culotta finished first in the 500-yard freestyle (4:56.27), while sophomore Carys Edgar took fourth (5:00.15) and Pophal placed fifth (5:00.59). Edgar also finished fifth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.02). Senior Maggie Mallett finished fifth in the 100-yard freestyle (56.08) and tied for fifth in the 50-yard freestyle (23.79).

 

Hathaway Brown had nine top-10 finishes including winning both the 200-yard medley (1:44.02) and 400-yard freestyle (3:26.30) relays. The relay teams had juniors Muna Aswa, Meredith Stewart, Taplin Seelbach and sophomores Lilly and Claire Mehok. Stewart finished third in the 500-yard freestyle (4:57.85) and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.75). Lilly Mehok placed fourth in the 200-yard individual relay and sixth in the 100-yard butterfly. Claire Mehok took fifth in the 200-yard individual medley relay (2:07.83) and finished second in the 100-yard backstroke (56.16). Seelbach finished first in the 50-yard freestyle (23.24) and second in the 100-yard freestyle (51.89).

 

Cincinnati Wyoming senior Grace Courtney won the Division II girls one-meter diving competition for the second year in a row. Courtney broke her own state tournament record she set a year ago with a score of 519.10 (previous record was 485.80). The Division II girls performer of the meet was Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy senior Jessey Li. Li finished first in the 100-yard backstroke and set the state and state tournament records in the preliminary race with a time of 1:00.47. She also took first in the 100-yard freestyle (50.58) and helped her 200-yard medley (1:44.86) and 200-yard freestyle relay (1:36.70) teams each finish second.

 

CANTON, Ohio- The Hunting Valley University School boys swimming team won the seventh state title in school history at the 2022 OHSAA Swimming State Tournament on Friday night at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. The Preppers compiled 188 points over state runner-up Rocky River (156). University School returned to the champions’ podium after a three-year absence.

 

The Preppers had 10 top-10 finishes in the tournament. Both the 200-yard (1:26.92) and 400-yard (3:11.30) freestyle relay teams finished fourth. The 200-yard medley relay (1:37.21) finished in eighth place. The relays teams were comprised of senior Spencer Ernst, juniors Jack Faulkner and Ian Sullivan, sophomores Miguel Figueroa, Ben Davis, and freshman Alex Pesak. Davis took fourth place in the 200-yard induvial medley (1:53.87) and seventh in the 500-yard freestyle (4:44.31). Ernst finished sixth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:41.69). Faulkner placed seventh in the 50-yard freestyle (21.52) while junior Aiden Owens took sixth in the 200-yard individual medley (1:58.86). The Preppers also had two top-10 placers in the diving competition in junior Cameron Bizjak taking fourth place (389.85) and freshman Kyle Raymond finishing ninth (305.45).

 

Rocky River had seven top-10 finishes, including taking first place in the 200-yard (1:25.31) and 400-yard (3:09.15) freestyle relays with the team of seniors Aidan Carter, Braden Devorace, Drew Helms, and junior Mathew Stankivicz. Junior Michael Esdon finished eighth in the 200-yard (1:44.79) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:44.85). Helms and Devorace took ninth (21.63) and 10th (21.75) places in the 50-yard freestyle. The Pirates also took ninth in the 200-yard medley relay with the team of Devorace, Esdon, and juniors Nart Yilmaz and Philip Carter.

 

Huron junior Max Wasiniak won the Division II boys diving competition with a score of 427.65. The Division II boys performer of the meet was Cincinnati Indian Hill junior Gibson Holmes. Holmes earned the performer of the meet honors for a second-consecutive year, which included breaking two state tournament and state records in the 100-yard butterfly (46.77) and 200-yard individual medley (1:44.59) both set in the prelims. The junior also won the 200-yard individual medley (1:46.34), the 100-yard butterfly (46.84), and helped his 200-yard freestyle (1:26.20) and 200-yard medley (1:35.78) relay teams finish third and fifth, respectively.

 

CANTON, Ohio- The New Albany girls swimming team won its second-straight state swimming state title at the 2022 Swimming and Diving State Tournament at C.T. Branin Natatorium on Saturday night. It was a tightly contested affair between New Albany and state runner-up Upper Arlington until the Eagles were able to pull away in the last few events to win 247-218. The win also marks New Albany’s second swimming and diving state championship in school history.

 

The Eagles had 12 top-10 finishes. New Albany started off the tournament very well with senior Emma Skinner taking second place in the Division I girls diving competition with a score of 469.65. The 400-yard freestyle relay finished first (3:23.86), while the 200-yard freestyle (1:32.73) and 200-yard medley (1:32.73) relay teams finished fourth and fifth, respectively. The relay teams were comprised of sophomore Ashlyn Morr, juniors Hope Schmming, Sophia Gustafson, and Carly Meeting, and seniors Olivia Hovorka, Marisa Downs, and Ava Lachey. Meeting took home the top spots in the 50-yard freestyle (22.75) and in the 100-yard backstroke (53.31). Lachey had two other individual top-five finishes with a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (50.43) and fifth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.14). Morr finished in fifth and sixth places in the 500-yard freestyle (4:55.81) and 200-yard freestyle (1:50.68). Hovorka took eighth place in the 100-yard butterfly (56.22) while Schimming took ninth in the 100-yard backstroke.

