CANTON — Lexington’s Ivan Prykhodko and Trey Nickoli found themselves in familiar waters Thursday afternoon — side-by-side and out in front.
Prykhodko and Nickoli finished first and second, respectively, in the fourth and final preliminary heat of the 100 yard breaststroke on the opening day of the Division II state meet at C.T. Branin Natatorium.
Both improved on their times from last week’s district meet and advanced to Friday’s ‘A’ final.
The top eight finishers in Thursday’s prelims qualified for the ‘A’ final and guaranteed themselves a spot on the podium. The next eight qualified for the ‘B’ final and will be All-Ohioans.
A senior, Prykhodko finished in 56.15 seconds and is the overwhelming favorite to become Lex’s first ever individual boys state champ. His preliminary time was more than a second faster than Bellbrook’s Peter Guthrie (57.33).
Meanwhile, Nickoli finished in 57.55 and will be seeded fourth in Friday’s final. He was seeded seventh going into the prelims.
It was the luck of the draw that paired the teammates in the same preliminary heat. What’s more, Prykhodko swam out of lane four and Nickoli was in lane three.
“You think that when you get to the state meet you’re going to go against people you haven’t seen,” Lexington coach Brock Spurling said. “Instead you get to the state prelims and who are you next to? Your training partner for the last three years.”
Neither Prykhodko nor Nickoli was complaining about how the heat and lane assignments unfolded.
“I love being right there with Ivan,” Nickoli said. “We’re so competitive and being able to try to keep up with him helps me out.”
Prykhodko agreed.
“It’s fun. I can’t wait to see what he does (Friday),” Prykhodko said of his junior teammate. “We’ve got to bring it.”
Both Prykhodko and Nickoli also competed in the 200 individual medley Thursday, along with Colonel Crawford’s Landon Sutter. Prykhodko finished 15th in 2:00.35 — more than two seconds faster than his seed time — and will swim in the ‘B’ final. Nickoli (2:00.99) was 17th and Sutter (2:03.73) was 25th.
Lexington’s Cooper Watters and Ontario’s Grantham Trumpower both qualified for the ‘B’ final in two individual events. Watters finished 11th in the 200 freestyle (1:45.76) and 11th in the 500 free (4:49.61). Trumpower was 12th in the 50 free (21.96) and 13th in the 100 free (48.32).
Lex’s Isaac McFadden finished 22nd in the 100 free (49.29) and 31st in the 200 free (1:50.50).
Lexington’s Oden Bell was 20th in the 50 free (22.27). Ontario’s Logan Bernat was 21st in the 100 backstroke (54.52).
Lexington’s 200 medley team of Joe Hathaway, Prykhodko, Nickoli and Bell had the second fastest prelim time (1:37.27) and will swim in the ‘A’ final. The 200 free relay team of Bell, Prykhodko, McFadden and Watters was third in 1:28.50 and also reached the ‘A’ final, while the 400 free relay team of McFadden, Bell, Hathaway and Watters was 10th in 3:19.09 and advanced to the ‘B’ final.
If things work out Friday, the Minutemen could finish second in the final Division II team standings. Lex’s best ever finish was third in 2019.
“We’ve given ourselves an opportunity,” Spurling said. “That’s all we can ask for.”
Ontario’s 200 free relay and 400 free relay teams will both swim in the ‘A’ final. The 200 team of Trumpower, Bernat, Owen Walter and Evan Ruhe finished eighth in 1:29.59. The same quartet finished sixth in 3:18.15 in the 400.
“I’m delighted. We’ve got a bunch of them in the finals,” Ontario coach Deb Henry said. “We’re so pleased.”
On the girls side, Ontario freshman Mirielle Trumpower advanced to the ‘A’ final in both the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke. She was fourth in the fly in 56.38 and seventh in the back in 57.38.
Lexington’s Kayla Caldwell was 17th in the 100 back (1:00.10) and 31st in the 200 freestyle (2:01.19).
Colonel Crawford’s Ashtyn Rickel was 22nd in the 100 freestyle (54.57), while teammate Ava Final was 28th (54.85). Rickel was 26th in the 200 individual medley and Finnan was 22nd in the 200 free (1:58.64).
Colonel Crawford’s Brynn Bruner was 28th in the 100 backstroke (1:00.96) and 29th in the 500 freestyle (5:29.24). Shelby’s Emma Montgomery joined Bruner in the 500 free and finished 19th (5:19.61). Montgomery was also 25th in the 200 free (1:59.52).
Colonel Crawford’s 200 freestyle relay team of Bruner, Riley Finnan, Ava Final and Rickel advanced to the ‘A’ final. They finished eighth in 1:40.81. The same quartet finished ninth in the 400 free relay in 3:40.77 to advance to the ‘B’ final.
Lexington’s 400 free relay team of Emma Caldwell, Emily Woods, Julia Wyant, and Kayla Caldwell finished 16th in 3:46.19 to advance to the ‘B’ final. Lex’s 200 medley relay team of Kayla Caldwell, Katya Prykhodko, Wyant and Emma Caldwell was 21st in 1:54.88.