(Leah) Guess again. Marlington swimmer hits her 4th straight state meet en route to Ohio U.

Record-setting Marlington High School swimmer Leah Guess is going places — to the state meet, again, and then to the deep water of NCAA Division I swimming.

On Friday, Guess went fast at the OHSAA Division II district meet in Cleveland, breezing to the state meet in Canton in the 100-yard butterfly and and 100 backstroke.

This summer, she'll head for Athens, Ohio, as a scholarship swimmer at Ohio University.

She has a great resource on what to expect. Marlington head coach Sheri Guess, Leah's mom, was Sheri Kraus when she was an OHSAA state-meet placer for Massillon and then a scholarship swimmer at Bowling Green.

Mom's alma mater and daughter's future team are Mid-American Conference rivals.

"Maybe a tiny piece of me wanted her to go to Bowling Green," Sheri Guess said. "I mostly just wanted her to go to the school she would fit in and like.

"It came down to Bowling Green and OU. Her first college visit was to Bowling Green, and she was like, I'm going to go to BG. I just knew in the back of my head she was going to go to the next one and say the same thing, which is exactly what happened.

"OU was a really good all-around fit. I couldn't be more proud of her. I couldn't be more happy that she picked OU."

Leah doesn't just want to fit in.

"Hopefully I can make an impact right away," she said.

College swimming could be in the future for Leah's Marlington teammate Caitlin Cox and already is a reality for Caitlin's sister Claire, who placed second at last year's state meet in the 100 breaststroke and is in the rotation as a freshman with the Akron Zips.

Leah Guess is headed for her fourth state meet. Caitlin Cox will be in her third state meet if her district times stack up properly against times from around Ohio, as seems likely.

"They've been progressing steadily year after year," Sheri Guess said. "Their hard work and dedication keep them growing. They've done a really good job."

Ohio University entered Leah Guess's thoughts when the the Bobcats contacted her after the 2023 state meet.

"I've had some time to think about what college will be like," she said. "I'm more excited than I am nervous."

She plans a career as a physician's assistant in sports medicine.

She has been swimming for a long time, as did her mother when she was on her way from the Massillon Tiger Sharks youth program to Bowling Green.

"I started when I was 8," Leah said. "I'm with my friends every day at practice, working on different things to get better. Great friends, great coaches ... that keeps it fresh."

Guess placed fourth in last year's state meet in both the butterfly (57.35) and backstroke (56.44). Her times in those events at Friday's district meet were 57.43 and 56.96. Cox swam in consolation finals last year in both the 200 freestyle (1:57.39) and 500 freestyle (5:13.84). Her times in those events Friday were 1:58.23 and 5:19.56.

The aim is season bests at the state meet.

The Cleveland district was its usual grinder, dominated by Hathaway Brown and Gates Mills Hawken, the perennial powers who ran away with the top two spots in last year's state meet.

Hathaway Brown and Hawken always show up with new waves of state title contenders. In one of Caitlin Cox's events Thursday, the 200 free, Hathaway Brown swimmers took four of the top six spots, led by Josephine Piliang, a freshman who won the event by more than a second.

Piliang (53.94) and her teammate Claire Mehok (54.62) were the only swimmers ahead of Guess (54.96) in the backstroke. Hawken senior Alaina Pizarro (59.68) was a distant fourth.

In the butterfly, the top three were Hathaway Brown senior Lilly Mehok (53.95), Guess (57.43) and New Middletown Springfield's Paige McCombs (58.60). The next-fastest time among 32 entrants was 1:00.59.

In the boys district meet, Alliance junior Ben Craig posted the fifth-best time in the 100 backstroke and the seventh-best time in the 100 freestyle. His times are in contention for state meet at-large spots.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marlington High School's Leah Guess reaches 4th OHSAA state swim meet