 

Upper Arlington rivaled New Albany with 12 top-10 finishes of their own. The Golden Bears finished first, second and third in the 200-yard freestyle (2:32.61), 400-yard freestyle (3:24.50) and 200-yard medley (1:43.70) relays. The relay teams were led by seniors Riley Huddleston, Caroline Porterfield, and Avery Catalano along with junior Ava Snider, sophomores McCall Freiburger, Lizzie Oliphant and freshman Hayden Hollingsworth. Upper Arlington had multiple top-10 finishes in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events. In the 50-yard freestyle Porterfield took fourth place (23.27), Oliphant finished sixth (23.61) and Catalano followed in seventh (23.91). In the 100-yard freestyle, Huddleston finished in third place (50.90), Porterfield took fifth (51.05), Oliphant finished in eighth (51.86) and Catalano rounded out the event in 10th place (51.92). Huddleston also took fourth place in 200-yard freestyle (1:49.85) and Hollingsworth finished in ninth in the 100-yard butterfly (55.83).

 

Cincinnati Walnut Hills senior Elizabeth Noble won the Division I girls diving competition with a score of 491.80. Lewis Center Olentangy senior Martina Peroni was named the Division I girls competitor of the meet for a second-consecutive year. Peroni finished first and broke her own state tournament record, set new pool and state records in the 100-yard butterfly (52.96). The Olentangy senior also won the 200-yard individual medley (1:58.04) and helped her 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relay teams finish seventh (1:36.43) and ninth (3:31.97), respectively.

 

CANTON, Ohio- Beavercreek captured its first boys swimming state championship by a narrow margin over Cincinnati St. Xavier at the 2022 OHSAA Swimming State Tournament at C.T. Branin Natatorium on Saturday night. The Beavers clinched the state championship win in the final race of the night, which was the 400-yard freestyle relay (2:59.53). Beavercreek finished the night with 211.5 points, four points better than perennial powerhouse Cincinnati St. Xavier. It was the first time in 24 years that a team besides St. Xavier won the boys swimming state championship (1998-Toledo St. Francis deSales). It was also the first time in 35 years that a public school won the boys swimming state title (1987-Upper Arlington). Until 2022, St. Xavier had won 22 boys swimming state championships in a row.

 

In addition to the 400-yard freestyle first-place finish, Beavercreek ended the night with 10 other top-10 finishes including taking first place in the 200-yard medley (1:30.81). The relay teams were led by seniors Michael Rine, Dillon Edge, Ethan Otten and junior Luke Sullivan. Edge had two other top-two finishes on Saturday night where the senior took first place in the 200-yard freestyle (1:36.16) and second place 100-yard breaststroke (54.90). Otten captured fourth place in the 100-yard freestyle (45.12) and fifth place in the 50-yard freestyle (20.58). Rine took home second place in the 200-yard individual medley (1:49.37) and Sullivan was not far behind finishing in 10th place (1:52.43). In the 500-yard freestyle, sophomore Caleb Manning finished in sixth place (4:48.43) and Rine rounded out the top eight in eighth place (4:41.81). Sullivan finished tied for seventh in the 100-yard backstroke with Cincinnati Turpin junior Will Meyers (50.06).

 

St. Xavier started off the final day of the swimming and diving state tournament well with junior Gavin Hang finishing in third in the Division I boys one-meter diving competition with a score of 471.10. The Bombers had eight other top-10 finishes including fifth place in the 200-yard medley (1:33.35), fourth place in the 200-yard freestyle (1:23.07) and 400-yard freestyle (3:01.99) relays. The relay teams were comprised of seniors Chase Guenther, Jaeger Ellerman, Logan Tobery, William Froass, junior Luca Eckert, and sophomores Thackston McMullan, Max Ward and Alex Ingram. McMullan won the 500-yard freestyle (4:26.58) and took third in the 200-yard freestyle. Ingram finished right behind McMullan in second in the 500-yard freestyle (4:31.19) and took sixth place in the 200-yard freestyle (1:40.56). Guenther finished in eighth place in the 100-yard butterfly (50.37).

 

Solon sophomore Dominic Roberto repeated as the Division I boys diving state champion with a final score of 539.80. Mason senior Carl Bloebaum was named the Division I boys competitor of the meet. Bloebaum won the 100-yard butterfly and broke the state tournament, state, and pool records in the event with a time of 45.68. The senior also helped his 200-yard medley (1:30.87) and 400-yard freestyle (3:01.83) relay teams finish in second and third place, respectively. Bloebaum also took fourth place in the 100-yard backstroke (48.35). Overall attendance for the state tournament was 5,862.