ONTARIO, Ohio — Chad Wright didn’t seem overly concerned after the Ontario boys swim team lost out on a sectional championship at Malabar Middle School earlier this month.
In fact, the senior All-Ohioan sounded almost pleased after Lexington claimed the sectional title.
“Nobody swam out of their minds, which is actually a good thing,” Wright said at the time. “We have our sites set on district and state. We want to be swimming our best then.”
After last weekend’s district meet at Bowling Green, it’s safe to say the Warriors accomplished their mission.
All three of Ontario’s relay teams are headed for Canton, site of this week’s state swimming and diving meet. Wright and fellow seniors Naz Tkachenko and Tyler Watson each qualified in two individual races, while Andrew Jolley and Steven Toth, along with divers Kristian Kowalski, Ty Carcione all made the cut in individual events when the Ohio High School Athletic Association released its list of state qualifiers Sunday.
The top two district finishers in each individual and relay event earned automatic state berths. The remaining 16 qualifying spots were at-large bids based on times from the state’s four district meets. The top nine divers earned automatic berths.
The Warriors’ relay teams didn’t leave anything to chance, earning automatic qualifying berths. Tkachenko (second in the 100 yard freestyle), Watson (first, 100 backstroke), Kowalski (third, one-meter diving and Carcione (ninth, one-meter diving) were Ontario’s only individual automatic qualifiers.
Wright earned at-large bids in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, while Tkachenko earned an at-large bid in he 50 freestyle to go with his automatic berth in the 100 free. Watson added an at-large invitation in the 200 freestyle to go with his automatic bid in the 100 back. Jolley qualified in the 100 butterfly, while Steven Toth advanced in the 100 breaststroke.
The sizable Ontario contingent will be joined by nearly half of the Lexington team. Of the 32 swimmers on the boys and girls rosters, 15 are state-bound.
“To have 32 kids on the roster and get 15 out, I couldn’t be happier,” Lexington coach Brock Spurling said. “This speaks volumes to the kids’ dedication and hard work.”
All three of Lexington’s boys relay teams and two of its girls quartets earned at-large bids. Derek Sautter earned a pair of automatic state berths after winning individual district titles in the 100 butterfly and the 500 freestyle. Evan Heth was second in the diving competition while freshman Kelsi Brown was runner-up in the 100 backstroke.
“Our kids have put themselves in a good position,” Spurling said. “We have some things to work on in practice this week. There is still room for improvement.”
Mansfield Christian’s Abby Reynolds and Galion’s Sam DeNero are both double state qualifiers. DeNero earned an automatic bid in the 50 freestyle after winning the district title and picked up an at-large berth in the 100 free. Reynolds was an at-large qualifier in the 50 and 100 freestyle events.
The state meet begins Wednesday with the Division II diving events. The Division II preliminaries begin at 5 p.m. Thursday and the Division II finals are at 5 p.m. Friday.
