Fast out of the gate: Three area girls win district swim titles
BOWLING GREEN — They’ve had thoroughbreds in Ontario’s swim program for years, but Friday’s Division II district meet may have been the first time coach Debbie Henry used a horse racing analogy to describe her athletes.
She was talking about how it can be hard to adjust to easier workouts now that the season is winding down and many of the swimmers are fully tapered (rested).
Can you say antsy?
MR. 200: Lexington coach Scott Hamilton's 200th win brings more history for Minutemen
“They’re like horses in the starting gate, ready to go, ready to go,” Henry said. “They have a lot of energy now and don’t know what to do with it.”
Freshman Mirielle Trumpower can’t relate.
She was still lifting weights on the side and won’t be fully tapered until the upcoming state meet week. That didn’t stop her from winning a district title in the 100-yard butterfly and also earning an automatic berth at state with her third-place finish in the 100 backstroke.
Trumpower lived up to her No. 1 seed in the fly, re-breaking her school record with a time of 56.70.
“My sister (Brie, an All-Ohioan many times over) didn’t (taper for districts) either,” she said. “We’ll do a lot of sprint stuff next week and don’t do very long practices. Not that they’re not hard, but they’re definitely a lot different than the middle of the season.”
The only other automatic state qualifiers on the girls side (top three in individual races and top two in relays) were Shelby junior Emma Montgomery and Lexington freshman Kayla Caldwell.
Seeded No. 1 in the 500 freestyle, Montgomery won that race in 5:18.01. She also took third in the 200 free (1:59.11).
This is Montgomery’s third trip to state in the 500.
Caldwell is headed to Canton as a first-year varsity performer and district champion. She won the 200 free – beating Montgomery in the process – by knocking four seconds off her fourth-seeded time with a personal best of 1:58.05.
Over the past two weeks, Caldwell shaved off six seconds in her specialty. She also finished sixth in the 100 back.
“I wanted to break two minutes,” she said. “I knew I had a chance to win it. I trusted my training and my coaches and I did it.
“I felt confident. When it comes to district, winning is on you, and my coaches believed in me.”
All three automatic berths in the 200 free were claimed by swimmers in the Mansfield sectional. Sandwiched between Caldwell and Montgomery was Colonel Crawford sophomore Ava Finnan (1:58.51).
“I’m familiar with Emma,” Caldwell said. “I swam on the same team with her when I was younger and also swam with Ava. I’m so glad the Mansfield sectional got the top three.”
Lexington coach Brock Spurling is excited about Caldwell helping to spark a renaissance on the girls team. Its fourth-place finish was the highest since 2019 and Caldwell was the first automatic state qualifier in three years.
Even though they didn’t automatically get in, Lex’s 400 free relay and 200 medley relay made strong bids for at-large berths in the state meet with fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively.
“(Kayla) was hungry,” Spurling said. “She was motivated after a great backstroke split leading off the medley relay (the first race of the meet) and kept the ball rolling from there.”
“The last couple of years have been down for us on the girls side, but we’re getting girls back and that’s the biggest thing.”
Caldwell can’t wait to soak in the state meet atmosphere.
“I think the energy will be fun,” she said. “The whole team will be together (after the boys and girls swam in separate meets Friday), so I think I’ll be able to hold my 1:58 or do even better.”
Advancing to state earlier in the week were two area divers: Crestview senior Audrey McPherran and Mansfield senior junior Macey Wade.
McPherran became the first female diver to make it in school history. Needing to finish in the top 12, she placed ninth with a score of 329.15. Wade was 11th with a 328.55. The winning score was 464.85.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Fast out of the gate: Three area girls win district swim titles
