Ohio State Commit Conley Downs 200 IM Record at Ohio Division 2 States

OHIO DIVISION 2 STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 20-22, 2020
• C.T. Branin Natatorium, Canton, Ohio
• Meet Info
• Preview
• Results

FINAL TOP 5 TEAMS – GIRLS

1. Gates Mills Hawken 399
2. Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown 217
3. Columbus 165
4. Cincinnati Indian Hill 100
5. Gates Mills Gilmour 93

FINAL TOP 5 TEAMS – BOYS

1. Cincinnati Indian Hill 224
2. Hunting Valley University School 216
3. Gates Mills Hawken 209
4. Hamilton Badin 102
5. (TIE 5TH) Sandusky Perkins 98
6. (TIE 5TH) Rocky River 98

The Hawken girls dominated again at the 2020 Ohio Division 2 State Championships, winning their 22nd-straight team title. They won by over 150 points. After finishing 6th in 2019, the Indian Hill boys became the 2020 State Champions, winning a tight team race with just 8 more points than runner-up Hunting Valley, the 2019 champions, and 15 points over 3rd place Hawken.

BOYS’ HIGHLIGHTS

Indian Hill picked up 2 boys’ event wins as they won the title. In the 200 free relay, freshman Gibson Holmes led off in 21.44, within 2 tenths of his lifetime best from November. Dan Edmonson (21.76), Devin Edwards (21.78), and Will Taylor (21.04) followed as they combined for a 1:26.02 win.

Holmes and Hamilton Badin’s Luke Paxton had one of the highlight races of the meet in the 200 free. Both put up lifetime bests in prelims, with Holmes leading in 1:38.50 to Paxton’s 1:38.60. That was Paxton’s first swim under 1:40 and a best by 2 seconds, while Holmes dropped nearly a second. In the final, they were again within a tenth of each other. Holmes took a 4-tenth lead on the front half. Paxton closed the gap to flip just a tenth behind going into the final 50 and edged out Holmes at the finish, 1:39.16 to 1:39.25.

Holmes returned to earn his first state title in the 100 fly, setting a lifetime best 48.37 in the final. Paxton also swam that event, but was disqualified in prelims after touching in 49.18. His lifetime best 48.76 would have placed 2nd. Holmes closed out his schedule with a 46.51 lead split on the 400 free relay.

Waynesville’s Owen Conley broke his own D2 State Record to repeat as champion in the 200 IM. He came from behind on the breast leg to move ahead of Hunting Valley’s Nicolas Tekieli. Conley, an Ohio State commit, took a full second off the state mark in 1:47.52, just 2 hundredths shy of his best from 2018 Winter Juniors.

Both swimmers returned for the 100 back, where Tekieli dominated in 48.33, just 4 hundredths away from the D2 State Record. He took a second and a half off his lifetime best. Conley was 3rd there in 50.02 behind Seven Hills’ Tim Kalin, who swam a lifetime best 49.85.

Tekiele led off the boys’ 400 free relay in 46.63, just a tenth from his best, as Hunting Valley won the race in 3:09.56. Teammate Frank Applebaum had their fastest split with a 46.06 anchor leg. Jack O’Brien split a 49.13 on the 2nd leg, and Carter Faulkner put up a 47.74 on the 3rd leg.

Both Tekiele and Applebaum were also on the winning 200 medley relay (1:33.67). Tekiele has a field-best 22.56 backstroke leg, while Applebaum split a 22.05 on the fly. Colin Savage (breast- 27.76) and Prajwal Guruprasad (free- 21.30) were the other 2 members of that relay.

Alliance’s Will Rose, an Arizona State commit, swept the boys’ sprints. He was a tenth off his best with a 20.26 in the 50 free. He opted for that event instead of the 100 fly, where he was the 2019 champion. In the 100 free, Rose came up just 2 hundredths shy of a best in 44.44. He repeated as champion.

GIRLS’ HIGHLIGHTS

The Hawken girls took down the D2 State Record in the 200 free relay en route to their team victory. Sophomore Maggie Mallett led off in 23.97, just 6 hundredths shy of her best. Ella Gilson (23.55) and Bainon Hart (23.14) took on the middle legs. Sophomore Jessica Eden then closed in 23.14 as they set the mark at a 1:34.43. Hawken also won the 200 medley relay (1:44.42). Eden led them off with a 26.66 back split. She teamed up with Sydney Bare (breast- 28.21), Lauren Musbach (fly- 25.82), and Hart (free- 23.53) to take the title.

Shortly after her contribution to the medley relay, Eden dominated the 200 IM in 2:01.12. She had swum slightly faster in prelims with a 2:00.90, smashing her best by over 2 seconds. She has 2 more years to go after the D2 State Record of 1:59.58 set by Hawken’s Crile Hart in 2017. Teammate Tori Culotta, a fellow sophomore, also picked up a win, defending her 500 free title with a 4:52.11.

In her 2nd individual event, the 100 back, Eden earned silver in 55.94, just a hundredth off her lifetime best from prelims. Columbus junior Nyah Funderburke, who swam her best time with a 54.35 in prelims, won the final in 54.49. Earlier in the session, Funderburke came within a few tenths of the D2 State Record in the 100 fly. She took the title in a personal best 54.68. She has one more year to chase the record, which is a 54.37 done by Taylor’s Isabelle Murray in 2107.

Beloit West Branch senior Jamyson Robb took down the D2 State Record in prelims of the 100 breast. Robb clipped her best with a 1:01.27 in the heats, taking a tenth off her own former record. She went on to defend her title in 1:01.65. Robb has committed to join the Liberty women next season. They just won their 2nd-straight CCSA title last week.

ADDITIONAL EVENT WINNERS

• Charlie Clark of Sandusky Perkins, the 2019 runner-up and an Ohio State commit, was just off his best in prelims of the 500 free in 4:26.20. He went on to win the final in 4:26.94.
• Bowling Green’s CJ Layne, who set the 100 breast D2 State Record in 2019, repeated as champion in 56.15. Layne is a University of Kentucky commit.
• Seven Hills’ sophomore Ella Jo Piersma won both of her individual races. She broke 1:50 for the first time with a 1:49.16 in prelims before winning the 200 free title in 1:49.26. Piersma returned for a lifetime best 50.39 victory in the 100 free.
• Mairin O’Brien of Shaker Heights was 2nd in the 100 free with a 50.48, 2 tenths away from her best. She won a title of her own in the 50 free, within hundredths of a best in 23.10. O’Brien will join the Ohio State women, who just won their first Big Ten title since 1986, in the fall of 2021.
• O’Brien went on to anchor Shaker Heights’ 400 free relay in 50.28. Helen Sun nearly hit her best with a 52.19 lead split. Ellie MacPhail (52.42) and Stephanie Tropper (53.08) joined them as they won in 3:27.97.