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Hawken, US plant seeds for state swim
(by Times Staff - February 25, 2009)
Hawken, US plant seeds for state swim
By TIMES STAFF
The Hawken girls' swimming team was so dominant at last weekend's Division I district championships at Cleveland State University that nine first places in 11 events were just the beginning. In winning six of the eight individual events, the Hawks also took the runner-up spot five times, ran the table with the top four finishers in the 100-yard butterfly and took four of the five top places in two other events.
It all added up to 496 points for Hawken, which will go after its 11th straight state Division II crown this weekend at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. Hathaway Brown was a distant second with 214 points, while Chagrin Falls took third with 179 points. Orange's girls were eighth with 109 points, Gilmour took 20th with 29 points, and West Geauga finished in 30th place with 2 points.
After matching the best season in school history with a third-place finish in the boys' Division I state championships last year, University School has set itself up for a run at the first-ever boys' Ohio Division II state title this weekend. The Preppers swam off with six event championships in last weekend's district competition at CSU, including a four-place sweep in the 500-yard freestyle, and dunked the competition with 434 points.
Walsh Jesuit was second in the boys' Division II district with 264 points. Buoyed by a fingertip victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay to go with a one-two finish in the 50 free, Orange took third with 226 points. Rounding out the Chagrin Valley schools, Chagrin Falls was eighth with 86 points, Kenston ninth with 67 points, West G 13th with 39 points and Gilmour 16th with 31 points.
Sophomore Alana Arnold, the reigning state 100-yard butterfly champion, and freshman Morgan Cohara led the Hawken girls' charge with two individual victories apiece and parts in two winning victories at CSU. Arnold took the fly in 57.18, nearly a full second ahead of her 2008 state time, and the 200 individual medley in 2:08.14. Cohara won the 100 backstroke in 57.84 and the 200 freestyle in 1:53.50.
Other individual winners for the Hawks included senior Brittany Rospierski, the state record holder in the 100 breaststroke, who touched first in that event in 1:06.56, and freshman Jordan Bitterman, who took the 500 free in 5:04.62.
Although Hawken didn't win either of the freestyle sprints, that did not indicate a shortage of sprinters on the team. Rospierski, freshman MacKenzie Harris, junior Dana Shaker and Arnold teamed up to win the 200 free relay in 1:38.96. Cohara, Harris, Bitterman and Rospierski won the 400 free relay in 3:36.09. Cohara, Rospierski, Arnold and Shaker made it a relay sweep for the Hawks, winning the 200 medley in 1:49.19.
Senior Ian Stewart-Bates established University School as the boys' team to beat in the distance events, winning the 200 free in 1:39.01 and the 500 free in 4:32.50 in the Division II district. The Preppers took first through fourth in the 500 and first and second in the 200.
As for the sprints, the Preppers and the Lions of Orange battled it out all day long at CSU. Orange went one, two in the 50, followed by US at three, five. In the 100, it was US in first, Orange second and third. Junior Thomas Fellowes won the 50 in 21.25, while senior Tyler Bailey took the 100 in 46.22.
In a slam-bang finish, Orange's foursome of Fellowes, junior Zach Melvin, junior Peter Moshier and senior Berry Thompson touched US out by just 0.02 second to win the 200 free relay in 1:26.70. University's 400 free relay of Bailey, freshman Nicholas Crane, sophomore Ben Stewart-Bates and Ian Stewart-Bates took first with a time of 3:11.03.
The Preppers also got victories from Crane with a 1:55.30 in the 200-yard individual medley and from sophomore Andrew Malone with a 58.58 in the 100 breaststroke.
The top three finishers in each event earned automatic berths in the Division II state championships.
Second-place winners for University School's boys were: Ben Stewart-Bates, 1:44.26 in the 200 free; sophomore Mike Gaudiani, 1:56.50 in the 200 IM and 4:37.96 in the 500 free; and Bailey, Ian Stewart-Bates, Malone and Gaudiani, 1:26.72 in the 200 free relay. Taking second places for Orange were Thompson with a 21.28 in the 50 free and Fellowes with a 46.53 in the 100 free. Chagrin Falls junior Jonathan Marc took second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.26.
In the girls' Division II district, Hawken got second places from the following swimmers: Bitterman, 1:55.12 in the 200 free; senior Courtney Tumbush, 2:10.49 in the 200 IM; senior Katlin Dagg, 59.64 in the 100 fly and 5:10.44 in the 500 free; and freshman Lizzie Aronoff, 1:07.79 in the 100 breaststroke. Chagrin Falls sophomore Meghan Shroyer took second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.33.
Shaker added a third place for the Hawks with a time of 59.66 in the 100 butterfly. Junior Lindsey Quinn, of Chagrin Falls, took third in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.74. The Tigers' 200 medley relay of sophomore Jackie Shroyer, junior Lindsey Quinn, Meghan Shroyer and junior Susannah Shelley took third with a time of 1:53.79.
University School got third-place swims from Bailey with a 21.35 in the 500 free and Ben Stewart-Bates with a 4:42.06 in the 500 free, along with the 200 medley relay of Ben Stewart-Bates, Malone, freshman Russell Stack and Gaudiana with a 1:39.04. Orange got thirds from Thompson in the 100 free with a time of 47.03 and the 400 free relay of Fellowes, Melvin, junior Michael Martin and Thompson in 3:13.45.
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