MANSFIELD, Ohio — Lexington diver Evan Heth will have plenty of local company at next week’s state swimming and diving meet in Canton.
A junior, Heth took runner-up honors in the one-meter diving competition Wednesday at the Northwest District meet at Bowling Green State University’s Cooper Natatorium.
The three-time state qualifier finished one-tenth of a point behind district champ Caleb Keck of Coldwater.
Ontario’s Kristian Kowalski and Ty Carcione, two of Heth’s training partners, also finished in the top nine at BGSU to earn state berths.
“The district has nine state qualifiers and three of them are from Richland County. That speaks well of our area,” Lexington coach Brock Spurling said. “They all train together under Rob Roth. He has done a great job with them.”
Heth, who finished 13th at state as a freshman and sixth last year, and Coldwater’s Keck waged a battle all afternoon long. Heth was the top seed after scoring what Spurling believed to be a Richland County-record 510.45 points at last week’s sectional meet at Oak Harbor. Keck was the No. 5 seed.
“It was a real nail-biter,” Roth said. “It came down to the final dive.”
Lexington’s Tanner Donley finished 12th Wednesday, missing state by three spots.
The swimming portion of the district meets gets underway Friday with the Division II portion of the program. Division I is Saturday.
The top two finishers in the swimming events automatically qualify for state. The remaining 16 at-large state berths in each event are determined by times from all of this weekend’s district meets.
“We have a chance to get a lot of area kids through to the state meet,” Spurling said. “There is a lot of talent in Richland County and the surrounding areas.”
“The district has nine state qualifiers and three of them are from Richland County. That speaks well of our area,” Lexington coach Brock Spurling said.
