Ivan Prykhodko Makes History at OHSAA Division II State Swimming Championships

2024 Ohio High School Swimming & Diving State Championships (Division II)

• February 20-24. 2024
• Canton, OH
• 25 yards (SCY)
• Meet Central
• Boys Results
• Girls Results 
• Boys Diving
• Girls Diving

The Ohio Division II high school state championships saw history made on two accounts during the Swimming & Diving State Tournament last weekend.

Ohio has two divisions in high school swimming. Division I is the state’s bigger schools, and Division II is the state’s smaller schools.

Standing out from the crowd, senior Ivan Prykhodko became the first Lexington High School boys swimmer to win an individual state title in boys’ swimming by securing a victory in the 100 breast in a time of 56.81. Slightly off his best, he had broken his own school record in prelims with a time of 56.15.

Prykhodko’s success in the pool helped guide Lexington to a program-best finish, scoring 131 points to take 2nd place behind defending champions Hunting Valley University School, which scored 274 points.

Prykhodko was prepped to become a breaststroke star from some of his first days in the water; his father swam breaststroke while living in Ukraine, and his sister Katya Prykhodko, a sophomore on Lexington’s girls’ swim team, has also turned in top performances in the stroke.

The familial sentiment extended beyond his immediate family to include his teammates as well. Prykhodko and his humility and bond with his teammates were credited as being an inspiration to those around him, and his and Lexington’s efforts at the meet showed their commitment to character and coming together as a team.

In addition to his victory in the 100 breast, Prykhodko racked up two more medals thanks to performances in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay. Both relays placed 4th in the A-final: the medley relay of Joe Hathaway, Prykhodko, Trey Nickoli and Oden Bell finished in a time of 1:37.74, while the freestyle relay of Prykhodko, Bell, Isaac McFadden and Cooper Watters swam a time of 1:28.26.

Hunting Valley took home two relay titles from the championship. In the 200 medley relay, the team of Alex Pesek, Ben Davis, Matthew Devine and Brad Perry touched first in a time of 1:34.13, while the team of Miguel Figueroa, Pesek, Perry and Davis secured the 400 free relay with a time of 3:07.58, nearly seven seconds ahead of the runner-up finishers from Cincinnati Indian Hill.

Despite placing highest overall in the team rankings, the relay swims turned out to be Hunting Valley’s only victories of the meet. Their points were accumulated through a wide depth in the field, with a number of swimmers appearing throughout the A- and B-finals of each event. Some of their top point scorers includedDavis, who placed 2nd in the 200 IM, Paul Moody, who took 3rd in the 100 back, and Figueroa, who placed 4th in the 100 free.

The remaining victories were scattered amongst the multitude of other teams in attendance at the state meet.

Other Event Winners

• Patrick Gibbons, a senior at Hamilton Badin, took home the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:39.72
• Dayton Oakwood senior Tristan Prizler was a double event winner, taking home the 200 IM in a time of 1:51.29 in addition to the 500 free in a time of 4:28.81
• The 50 free went to Mason Francis, a junior at Vincent Warren, with his time of 20.19. Francis turned in a second win with his performance in the 100 free, touching in a time of 45.57.
• In the 100 fly, Austin Sorg, a sophomore at Oak Harbor, narrowly out-touched 2nd place by .06 to take home the victory with a time of 48.06.
• Gahanna Columbus Academy, 1:27.01 Andy Li, William Duan, Mircea Butnariu, William Harpster, 200 free relay
• Krys Gorski, a senior at Willoughby Andrews Osborne, 48.93, 100 back
• The Paralympic 100 back went to Lucas Culotta, a sophomore at Brecksville Broadview Heights, with a time of 1:15.08. Eli Franke, a Cincinnati St Xavier junior, placed 2nd in a time of 2:05.90.
• Culotta won the Paralympic 50 free as well, posting a time of 26.86, while Franke finished 2nd with a time of 55.99.
• Bexley High School freshman Jackson Monus took home the state title in the 1-meter diving, racking up 483.05 points.

Boys Team Scores

1. Hunting Valley University School – 274
2. Lexington High School – 131
3. Gahanna Columbus Academy – 125
4. Dayton Oakwood – 120
5. Cincinnati Indian Hill – 109
6. Cincinnati Wyoming – 89
7. Mentor Lake Catholic – 83
8. Oak Harbor – 73
9. Gates Mills Hawken – 70
10. Cincinnati Madeira – 63

Girls Recap

Hathaway Brown was the big winner for the girls Division II state champs. As the defending champions, they won the title by a landslide after accumulating 347 points over the course of the meet; Gates Mills Hawken scored 199 points to finish as the runners-up.

Proving to be an unstoppable force, Hathaway Brown won all three relays. They kicked off the competition with a victory in the 200 medley relay, the team of Claire Mehok, Sofia Jimenez, Lilly Mehok and Josephine Piliang posted a time of 1:42.21, nearly five seconds ahead of Gates Mill’s team.

Later on the team of Piliang, Iris Qi, Oma Agwa and Jimenez secured the title in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:35.48, while the team of Mehok, Qi, Beatrice Stewart and Mehok took home the 400 free relay in a time of 3:28.39.

Hathaway Brown continued their domination in the pool by securing three individual state titles as well. Jimenez, a sophomore on the team, won the 200 IM in a time of 2:03.17, while senior Lilly Mehok took home the 100 fly in a time of 54.14. Freshman Piliang secured the last individual victory by winning the 100 back in a time of 54.37.

A double event winner for Grandview Heights was junior Carrie Furbee, who won both the 50 and 100 free. She touched first in the 50 in a time of 23.02 before going on to post a time of 50.06 in the 100.

Other Event Winners

• Jayde Gowitzka, a senior at Upper Sandusky, won both the para-swimming 50 free and the para-swimming 100 back, posting a time of 33.04 in the freestyle and a time of 1:32.16 in the backstroke.
• The 200 free went to Cincinnati Hills junior Taylor Bacher, who won with a time of 1:49.72.
• Gates Mills senior Sarah Pophal took home the 500 free in a time of 4:54.91.
• Reese Reilly, a sophomore at St. Bernard Roger Bacon, won the 100 breast in a time of 1:03.76.
• Chagrin Falls senior Samantha Holtz took home the state title in the 1-meter diving with 491.95 points.

Girls Team Scores

1. Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown – 347
2. Gates Mills Hawken – 199
3. Kettering Archbishop Alter – 145.5
4. Columbus Bexley – 141
5. Cincinnati Hills Christian – 130
6. Granville – 100
7. Gates Mills Gilmour Academy – 94
8. Gahanna Columbus Academy – 89
9. Cincinnati Indian Hill – 86
10. Oak Harbor – 75