Swimming primer: River Valley, Mount Gilead open season with encouraging results

River Valley, Elgin and Mount Gilead dove into the 2023-24 swim season with a trip to Kenyon College for the 15th annual Small Schools Invitational.

River Valley's girls were third out of 18 teams, scoring 181 points, while Mount Gilead was sixth with 117 and Elgin 17th. In the boys portion, the Vikings were fifth with 154 points and Mount Gilead sixth with 153 as 11 teams competed. The Indians were missing eight swimmers from its two teams on Saturday.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Brooklyn Cameron, Abigail Coyan, Kennedy Hummel and Karis Beineke won the girls race in 2:06.12 for the Vikes.

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Also placing in the top 10 for RV's girls were Coyan (fifth, 31.79), Cameron (seventh, 32.02), Hummel (eighth, 32.03) and Rose Linville (ninth, 32.64) in the 50-yard freestyle; Beineke (fifth, 1:20.09) and Delaney Myers (eighth, 1:32.26) in the 100 butterfly; the 200 free B relay (fifth, 2:24.83); Hummel (fifth, 1:22.38) and Coyan (10th, 1:30.54) in the 100 back; Beineke (sixth, 1:27.03) and Cameron (eighth, 1:31.18) in the 100 breaststroke; the 400 free A relay (third, 5:40.02) and the 400 free B relay (fourth, 5:51.9).

Making the top 10 for the RV boys 200 were the 200-yard medley relay (fourth, 2:02.24); Charles Osborne (fifth, 2:10.69) in the 200 free; Andrew Deem (third, 25.43), Roy McCall (eighth, 27.13) and Braden LeVois (ninth, 27.;34) in the 50 free; LeVois (10th, 1:03.45) in the 100 free; the 200 free A relay (third, 1:48.58); the 200 free B relay (eighth, 2:12.98); Osborne (second, 1:08.61) and McCall (10th, 1:20.51) in the 100 back; Deem (third, 1:14.47) in the 100 breaststroke.

For the Mount Gilead girls, the 200 medley and 200 free relays both finished fourth, while Abby Griffith was third in the 100 back and fourth in the 200 individual medley.

The Mount Gilead boys finished fifth in the 200 medley and 200 free relays, while Luke Frazier was runner-up in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 200 IM. Hayden McClelland was fourth in the 100 back and sixth in the 50 free, and Wyatt Mowry was sixth in the 100 breaststroke.

For Elgin, Caitlyn Shafer and Simone Nyabicha scored points.

Here is a capsule look at the area's swim teams for the upcoming season. Marion Harding did not supply any preseason information.

Elgin Comets

• Coach: Ed Borland (third season, fourth overall).

• Assistant: Chuck Deem.

• Roster: Jacob Faust, Caitlyn Shafer, Jaden Wollensnider, Simone Nyabicha.

• Notebook: Faust and Shafer are juniors with strong desires to swim well this season ... Faust set the school record for the backstroke last year, so he is focusing on that as his main event with some freestyle swims, too ... They lack depth so there will be no relays ... They will focus on personal improvement each week.

• Comment: "We lost a few good swimmers and were not able to fill those vacancies with incoming freshmen. Looked promising at the start of the season, but when it came to the start, we were down significantly," Borland said.

Mount Gilead Indians

• Coach: Dina Snow (eighth season).

• Roster: Hayden McClelland (Sr., four letters, district relay qualifier), Luke Frazier (Sr. four letters, district individual and relay qualifier), A.J. Newsom (Sr., four letters), Kamry Grandstaff (Sr., four letters); Josh Davis (Sr., three letters), Wyatt Mowry (Sr., three letters), Jilliam Jones (Jr., letter), Carsen Mowery (Jr.. letter), Owen Hershner (So., letter), Nolan Hershner (So., letter), Camryn Travis (So., letter), Kendall Neal (So., letter), Cassidy Irwin (So., letter), Emma Kincaid (So., letter), Niles Bush (So., letter); Abby Griffith (Fr.), Jaxon Tinch (So.), Adriana Hershner (So.), Hawke Littell (So.), Griffin McClelland (So.), Gabby Mowry (So.)

