Lady Lex dominated against the Ontario Lady Warriors on Tuesday evening. Lexington scored 109 points, while the Lady Warriors gathered 64 points. However on the boy’s side, the Warriors overtook the Minutemen scoring a total of 106 points to the Minutemen’s 77 points.
The Lady Lex began the evening with a win in the 200 yard medley relay clocking a time of 2:03.30. The relay consisted of Hannah Stevens, Sammie Basinger, Hailee Sautter, and Abbie Kaple.
After the relay, Stevens continued to win. The two-time All-Ohioan won the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:12.34 and the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:13.93. Lady Warrior Alaina Merkel finished behind Stevens in both of events with a time of 2:39.62 in the 200 yard individual medley and 1:15.90 in the 100 yard breaststroke.
Hailee Sautter of Lexington won two individual events in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 27.10 and the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:12.12. Lady Warrior Allison Chelski followed behind Sautter in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 29.56.
Ashley Basham of Lexington captured two individual wins in the 200 yard freestyle and the 500 yard freestyle. Basham clocked in at 2:12.62 in the 200 yard freestyle and 6:00.29 in the 500 yard freestyle. Head coach of the Lexington Minutemen Brock Spurling was pleased with Basham’s performance. “I thought Ashley did a very nice job in both the 200 and the 500 tonight,” said Spurling.
Lady Warrior Sami Sheppard captured a victory in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 1:13.61.
On the boys’ side, the Warriors took control of the pool. Ontario began the meet with a win in the 200 yard medley with a time of 1:48.41. Members of the relay included Tyler Watson, Steve Toth, Chad Wright, and Donovan Ruckman. The Minutemen were right behind the Warriors with a time of 1:49.15 and members of the relay included Noah Eckstein, Stephen Ward, Derek Sautter, and Nick Stricklen.
Warrior Chad Wright captured two individual wins for the evening in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:15.48 and the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:41.44. Steve Toth of Ontario won the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 24.77 and teammate Donovan Ruckman followed behind with a time of 25.30. Naz Thachenko of Ontario won the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 50.92 and Derek Sautter of Lexington finished behind Thachenko with a time of 52.52. Stephen Ward of Lexington won the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:09.53 and Thachenko followed behind with a time of 1:09.89.
In a climatic finish to the evening, the Ontario Warriors came from behind to out touch the Minutemen in the 400 yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:38.71. The relay members were Tyler Watson, Chad Wright, Naz Thachenko, and Daniel Hufford. The Minutemen finished with a time of 3:40.00 and members of the relay included Jack Bennett, Cory Strassell, Derek Sautter, and Nick Stricklen.
Head coach of the Minutemen Brock Spurling shared his thoughts on his team’s performance for the evening. “I am very pleased with how both sides did tonight. Ontario and Lexington is a great rivalry in the area and is always exciting to watch,” said Spurling.
Spurling is preparing his team for their upcoming conference championship. The OCC swimming and diving championships will take place on January 10-11 in Wooster’s Ellen Shapiro Natatorium. “We are gearing up for Christmas break training,” said Spurling. “That is always a fun time for everyone and we are getting ready for the conference meet which will take place three weeks from Saturday.”
Head coach of the Ontario Warriors Sam VanCura broke down his team’s performance. “We have a young girl’s team and I though they did well. The Lexington girls are tough team to compete against. I believe our boy’s team has an opportunity to be a great team. They showed some bright spots here tonight and they could have a very bright season,” said Vancura.
Moving forward, VanCura is also pushing for his squad to come together, “We had a serious meeting and I believe we have ironed out our problems. Overall as a team, we hung together tonight,” said VanCura.
In diving, Brooke Dingess of Lexington scored 146.35 while Evan Heth of Lexington scored 181.50.
