WOOSTER — The last time Lexington won a conference championship in boys swimming, the Ohio Cardinal Conference didn’t yet exist and coach Brock Spurling was a junior in high school.
The drought came to an end Wednesday evening at Ellen Shapiro Natatorium.
The Minutemen ended Wooster’s 14-year stranglehold on the OCC team title, scoring 510 points to claim the crown. The Generals were second with 471 points.
Ashland finished third with 333 points, while Madison (228) was fourth and Mansfield Senior (178) was sixth.
“It’s the first time a boys team other than Wooster has won the OCC,” said Spurling, who was selected the OCC girls Coach of the Year and shared the boys Coach of the Year award with Wooster’s Chris Matthew. “We joined the OCC in 03-04, my senior year of high school. The last time we won a boys swimming conference title, I was a junior at Lex. We beat Ashland in 02-03 and it was the Ohio Heartland Conference.
“I still have the plaque hanging in the basement of my house.”
Lexington had only three individual champions and won just one relay, but used its superior depth to unseat the Generals. The Minutemen got individual firsts from diver Tanner Donley (340.95 points), Wilson Cannon in the 100 yard butterfly (54.05 seconds) and Jadon Wyant in the 500 freestyle (5:21.21).
The Minutemen also won the 200 medley relay in 1:43.87.
“Everyone contributed up and down the lineup,” Spurling said. “For the boys it was, let’s try to get three in the top six.
“This is for all the boys that we’ve had through the years that never won an OCC title.”
Ashland’s Hudson McDaniel, a two-time defending Division II state champion in the 100 breaststroke, picked up a pair of individual firsts Wednesday. The senior won the 200 individual medley in 2:00.30 and the 100 breaststroke in 58.93, just off the OCC record of 58.55.
“I’m a little disappointed not to get the record,” McDaniel said. “I’d like to be a little faster, but I’m working hard.”
McDaniel’s Ashland teammate, Ross Garrison, won the 100 backstroke in 55.86 seconds.
Wooster’s Thomas Matthew was selected the boys Swimmer of the Year after setting meet records in the 100 freestyle (47.51) and 200 freestyle (1:44.31).
Sweep: Lexington made it a clean sweep as the girls won the OCC title for the fourth time and the second time in three years. Lady Lex had 522 points, well ahead of runner-up Wooster (451).
Ashland (227) was fourth, while Madison (198) was fifth and Mansfield Senior (104) was sixth.
Lexington’s Alli McFarland and Sage Moore shared the girls Swimmer of the Year award, each winning a pair of individual events and swimming legs on two record-setting relay teams.
The 2017 OCC girls Swimmer of the Year, McFarland won the 500 freestyle (5:24.80) and nearly broke her own OCC record in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.56). Moore was first in the 200 individual medley (2:17.11) and the 100 butterfly (1:01.93).
“We’ve all been working really hard this season,” Moore said. “I’m proud.”
“Me, too,” McFarland added. “We were all kind of anxious about the meet being moved to a Wednesday, but we managed to pull it together.”
Both McFarland and Moore were members of Lexington’s record-setting 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams. The 200 team opened Wednesday’s meet with winning time of 1:51.02 and the 400 free unit closed the meet with a winning time of 3:46.67.
“Not a bad way to bookend the meet,” Spurling said. “It was a great day.”
Lexington’s Alivia Merkel was also a double individual winner. She took first in the 50 freestyle in 25.45 and the 100 freestyle in 56.05 and swam a leg of the 200 medley relay.
“We really wanted that (200 medley relay) record,” Merkel said. “We can probably all still drop a second.”
Lexington’s other individual winners were diver Hannah Archibald (301.58 points) and Kelsi Brown in the 100 backstroke (1:02.60). Lady Lex also won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:43.06.
