OHSAA Girls D2 Swimming & Diving Championships
- February 24th, 2021
- C.T. Branin Natatorium, Canton, OH
- Short Course Yards (25y)
- Results
Top 5 Team Scores
- Gates Mills Hawken – 387
- Shaker Hts Hathaway Brown – 260
- Columbus School for Girls – 133
- Cincinnati Seven Hills – 129
- Oak Harbor – 113
Gates Mills Hawken was dominant in the OHSAA Girls Swimming & Diving Championships last week, winning the team title by a massive 127-point margin. The Gates Mills Hawken girls won a total of 4 events, including the 400 free relay.
In the 400 free relay, Maggie Mallett (52.09), Ella Gilson (51.72), Chloe Katz (53.41), and Jess Eden (51.05) teamed up for a 3:28.27, winning the race by nearly 2 seconds. Gates Mills Hawken senior Sydney Bare won an incredibly tight race with Cinci Hills Christian junior Jessey Li in the 100 breast, touching in 1:01.64 to Li’s 1:01.65. Li got out to the early lead, splitting 28.80 on the first 50 of the race, while Bare was 29.24. Bare then came home in 32.40, while Li was 32.65. Both swimmers were just off the OHSAA record of 1:01.27.
Of the 400 free relay members, Jess Eden also won an individual event. Eden took the 200 IM, clocking a 2:02.44, touching first by over 3 seconds. Eden posted the fastest splits in the field on the fly, back, and free 50s. Bare came in 2nd in the race (2:05.83), and led the breaststroke leg with a sizzling 33.55 split.
Tori Culotta, a Gates Mills Hawken junior, won the 500 free by a huge margin, touching in 4:55.92. Culotta led a 1-2-3 charge by Gates Mills Hawken, with Chloe Katz taking 2nd with a 5:00.63, and Claire Pophal came in 2nd with a 5:01.00. Gates Mill Hawken also picked up a 6th-place finish with Pophal’s younger sister, freshman Sarah Pophal, who swam a 5:02.70. With Culotta and the younger Pophal returning next year, Gates Mills Hawken is set up for another year of high 500 free finishes.
Cincinnati Wyoming junior Grace Courtney won 1-meter diving with a total score of 485.80 points, breaking the OHSAA meet record. Courtney was dominant on the boards last week, winning the event by 40 points.
Ella Jo Piersma, a Cincinnati Seven Hills junior, took the 200 free with a 1:49.28, touching first by over 2 seconds. Piersma impressively posted the fastest splits in the field on all 4 50s of the race, splitting 24.97/27.22/28.35/28.74. Piersma would go on to also win the 100 free in a tight race with Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown senior Mairin O’Brien. Piersma was slightly behind at the 50 mark, but managed to edge out O’Brien on the 2nd 50, touching in 50.62. O’Brien finished 2nd in 50.70.
Mairin O’Brien was the 50 free champion, clocking a 23.15. She won the race convincingly, touching well ahead of runner-up, Jessey Li, who posted a 23.50. O’Brien was also a member of the winning 200 free rleay, posting the fastest split in the field with a 22.97 on the anchor. Shaker Hts Hathaway Brown also had senior Stephanie Tropper, senior Ellie MacPhail, and sophomore Taplin Seelbach on the relay, which finished in 1:35.74.
Columbus School For Girls senior Nyah Funderburke won the 100 back with a 54.42, touching first by 1.5 seconds. Funderburke was also on the winning 200 medley relay, where she clocked the fastest back split in the field with a 24.77. Funderburke teamed up with Ava Fortney, Bethany Spangler, and Olivia Morse to clock a 1:42.96.
McKenzie Reid, a Dayton Chaminade Julienne senior, claimed victory in the 100 fly, swimming a 54.58.