• Notebook: Cole Hershner, a two-time district qualifier, graduated as did Abby Kincaid, a four-year swimmer ... The Indians have good numbers, but many are new to the sport at the high school level, but have swam in the summers in Marion or in Mount Gilead ... Two girls will double up with basketball ... Without an assistant, Snow is stretched with the limited pool time at the Marion Family YMCA, working with the newcomers and training the experienced swimmers ... The hope is to get boys and girls relay teams to the district meet.

• Comment: "My main goal is for the swimmers to improve their times and represent Mount Gilead well in the swimming community," Snow said.

Pleasant Spartans

• Coach: Gretchen Tighe (fifth season).

• Boys Roster: Joseph Bradac (Sr., fly, free, letter, district qualifier), Aaron French (Sr., free, new), Dylan Hanshaw (Sr., free, new), Landon Moore (Jr., free, new), Ethan Nutter (Sr., free, new), Landon Stevens (So., back, free, letter, district qualifier).

• Girls Roster: Emma Bradac (Fr., free, new), Jullian Casey (Fr., free, new), Stephanie Foos (Jr., 200 free specialty, letter, two-time district qualifier), Addison Gierhart (Jr., 500 free specialty, letter, two-time district qualifier), Meghan James (Sr., free, letter), Sarah Jordan (Fr., free, new), Madilyn Malcom (Fr., free, new), Carly Peyton (Fr., free, new), Kaylynn Ramey (Fr., free, new), Niluh Squires (Fr., free, new), McKinley Webb (Jr., back, free, letter), Quinn Wilson (Fr., free, new), Addie Wince (Fr., free, new), Abigail Wright (Sr., free, letter), Lily Wright (So., back, free, letter).

• Notebook: There are four newcomers set to join two holdovers for the boys team ... The girls have great numbers with 15 swimmers, but nine of them are new ... The hope is that the veterans can lead the first-timers in the pool ... A lot of the new swimmers are multi-sport athletes ... They swim on their own time and are eager to learn ... They are ready to take on new events and stretch beyond just freestyle events ... With nine freshmen on the girls team, the hope is that they can develop and grow over four years ... The boys graduated district qualifier Jacob Dendinger, and Liam Curtis, Will Lichtenberger and Nick Swartz switched to indoor track for the winter ... Lily Wright and Webb are injured, but hope to return later in the season ... The girls graduated MOAC Girls Swimmer of the Year and two-time state qualifier Jenna Hollenbaugh as well as district qualifiers Cadence and Camryn Tighe, Gracelyn Staley, plus Daisy Spencer, Kaydence Brown and Emily Landon.

• Comment: "I would like to take a good portion of the swimmers to districts so they can experience advanced competition and hopefully take at least one to the state meet," Tighe said.

River Valley Vikings

• Coach: Ed Borland (third season, fourth overall).

• Assistant: Chuck Deem.

• Boys Roster: Conner Davis (Fr.), Andrew Deem (Jr.), Daniel Laytart (Jr.,), Braden LeVois (Fr.), Iain Linville (Fr.), David Matas Barrientos (So.), Reed McCall (Fr.), Roy McCall (Sr.), Charles Osborne (Sr.).

• Girls Roster: Karis Beineke (Jr.), Brooklyn Cameron (So.), Addyson Caudill (So.), Abigail Coyan (Sr.), Cori Ferguson (So.), Chelbie Fields (Sr.), Jade Hatten (So.), Lauren Hildreth (Fr.), Kennedy Hummel (Sr.), Abigail Isler (Sr.), Rose Linville (Sr.), Erica Mason (So.), Delaney Myers (Sr.), Elizabeth Newsome (So.), Colette Osborne (Fr.), Amelia Young (Jr.).

• Notebook: The boys have good depth and should be competitive with last year's marks ...The girls have great depth as they will be able to field two medley relays, which is rare in the area ... The girls have a big group of seniors ... Staying injury free and healthy is a concern as is working around the schedules of swimming and musical programs in the winter ... The boys want to take down a couple of school records ... Chase Osborne has progressed in the freestyle distance races, and he is going for the 100 backstroke record.

• Comment: "We are going to work hard, enjoy the season and try to drop time throughout the season," Borland said.

Note: Be sure to vote in the Marion Star Preseason Boys and Girls Swimmer of the Year Polls at MarionStar.com and its app before early Sunday morning Dec. 17.

Compiled by Marion Star sports writer Rob McCurdy, rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Swimming preview: RV, Mount Gilead, Pleasant hopeful in 2023-24