LEXINGTON — The Minutemen will get the chance to defend their state title.
Lexington, which won the Division II state crown in the 200 yard medley relay last year, owns the top seed in the event going into this week’s state meet at Canton’s C.T. Branin Natatorium.
The Lex quartet of Jacob Hathaway, Ivan Prykhodko, Tanner Holmes and Lucas Starling won a district title in 1:35.11, breaking the former mark of 1:35.59 by the 2019 Lexington team. The Minutemen have the fastest time by nearly a full second over No. 2 seed Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (1:36.09).
Hathaway (backstroke), Holmes (butterfly) and Starling (freestyle) were all members of the 2021 200 medley relay crew that won the state title in 1:34.66. Prykhodko (breaststroke) took over for the graduated Ben Starling.
“Throughout the year we’ve just been getting better and better at that medley,” Hathaway said after the team broke the pool record at the Malabar sectional.
Lex will be joined in the 200 medley relay by Ashland and Ontario. The Arrows (1:37.64) are seeded sixth, while the Warriors (1:41.95) are 22nd.
The top two finishers in each event at the four district tournaments automatically qualified for state. The remaining 22 state berths in each event were determined by time.
Individually, Hathaway is seeded fourth in the 100 backstroke (50.76) and fifth in the 100 freestyle (46.58). Starling is seeded 12th in the 200 freestyle (1:44.98) and 14th in the 500 free (4:49.64). Holmes is seeded 18th in the 100 butterfly (52.87) and Prykhodko is eighth in the 100 breaststroke (58.48).
The area will be well represented in the boys 1-meter diving competition. Mansfield Senior’s William Payne (383.30) is seeded fourth and will be making his second state meet appearance. Lexington’s Mitch Riegel (322.50) is seeded 11th, while teammate Owen Roth (317.50) is seeded 12th. Ashland’s Owen Lemon (290.00) is 18th and Lexington’s Mason Trittschuh (284.20) is 21st.
Ashland’s Rylan McDaniel is seeded second in the 100 breaststroke (56.20) after winning the district title by more than two seconds. McDaniel also is the no. 8 seed in the 200 individual medley (1:59.40).
Ashland’s Bailey Parson is seeded 11th in the 200 freestyle (1:44.77) and 13th in the 500 freestyle (4:48.71).
Lexington freshman Trey Nickoli and Ontario’s Evan Trumpower will join Ashland’s McDaniel and Lexington’s Prykhodko in the 100 breaststroke. Nickoli (1:00.97) is seeded 19th, while Trumpower (1:01.49) is seeded 24th.
Ontario (1:30.85) is the 18th seed in the 200 freestyle relay, while Lexington (1:31.590 is 23rd.
Lex (3:12.99) is seeded second in the 400 freestyle relay. Ashland (3:20.26) is 18th.
The state meet begins Wednesday with the Division II girls and boys diving competitions. Preliminaries for the Division II boys and girls swimming events will be Thursday afternoon with the finals set for Friday afternoon.
