MANSFIELD — Richland County will be well represented when the swimming and diving state tournament splashes down at Canton’s C.T. Branin Natatorium later this week.
Athletes from Mansfield Senior, Lexington, Ontario and St. Peter’s will be in action beginning Wednesday after strong showings at last weekend’s district tournament at Cleveland State University.
Mansfield Senior’s Hutch Blackstone won a pair of district titles, broke three school records and set the new district standard in the 100-yard breaststroke, his signature event. Blackstone’s time of 55.85 seconds in the 100 breaststroke eclipsed the former mark of 55.93 seconds set in 2008 by Toledo St. John’s Jake Epperson.
Blackstone also won the 50 freestyle in a school record 21.03 seconds. The senior and four-time All-Ohio swimmer — he also was a Division II All-Ohio first-team selection as a kicker last fall — is seeded second in the 100 breaststroke, a mere .07 behind defending state champ Ross Palazzo of Hudson (55.78).
“I wouldn’t want to be standing beside Hutch on the starting block,” Senior High coach Steve Shoenfelt said. “He has nothing to lose.
“He he had a phenomenal performance at the district tournament. In fact, he exceeded my expectations.”
Blackstone is seeded sixth in the 50 freestyle. The Division I preliminaries are set for Friday morning.
Lexington sophomore diver Evan Heth will be the first local to hit the pool after a record-setting performance at district. Heth, who piled up 415.85 points to set a new school record, is seeded fifth and will be in action Wednesday morning.
“He qualified for state last year, so for him to qualify this year didn’t surprise me,” Lex coach Brock Spurling said. “But for him to get 415 (points) and break a school record, that was surprising.”
Heth will have plenty of company in Canton. Derek Sautter qualified in both the 100 butterfly (52.55, seeded 12th) and the 500 freestyle (4:50.30, seeded 13th). Lexington’s 200 medley relay team, 200 freestyle relay team and 400 freestyle relay team also qualified. The medley relay team is seeded 18th (1:42.53), while the 200 free quartet is seeded 19th (1:31.93) and the 400 free relay team is seeded 21st (3:24.39).
“This is the first time we’ve gotten all three relay teams to state in the same year,” Spurling said. “We had a plan in place to get all three teams through and the kids bought into it.”
For Hannah Stevens, the plan is simple. The Lexington senior wants to defend her state titles in the 100 freestyle and the 100 backstroke. She is seeded first in both events by more than a second.
The Missouri-bound Stevens broke her own district records in both events last weekend in Cleveland, winning the 100 free in 49.77 seconds and destroying the field in the 100 back (53.73), a full second faster than her state meet record of 54.73 last February.
“Hannah has had a target on her back all season and she is undefeated in all of her races this year,” Spurling said. “The last five weeks, starting with the Ohio Cardinal Conference tournament, have been amazing. She set two pool records at (the OCC meet) Wooster and two more at (the sectional meet at) Malabar. Then she set two pool records last week in the district.”
Stevens is also part of Lexington’s state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay team and 400 freestyle relay team. The 200 quartet is seeded 12th (1:39.78) as is the 400 foursome (3:39.38).
“We have a good group of kids make it to Canton,” Spurling said. “The more people you have advance, the more fun it is for everyone.”
In that case, Ontario should have a good time this week, too. Juniors Chad Wright and Tyler Watson each qualified in two individual events and all three relay teams made it to Canton.
“We’re thrilled to have so many kids make it,” Ontario coach Deb Henry said. “We feel like we finally found the right combinations for our relay teams.”
Wright won the district in the 100 butterfly (51.95) and is seeded seventh going into Thursday afternoon’s Division II preliminaries. He was second in the 100 backstroke (53.80) and is seeded ninth in that event. Teammate Tyler Watson is seeded 20th in the 100 backstroke (55.26) and 23rd in the 200 freestyle (1:48.15) after winning a district title in the event last week.
Ontario’s 200 medley relay team (1:40.61) is seeded 11th after winning a district title last week. The 200 freestyle relay team took runner-up honors at district in 1:30.72 and is seeded 12th. The 400 free relay quarter (3:19.55) is seeded 15th.
St. Peter’s Anthony Schlitt will compete in the 100 breaststroke. He is seeded 22nd after finishing second at the district meet in 1:01.99.
Follow Curt Conrad on Twitter @curtjconrad.
