Sunday, February 21, 1999
Ransom leads Ursuline romp at district swim
Captures 200 IM, 100 freestyle
BY DAVE SCHUTTE
Enquirer contributor
OXFORD — Defending state girls swimming champion Ursuline proved it is ready to go after another title, easily winning the District title Saturday at Miami University.
Led by two-event winner Tami Ranson, the Lions scored 337 points with Sycamore taking second place.
“We qualified eight swimmers to state which is about the same as last year,” Ursuline coach Tim Beerman said. “(Gates Mills) Hawken is a great team and it will be a battle next week (at the state meet).”
Ursuline swept the three relays and won four individual events with defending state champion Erin Phenix capturing the 50 freestyle and Kelli Krallmann in the 100 butterfly.
Overall, three district records were broken.
Ransom, who also won the 100 freestyle, broke the record in the 200 individual medley; Lindsey Kroeger from Oak Hills established the record in the 100 backstroke; and Sycamore senior Mandy Commons capped the night by breaking the record in the 100 breaststroke.
• 200 medley relay: An upset appeared in the making with Ursuline trailing until the final 50 yards when Phenix took over in the freestyle and won in 23.46.
• 200 freestyle: Beavercreek junior Katie Jelus and Ursuline freshman Katie Greiner both led in this race but Fairmont's Sarah Fiden closed in 27.97 seconds to pull it out in 1:52.53.
• 200 individual medley: This featured last year's state champion, Jennifer Koch from Mercy, and runner-up Lesley Meade from Ursuline. But at the end, newcomer Ransom prevailed in a meet record 2:01.07.
The time broke Alison Fealey's record of 2:01.79 set in 1995 and qualified Ransom for the Olympic Trails next year (2000).
“I didn't swim this event last year,” Ransom said. “I have no strategy. I jump in the pool and swim the best I can.”
• 50 freestyle: The second fastest qualifier and the defending state champion, Phenix led all the way to win in 23.65, the same time she swam in winning the title in 1998.
“I wanted to win to show everyone I can still swim this event,” Phenix said.
• 100 butterfly: Ursuline's Krallman was overwhelmed after winning this event in 56.30, besting last year's state runner-up Leah Ross from Mariemont.
“I can't believe I swam this fast,” Krallman said.
• 100 freestyle: Ransom upset defending state champion and teammate Phenix. She covered the distance in a personal-best 50.70 after qualifying last week in 52.43, the same as Phenix.
• 500 freestyle: A first year distance swimmer, Mercy junior Jennifer Koch won in a personal best time of 4:58.68.
“I dropped five seconds off last week's time in the district,” Koch said. “I swam the 100 breaststroke last year and didn't do so well. I decided to switch this year.”
• 200 freestyle relay: There was never a doubt of the outcome when freshman Kelly Hagan took the lead for Ursuline.
• 100 backstroke: The state runner-up in 1998, Lindsey Kroeger from Oak Hills broke the district record set by Ransom last year with a 56.76.
“I was looking for a surprise tonight,” Kroeger said. “I went out hard and then worked harder on the third 25.”
• 100 breaststroke: Swimming against defending state champion Kelly Jones from Alter didn't bother Sycamore senior Mandy Commons who led from start to finish.
“I was dead (tired) the last 121/2 yards,” Commons said.
Commons' district record time of 1:02.35 tied last year's state winning time.
• 400 freestyle relay: It appeared Ursuline would break the record of 3:32.13 but the Lions fell a little short (3:32.93) in a winning effort.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Ursuline 337, 2. Sycamore 201, 3. Centerville 194, 4. St. Ursula 179, 5. Oak Hills 148 6. Anderson 127 1/2, 7. Mariemont 118 1/2, 9. Mercy 108 1/2, 10. Fairmont 88, 11. Beavercreek 80, 12. Alter 79, 13. Mount Notre Dame 59, 14. Springfeldl Catholic Central 56, 15. McAuley 51, 16. Mason 40, 17. Wyoming 34, 18. (tie) Indian Hill, Fairfield 33, 20. Princeton 26, 21. Williamsburg 23, 22. Lebanon 22, 23. Talawanda 20 1/2, 24. Milford 20, 25. (tie) Badin, Dayton Christian 19, 27. Piqua 18, 28. (tie) Bellbrook, Xenia 13, 30. Ross 12, 31. Roger Bacon 11, 32. Turpin 9, 33. Seton 8, 34. (tie) CCD, Xenia Christian 6, 36. (tie) Fairborn, Hamilton, Springfield Shawnee 5, 39. Colerain 4, 40. Sidney Lehman 2. 62.
STATE QUALIFIERS
200 Medley Relay: 1. Ursuline (Greiner, Meade, Krallman, Phenix) 1:47.68, 2. Sycamore (Bogner, Commons, Bednarchik, Hatfield) 1:49.69, 3. Oak Hills (Kroeger, Janssen, Rye, McHugh) 1:49.80.
200 Freestyle: 1. Fiden (Kettering Fairmont) 1:52.53, 2. Jelus (Beavercreek) 1:53.20, 3. Greiner (Ursuline) 1:53.58.
200 Individual Medley: 1. Ransom (Ursuline) 2:01.07 (district record), Meade (Ursuline) 2:05.31, 3. Koch (Mercy) 2:05.97.
50 Freestyle: 1. Phenix (Ursuline) 23.65, 2. West (Springfield Catholic Central) 23.89, 3. Jones (Kettering Alter) 23.91.
100 Butterfly: 1. Krallman (Ursuline) 57.30, 2. Ross (Mariemont) 57.67, Bednarchik (Sycamore) 57.74.
100 Freestyle: 1. Ransom (Ursuline) 50.70, 2. Phenix (Ursuline) 51.12, 3. L. Commons (Sycamore) 52.61.
500 Freestyle: 1. Koch (Mercy) 4:58.68, 2. Beary (Mount Notre Dame) 5:01.30, 3. Jelus (Beavercreek) 5:02.00.
200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Ursuline (Meade, Hagen, Bulla, Ransom) 1:37.53, 2. Sycamore (M. Commons, Hatfield, Ursini, L. Commons) 1:38.69, 3. Oak Hills (Schoborg, McHugh, Rye, Kroeger) 1:39.08.
100 Backstroke: 1. Kroeger (Oak Hills) 56.76, 2. Tepe (St. Ursula) 56.98, Carey (Indian Hill) 57.93.
100 Breaststroke: 1. M. Commons (Sycamore) 1:02.35 (district record), 2. Jones (Alter) 1:02.94, 3. Staley (Piqua) 1:05.44.
400 Freestyle Relay: 1. Ursuline (Hagen, French, Greiner, Phenix) 3:32.93, 2. Sycamore (Bednarchik, Kirschner, Ursini, L. Commons) 3:35.57, 3. St. Ursula (Keating, Molnar, Mangano, Tepe) 3:37.35.
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