St. X, Mason headline DI state qualifiers

John Snodgrass
Cincinnati Enquirer

With the fields set for the 2018 Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I swimming and diving championships, both St. Xavier and Mason are poised to make runs at the state team championship.

Boys

The Aquabombers enter this week’s state meet in search of their 39th swim title and 10th in a row. They certainly have the talent to achieve that goal.

Senior Justin Grender is the No. 1 seed in both the 50 Freestyle (20.20) and 100 Backstroke (47.73) after he set new district records in both events this past weekend. St. Xavier also set a new district record in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:30 – an event where they also hold the top seed at the state meet.

Joining Grender in qualifying for the 50 Free are teammates Alex Wade and John Paul Khouzam as well as Moeller senior Justin Davidson and Sycamore junior Sammy Risma.

In the backstroke nine additional local swimmers will join Grender in Canton. Kings’ Noah Young and Walnut Hills’ Aaron Sequeira will represent the Eastern Cincinnati Conference while Lakota West’s Michael Lorenz, Colerain’s Griffin Bachman and Oak Hills’ Owen Pelzer will represent the Greater Miami Conference. Two of Grender’s teammates, Nathan Buse and Will Osterman, will also compete as will Moeller’s JC Prugh.

The 200 Medley Relay is also well represented with teams from Moeller, Lakota West, Mason, Sycamore and Walnut Hills also qualifying.

Sycamore’s Carson Foster is the top seed in the both the 200 and 500 Freestyles. The Aviator junior swam times of 1:38.28 and 4:28.78 at the district meet.

In the 200 Free he will be joined by four Bombers – Jean-Pierre Khouzam, Sam Fallon, Nicholas Czepukaitis and Grady Wheeler – as well as Mason’s Ethan Devyak, Lakota East’s Jacob McDonald and Sean Ream of Walnut Hills.

Three Bombers, Nicholas Perera, Fallon and Osterman, qualified in the 500 Free along with East’s McDonald, Loveland’s Brandon Day and Kings’ Cameron Rutz.

Perera is the top qualifying seed in the 200 Individual Medley (1:49.14) and will be joined at state by teammates Ansel Froass, Scott Sobolewski and Ian Van Gorp. Lakota West’s Griffin Manning, Springboro’s Michael Sandner and Walnut Hills’ Sequeira all qualified as well.

The final event with a local representative locked in as the top seed is the 400 Freestyle Relay. Once again St. Xavier holds the top qualifying time (3:02.43). Sycamore, Mason, Moeller, Walnut Hills, Milford and Kings are also sending teams to Canton in the 400 Free Relay.

In the 100 Freestyle, St. Xavier’s Froass, Czepukaitis and Nicholas Pfeifer all qualified as did Sycamore’s Risma, Moeller’s Austin Murphy and Mason’s Devyak.

The 100 Breaststroke will feature eight locals. St. Xavier’s Sobolewski, Lakota West’s Manning and Milford’s Tyler Babinec are all top-five seeds. Walnut Hill’s Dan Cashell, Moeller’s Kevin Thibodeaux, St. Xavier’s duo of Wade and Jonathan Bernard and Springboro’s Vinnie Wolfram round out the local field.

St. X qualified four swimmers into the state 100 Butterfly field. Jean-Pierre Khouzam, Brian Robertson, Van Gorp and Buse will all represent the Bombers. Anderson’s Carter Donnells, Moeller’s Prugh and Mason’s Scott Shepherd also made the field.

Teams from St. Xavier, Milford, Moeller, Sycamore, Mason, Lakota West and Lakota East will all represent the Cincinnati-area in the 200 Freestyle Relay.

Three locals qualified for state in the 1 Meter Dive. St. Xavier senior Josh Knapke leads the way joined by Moeller’s Gavin Osterday and Mason’s Matthew Wagner.

Girls

Mason has placed second at the state meet the last two seasons. The three years prior to that? Third. The Comets are hoping to get over that hump this season and seize the state championship.

