Eight Stow-Munroe Falls swimmers, 4 men and 4 ladies, represented the Bulldogs and put a stamp on an outstanding season, this past weekend in the State Championships at Cantons CT Branin Natatorium.
The Bulldogs sent two swimmers, senior co-captain Ben Bowser (200 IM) and junior Erin Duchon (100 breaststroke), in individual events and 2 relays (mens 400 free relay and ladies 200 medley relay).
The men crowned a new team state champion for the first time in 8 years. Columbus St. Charles, state runner-up the past 2 years, edged out Cincinnati St. Xavier 266-246. St. Xavier has been defending state champion every year since 1999.
For the Bulldogs Bowser missed qualifying for the finals in the 200 IM by .38 seconds. Ben swam a 1:58.58 to place 17th overall for the championship.
The 400 free relay comprised of senior Steven Kaminski, senior co-captain Adam Wagner, junior Evan Clason and Bowser lowered their school record time by .54 seconds that they had set at districts to 3:17.68. The relay placed 22nd overall.
This was last meet for 4 seniors, Alyson Kolesar, Adam Wagner, Ben Bowser and Steven Kaminski. These four, as well as seniors Rachel Weitzel, Renee Oneacre, Grace Einsporn, Jen Hasebein, Alex Blohm, Cody Helms and Dan Page put in many hours of hard work and provided many exciting performances in the pool.
2/16/08 Stow vs Districts - Swimming @ Cleveland St. Busby Nat. (N/A)
Bulldogs Place 9th at Districts
The Stow-Munroe Falls men and women swimming and diving teams sent 19 swimmers and 1 diver to Cleveland States Busby Natatorium this past weekend to compete at the Northeast Ohio District Championship.
The ladies and the mens teams performed respectably in what traditionally is a very competitive district. The men finished in the top 10, placing 9th with 81 points, while the Lady Bulldogs placed 14th overall with 64.5 points.
University School captured the mens title with 286 points finishing ahead of Solon with 263 points. Finishing close behind were Firestone and Canfield with 252 and 230 points respectfully. Lakewood St. Edwards rounded out the top 5 with 123 points and was followed by Walsh Jesuit with 118.
The top 4 individuals and relays from the mens competition automatically advance to the State Championship next weekend at Canton McKinleys CT Branin Natatorium. There are then 11 at large qualifiers from the 4 districts combined.
Senior co-captain Ben Bowser re-established his school record in the 200 yard Individual Medley with a time of 1:58.32 that placed him 6th overall at districts and earned him an at-large spot at states next weekend.
Bowser also swam and outstanding 100 breaststroke and placed 5th at the Cleveland St. district with a time of 1:01.15, missing automatically qualifying by one place. The Southwest and Central districts captured the majority of the at-large spots in the 100 breaststroke with the last qualifying time being 1:00.46.
The Bulldogs also qualified their 400 free relay team for next weekends state championship. The relay team of senior Steven Kaminski (51.17), senior co-captain Adam Wagner (47.84), junior Evan Clason (49.50) and Bowser (49.71) placed 8th overall at districts with a new school record time of 3:18.22. The previous record was set in 2006 by Bowser, Kyle Wagner, Adam Wagner and Ryan Weitzel with a time of 3:21.34.
Senior co-captain Adam Wagner also had a great meet, but fell just short of qualifying for states. Adam also fell victim to the powerful southwest district.
Wagner set a new school record in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4:46.06. He placed 9th overall at districts. Adam placed 6th in the 200 freestyle with a personal best time of 1:45.15.
Results from other swimmers competing at districts:
· 200 Medley Relay sophomore Alex Wentz (backstroke, 28.60), junior Cody Skinner (breaststroke, 30.27), senior Steven Kaminski (fly, 25.36) and junior Michael Fink (free, 23.99) 1:48.22
· 200 Free Relay Bowser (23.05), sophomore Logan Gabriel (23.34), Clason (21.77) and Wagner (22.15) (12th, 1:30.31)
· 200 Free junior Kenny Leep 1:52.28 (34th); sophomore Nick Brenner 1:52.54 (37th)
· 200 IM Kaminski 2:07:76 (29th)
· 50 Free Clason 22.73 (21st, personal best)
· 100 Fly Kaminski 55.08 (19th, personal best)
· 500 Free Brenner 5:10.61 (41st, personal best)
· 100 Breaststroke Clason 1:03.73 (20th, personal best); junior Cody Skinner 1:06.79 (48th)
2/8/08 Stow vs Sectionals - Swimming @ Univ. of Akron ONAT (N/A)
Bulldogs Finish 6th at Sectionals; 3 Relays and 7 Swimmers In Individual Events Advance to Districts
The Stow-Munroe Falls swimming and diving team performed outstanding this past weekend in the sectionals held at the University of Akrons Ocasek Natatorium.
The diving competition was held on Thursday evening for both men and women, while men swimmers competed on Friday afternoon and the ladies on Saturday evening.
The men finished 6th place overall at the Akron sectional with 215 points. Firestone won the Akron sectional with 348 points followed closely behind by Canfield with 324 points. Walsh finished in third place with 258, Hudson fourth with 254 and Medina fifth with 246.
The Bulldogs qualified all 3 of their relays for Districts and 7 swimmers in individual events.
Qualifying for districts were:
· 200 Medley Relay sophomore Alex Wentz (backstroke), junior Evan Clason (breaststroke), senior Steven Kaminski (fly) and junior Michael Fink (free) 1:44.04
· 200 Free Relay senior Ben Bowser, sophomore Logan Gabriel, Clason and senior Adam Wagner
· 400 Free Relay Gabriel, Kaminski, Bowser and Wagner
· 200 Free Wagner 1:47.63; junior Kenny Leep 1:51.49 (personal best); sophomore Nick Brenner 1:52.33 (personal best)
· 200 IM Bowser 2nd at sectional 1:59.60; Kaminski 2:06:04 (personal best)
· 50 Free Clason 22.77 (personal best)
· 100 Fly Kaminski 55.24 (personal best)
· 500 Free Wagner 2nd at sectional 4:56.33; Brenner 5:11.32 (personal best)
· 100 Breaststroke Bowser 3rd at sectional 1:01.87; Clason 1:04.12 (personal best); junior Cody Skinner 1:06.44 (personal best)
Results from other swimmers competing at sectionals:
The Stow-Munroe Falls Bulldog men and womens swimmers and divers ended their seasons with identical 8-1 overall records as the ladies defeated Walsh Jesuit 112-71 and the men came up a little short against the Warriors losing 99-77 last Friday night at the Akron General Medical Center North pool.
The Bulldog men performed great against Walsh, but it was the Warriors depth that was the difference in this meet. Walsh won 8 out of the 12 events and also took first and second in three of the events.
Senior co-captains Adam Wagner and Ben Bowser each won individual events for the Bulldogs. Wagner took first in the 500 free swimming a 5:00.83 and Bowser the 200 IM with a time of 1:59.70.
The Bulldogs won the 400 free relay in a time of 3:25.81. Teaming up to win the relay were Wagner (50.56), Logan Gabriel (53.12), Steven Kaminski (51.44) and Bowser (50.69).
Other results from the boys meet:
200 medley relay- 2nd place, 148.93 Alex Wentz (back, 29.55), Evan Clason (breaststroke, 29.95), Kaminski (fly, 25.57), Michael Fink (free, 23.86); 4th place, 153.59 Dylan Fox (back, 30.23), Cody Skinner (breaststroke, 31.80), Cody Helms (fly, 26.52), Matt George (free, 25:04)
