Agon is the proud sponsor of all high school coverage (recruiting, results, state championships, etc.) on SwimmingWorld.com. For more information about Agon, visit their website Agonswim.com.
By Jessica Drogemuller, Swimming World College Intern
CANTON – This weekend, several swift swims occurred at the Ohio State High School Division II Championships at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. Division II finals took place on Friday night and the natatorium was packed. The crowd’s volume turned up with each herculean effort in the pool.
Hawken School has a relatively young group of girls, but that didn’t stifle them from winning the OHSAA DII title once again. This year marked their 17th consecutive first place finish at this meet and their 25th in school history.
On the men’s side, the title was earned by Cincinnati Seven Hills which had never been crowned state champs in school history. This trophy meant quite a deal to them as they stood on the podium to accept it. The men’s competition was much closer in the end, considering that not one team ruled the pool the entire time. First place finishes were spread out evenly in individual events, so in the end, it came down to the relays.
Photo Courtesy: Jessica Drogemuller
Meet Highlights
Gates Mills’ winning 200 medley relay team consisted of three juniors (Claire Doerr, Lauren Heller, and Heather Svitavsky) and one sophomore (Crile Hart). This holds great potential for another first place spot next season. In addition to this top podium position, there were four other first place finishes (200 IM, Kiley Eble’s 100 butterfly, 500 freestyle, and 100 breaststroke) that made Gates Mills’ victory possible. Their swimmers also filled many of the second and third place finishes, proving that depth comes in handy.
Cincinnati Seven Hills won both the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay, the first and the last event, starting and ending the meet as champions. Three out of the five men, Matthew Marquardt, Pierce Kieser, and Sean Gray, were on both winning relays along with Henry Marquardt and Tim Hagemeister, two of which (Gray and Kieser) will be graduating this year. Nothing is sweeter than ending your high school career with a state title.
Alexandra Wooden from Cincinnati Country Day claimed the women’s 200 free state record and was mere tenths away the pool record, blazing to the wall at 1:46.96.
The men’s 200 freestyle record now resides under the name of Jackson Higgins, a Dayton Oakwood senior. He finished with a strong 1:37.57. Higgins later won the 500 freestyle as well with a time of 4:27.05.
The top two finishers in the women’s 100 butterfly finished just hundredths apart. Kiley Eble from Gates Mills Gilmour Academy and Ragen Engel from Springfield Catholic Central swam 55.57 and 55.63 respectively. These two finished out their high school careers with an exciting race, battling all the way to the wall.
Senior, Frannie Brogan from Dover High School, won the men’s 100 breaststroke with a 55.68. Though this was a tremendous swim, he was just off of the state record of 55.54, previously set in 2011 by Andrew Malone.
For all of these swimmers, on the two winning teams especially, the bus ride home had to be full of smiles and happiness, and maybe a nap or two.
2015 Ohio State High School Division II Championships, Full Results – Results
The girls team is called Hawken School, located in Gates Mills Ohio, not Gates Mills High School….
Thanks for the correction!
Gilmour and Hawken are two different schools-both in Gates Mills.