Saturday, February 26, 2000
St. X swimmers poised for title
BY DAVE SCHUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CANTON — Guarding against complacency may the biggest challenge for the St. Xavier boys swimming team.
Winning two events and finishing in the top eight in three others, the Bombers took a commanding 122-point lead Friday after the first day of the state swimming meet at C.T. Branin Natatorium.
“It was a great day for us,” coach Jim Brower said. “We set two state records, but the highlight was the four swimmers who finished in the top eight in the (200 individual) medley.”
The Bombers' 200 medley relay team set the tone for the meet. Jayme Cramer, Brett Burns, Scott Ransenberger and Max Leassner combined for a 1:31.22, besting the state record of 1:32.47 set by St. X last year.
In the morning preliminaries, Cramer broke the state record of 48.79 set by Tony Kurth of Toledo St. Francis in 1999. Cramer returned in the championship heat and won the state title in 48.51.
• 200 medley relay: Al though the crowd stood and wildly applauded what was thought to be a national record, the St. Xavier swimmers knew they had fallen short — but at the same time broken the state record.
“The (state swimming) program wasn't updated,” Brower said. “The national record is 1:31.10 set by Mercersburg (Pa.) in 1991. That was our goal, but we fell a little short.”
Cramer started the race in the backstroke in 22 seconds with Akron Firestone close behind. It remained close until Leassner, a junior, brought it home in 20.85 in the freestyle. The Bombers completed the race in 1:31.22.
• 200 freestyle: Sycamore senior Dan Ketchum won for the third consecutive year and will go after a third consecutive 500 freestyle title on Saturday.
“It feels great, although my time was off,” Ketchum said. “I've had some sickness in January and again last week, but that's not an excuse.”
• 200 individual medley: The early leader, Akron Firestone's Mark Gangloff, won in a state-record time of 1:47.63. Fairfield's Nick McCollum was third.
“The breaststroke is my worst and cost me the race,” McCollum said. “It's something I'll work on before next year's state meet.”
• 50 freestyle: Ashland senior Jim Haag won, with St. Xavier's Ranserberg second.
“Tonight was my personal best,” Ransenberg said. “I couldn't tell during the race if I was behind or ahead.”
• 100 butterfly: Cramer was pushed by Todd Minnier of Cleveland St. Ignatius, but pulled it out the final 25 yards.
Today's preliminaries begin at 8:30 a.m., with the finals in six events at 6 p.m.
Team Standings (after six events): 1. St. Xavier 189, 2. Upper Arlington 77, 5. Anderson 67, 9. La Salle 36, 16. Turpin 20, 20. Fairfield 16, 27. Summit Country Day 12, 39. Edgewood 2, Badin 1.
Individual Results
200 Medley Relay: 1. St. Xavier (Cramer, Burns, Ransenberg, Leassner) 1:31.22 (state record), 3. Anderson (Cummings, Kauscher, Marty Tomes, Michael Tomes) 1:34.83, 14. La Salle (Kessler, Flynn, Dehne, Tenbrink) 1:40.24, 15. Sycamore (Hunter, Walsh, Ford, Aukstuolis) 1:40.48...24. Moeller (Herdeman, Doviak, Jacobs, Pierce) 1:44.10.
200 Freestyle: 1. Ketchum (Sycamore) 1:37.54, 5. Tiemeyer (La Salle) 1:41.81, 7. Stoffer (St. Xavier) 1:43.34, 8. Keyes (Anderson) 1:46.39, 12. Bushelman (St. Xavier) 1:44.85, 13. Janszen (St. Xavier) 1:44.94, 15. Guibord (St. Xavier) 1:45.20.
200 Individual Medley: 1. Gangloff (Akron Firestone) 1:47.63 (state record) 1:47.623, 3. McCollum (Fairfield) 1:53.17, 4. Janszen (St. Xavier) 1:53.19, 5.Bonner (St. Xavier) 1:54.78, 6. Burns (St. Xavier) 1:55.34 , 16. Robinson (Badin) 1:59.19...18. Thacker (Talawanda) 1:59.36, 22. Ladd (Milford) 2:01.11, 24. Randall (Milford) 2:02.08.
50 Freestyle: 1. Haag (Ashland) 20.72, 2. Ransenberg (St. Xavier) 20.80, 3. Dehne (La Salle) 21.00, 7. Leassner (St. Xavier) 21.39, 19. Tenbrink (La Salle) 22.13, 23. Hartman, Fairfield 22.67.
100 Butterfly: 1. Cramer (St. Xavier) 48.51, 5. Keefe (St. Xavier) 51.40, 6. Tomes (Anderson) 51.59, 8. Cummings (Anderson) 51.80), 13. Hausladen (St. Xavier) 52.84, 23. Ladd (Milford) 53.69.
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