CANTON — The weight of the bronze statuette Hannah Stevens won Friday evening couldn’t compare to the burden Lexington’s All-Ohio swimmer shouldered all season long.
Not many high school athletes boast a resume like Stevens. All of her success was accompanied by impossible expectations, yet the senior managed to exceed them all.
Talk about a gamer.
To fully appreciate what Stevens, the Richland Source Athlete of the Week, was able to accomplish at the state swimming and diving tournament last weekend, you have to go back to February of 2011. Then a freshman, Stevens qualified for the state meet in four events and earned All-Ohio in three of them. She swam the leadoff leg of a 200 yard medley relay team that finished 15th and anchored the 400 freestyle relay team that finished 17th. Individually, she was 13th in the 100 freestyle and ninth in the 100 backstroke.
As a sophomore, Stevens was third in the 100 free and fourth in the 100 back — her first two podium finishes. She helped the 200 free relay team to an 11th place finish and the 400 free relay team to a ninth place showing.
As a junior, Stevens took the state tournament by storm. She won the 100 free and 100 back, setting a state record in the 100 back in the process. She was a member of Lexington’s 200 free relay team (12th place finish) and the 400 free relay team (eighth). She was selected the meet’s most valuable female swimmer, helping Lady Lex to an 11th-place finish in the team standings.
That all set the stage for last weekend, when Stevens defended her state titles in the 100 free and the 100 back. She also helped the 200 free relay team to a 12th place finish and the 400 free relay team to an eight place finish. Again, she was selected the meet’s female MVP and again Lady Lex finished 11th in the team standings with 70 points.
She swam in the maximum four events at the state meet all four years of her high school career and was an All-Ohioan (top 16 finish) 15 times. She finished on the podium (top eight finish) eight times and won four individual state titles. She swam a 53.87 in the preliminaries of the 100 backstroke, breaking her own state tournament record.
The Missouri-bound Stevens will graduate in the spring as one of the most accomplished high school swimmers in Richland County history.
“And she did it all with a target on her back all year,” Lex coach Brock Spurling said. “When you think about what she accomplished, it’s amazing.
She won two state championships and was the meet MVP as a junior, then came out her senior year and was undefeated in every race she swam.”
Don’t let her easy smile fool you. Stevens was like a duck on the water at the state meet: smooth on the surface but churning underneath.
“There definitely is a lot of pressure (as a defending state champion),” Stevens said shortly after collecting her second MVP trophy. “Before the 100 free I was so nervous. I knew that I was surrounded by great swimmers.
“It definitely keeps you in check, knowing that everybody wants to beat you.”
As for Spurling, he ran out of superlatives long ago.
“To win four state titles, that doesn’t happen very often,” Spurling said. “It’s hard enough to get that first one, let alone the second, third or fourth.
“To see her go through it all with such poise and composure, it was just awesome.”
Stevens was just glad she could celebrate with a few of her teammates.
“It’s amazing to have a team here with you, both boys and girls,” Stevens said. “They are so supportive no matter what. I’m proud to be a part of the team.
“I was able to go out at the top of the podium. I wouldn’t want it to end any other way.”
