CANTON — The celebration was subdued compared to last year, but the state championship was every bit as satisfying.
Lexington’s boys 200 yard medley relay team of Jacob Hathaway, Ivan Prykhodko, Tanner Holmes and Lucas Starling defended their title during the Division II finals of the state swimming and diving tournament Friday at C.T. Branin Natatorium.
The Lex quartet, which turned in the fastest time during Thursday’s preliminaries, finished in 1:34.99 seconds. Gates Mills Hawken (1:35.37) was second.
Seniors Hathaway, Holmes and Starling were all members of last year’s 200 medley relay crew, the first to win a state championship in program history in a school-record 1:34.66. Prykhodko replaced Ben Starling and the Minutemen never missed a beat.
Backstroker Hathaway hit the water first before giving way to Prykhodko (breaststroke). Holmes (butterfly) and Starling (freestyle) followed.
“It’s really special for all of us, that’s for sure,” Holmes said. “Any state win is very exciting. Senior year is definitely something special but it was very thrilling both times.”
Starling agreed.
“Last year was a surprise to be in the position that we were,” Starling said. “This year we had a target on our back. The competition stepped up to the challenge and really gave us a run for our money.”
For Prykhodko, joining an established and veteran relay team came with some pressure.
“The pressure kind of came off after (Thursday’s) prelims,” Prykhodko said. “I wasn’t really thinking at all during that moment. I was really excited to swim.”
The relay crew exceeded their own lofty goals, Hathaway said.
“All of us had high expectations coming into this,” said Hathaway, who joined Wilson Cannon as just the second Lex male swimmer to earn a medal in four events. “There were three returning seniors so we thought we could do it. We had to put it together, which we did. It’s kind of crazy.”
Individually, Hathaway finished fifth in the 100 freestyle (46.69) and fourth in the 100 backstroke (51.15). He was a member of the 400 freestyle relay team that placed sixth in 3:12.64. He was joined by. Starling, Holmes and Isaac McFadden.
Starling placed 12th in the 200 freestyle (1:45.30) and 15th in the 500 freestyle (4:52.46). Holmes was 16th in the 100 butterfly (53.20), while Prykhodko was ninth in the 100 breaststroke (59.75).
Ontario’s Brie Trumpower was eighth in the 200 freestyle (1:56.26) and 12th in the 100 free (53.47). She joined with Shelby Keever, Tiffany Whittaker and Ava Ruhe to place eighth in the 200 free relay (1:39.52) and 13th in the 400 freestyle relay (3:42.49).
Ashland’s Rylan McDaniel came within a fraction of a second of winning a state title in the 100 breaststroke. The Ohio State-bound senior was second in an personal-record 55.17 and also placed seventh in the 200 individual medley (1:58.91.
McDaniel was joined by Bailey Parsons, Lukah Will and Seth Will on Ashland’s 200 medley relay team. The Arrows were fourth in 1:35.67.
Ashland’s 400 free relay team of Parsons, Lukah Will, Noah Danison and McDaniel was 16th in 3:23.56.
Parsons was seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:43.14) and 10th in the 500 free (4:44.56).
Galion’s Troie Grubbs capped her career in style, finishing fourth in both the 50 free (23.76) and the 100 free (52.33).
Shelby’s Reyna Hoffman was 16th in the 100 backstroke (1:00.45) and joined with Elli Mayer, Riley Lewis and Emma Montgomery to finish 13th in the 200 freestyle relay (1:41.11).
Ontario’s boys 200 freestyle relay team of Hunter Petit, Evan Trumpower, Alex Rose and Colin Cordrey was 12th in 1:30.43.
