CANTON, Ohio — Sam DeNero wasn’t the first swimmer into the pool Friday evening, but Galion’s sprint ace was almost first to the wall.
A senior, DeNero broke his own school record in the 50 yard freestyle, finishing third in 21.20 seconds during the Division II finals of the state swimming and diving championships at C.T. Branin Natatorium.
Bay Village Bay’s Trevor Lake defended his state title in the 50 in 20.60. Cincinnati Indian Hills’ Sam Vester was a surprise runner-up in 21.09.
DeNero was seeded second going into Friday’s final after touching the wall in 21.22 during Thursday’s preliminaries. He broke the school record he set at last year’s state meet when he finished third in 21.38.
The 6-foot-5 DeNero is a notoriously slow starter. He had made up the deficit by the time the field made the turn.
“My coach (Ted Temple) says I’m always the last off the blocks and first out of the water,” DeNero said. “My length definitely helps, especially with the longer reach.”
Given the unpredictability of the 50, DeNero couldn’t have been happier with his finish.
“In the 50, anything can happen,” DeNero said. “Even if you make one mistake it can cost you. I don’t think I screwed anything up.
“I can’t be disappointed because I still dropped time.”
Out in Style: Ontario finished ninth in the boys standings for a second straight year. The Warriors piled up 88 points, capped by a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Jimmy Sheldon, Naz Tkachenko, Tyler Watson and Chad Wright finished in 1:27.3.
“That was our best finish. We got sixth last year,” Tkackenko said. “Last year we had two guys make it in individual events and this year we had five guys make it in individual events and three of them came back in their events in the consolation finals.”
Tkachenko was one of them. He finished ninth in the 50 freestyle and 13th in the 100 free (DeNero was 12th). Watson was 15th in the 200 freestyle and 12th in the 100 backstroke, while Wright was 16th in the 100 butterfly and 13th in the 100 backstroke.
The 200 medley relay team of Andrew Jolley, Steven Toth, Kyle Cordrey and Jared Watson earned a spot on the podium with an eighth-place finish.
Friday marked the end of an era at Ontario. The wildly talented senior class spent the past four years authoring arguably the most storied chapter in program history.
“It hit me today for sure. It hit me behind the blocks,” Tkachenko said. “I wanted to go out strong in my final swim in my high school career.”
Emotional Ending: Lexington senior Derek Sautter finished 15th in the 100 butterfly and the 500 freestyle. Sautter, who qualified for state all four years, said emotions got the best of him after the 500.
“I did a lot of reflecting when I was officially done,” Sautter said. “It’s been a long ride and a lot of fun, too.
“After I got done with the 500, all those emotions came pouring out. It was crazy.”
Sautter was also a member of Lexington’s 200 medley relay team, along with Stephen Ward, Noah Eckstein and Nick Stricken. The foursome finished 15, as did the girls medley quartet of Kelsi Brown, Alaina Merkel, Ashley Basham and Abbie Kaple.
Diving: Lexington’s Even Heth kicked off the state tournament with a third-place finish in the one-meter diving event Wednesday. Ontario’s Kristian Kowalski was fifth.