Allison Bloebaum has a great chance of helping the Comets reach that goal. Bloebaum is the top seed in both the 200 and 500 Freestyles. She swam times of 1:48.46 and 4:52.56 to win the district meet in each event. As a member of the Comets’ 200 Medley Relay she helped that team claim a district record time of 1:42.99 and secure the top seed at the state meet.

The Cincinnati-area will be well represented in the 200 Free with 13 of the event’s 24 qualifiers coming out of the region. Bloebaum, her teammate Leanna Wall, St. Ursula’s Ashley Voelkerding and Ursuline’s Megan Glass make up the top four seeds in the race. Also qualifying in the event are Kings’ Leah Luckett, Anderson’s Grace Hastings, Mason’s Aubrey Whitaker and Meredith Wolf, Turpin’s Gail Workman, Lakota West’s Grace Luebbe, Ursuline’s Maggie Sattler, St. Ursula’s Clara Keiser and Springboro’s Molly Arneson.

There’s a similar situation in the 500 Free with half the field represented by Cincinnati schools. Along with Bloebaum, the Comets qualified two additional swimmers in Ashley Lugbill and McKenzie Grau. Turpin and Lakota West qualified two swimmers each with Workman and Allison Kapostasy representing the Spartans and Luebbe and McKenzie Rice representing the Firebirds. Addition local qualifiers include St. Ursula’s Meredith Moellering, Kings’ Shannon Jelley, Anderson’s Grace Hastings, Lakota East’s Hannah Cech and Springboro’s Molly Arneson.

Joining Mason in the 200 Medley Relay will be teams from Ursuline, St. Ursula, Springboro, Kings and Turpin.

Kings junior Brynna Wolfe is the top qualifier in the 100 Backstroke. Her time of 55.37 won the district meet this past weekend. Springboro’s Maggie Clough and Abby Susec, Mason’s Wolf and Lauren Thomas, Colerain’s Hailee Trotter, Seton’s Maddy Hensler and Loveland’s Sarah Klenke will all join her in Canton.

Ursuline’s Glass is the top qualifying seed in the 200 Butterfly with a time of 54.15. St. Ursula’s duo of Voelkerding and Moellering will join Glass in Canton. As will Mason’s Kiara Anchrum and Harna Minezawa, Kings’ Jelley, Walnut Hills’ Emma Reed, Turpin’s Madeline Hart, Ursuline’s Sattler and Lakota West’s Bridget Cramer

In the 50 Freestyle, Mason qualified four swimmers – Grau, Minezawa, Kiara Anchrum and Tiana Anchrum. Springboro’s Hannah Hill and Urusline’s Bella Matesa also qualified.

Five locals qualified in the 100 Free. Mason’s Wall, St. Ursula’s Hannah Foster, King’s Luckett, Ursuline’s Matesa and Mason’s Whitaker will represent the Cincinnati area.

Four Cincinnati swimmers will compete in the 100 Breaststroke. Ursuline’s Claudia Butterfield leads the local delegation. She will be joined by her teammate Kylie Dekcer, Mason’s Reese Lugbill and Walnut Hills’ Esme Wright.

The 200 Individual Medley will feature nine locals. The field includes Anna Delgado and Foster of St. Ursula, Mason’s Thomas and Lugbill, Colerain’s Trotter, Ursuline’s Butterfield, Lakota East’s Cech, Springboro’s Clough and Kings’ Wolfe.

In the 200 Freestyle Relay, Mason, St. Ursula, Kings, Walnut Hills, Ursuline, Lakota West and Turpin all qualified teams to state.

The 400 Freestyle Relay will feature teams from Mason, St. Ursula, Ursuline, Kings, Walnut Hills, Turpin and Springboro.

Rounding out this week’s events is the 1 Meter Dive. The area’s top qualifiers are Mount Notre Dame’s Teagan Moravek and Oak Hills’ Elizabeth Cron. West  Clermont’s Morgan Southall, Loveland’s Erin Albert and Riley Bullock, Turpin’s Ali Asbury and Mount Notre Dame’s Grace Menke round out the local delegation.