Sunday, February 27, 2000
St. X swimmers set three state marks
BY DAVE SCHUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CANTON — St. Xavier's swimming team continued to rewrite the Ohio High School Athletic Association's record books here Saturday.
The Bombers won a record 22nd state championship, amassing 394 points while breaking three state records — two individual and one relay.
No school in any sport has won 22 state championships in Ohio.
Junior Jayme Cramer was the standout for the Bombers.
Friday, Cramer broke the state record in the 100 butterfly and broke the state (48.67) and pool record (48.37) twice in the backstroke, swimming the championship final in 48.15. He swam the preliminaries in 48.35.
“Jayme has never been satisfied with his performances here (state meet),” St. X coach Jim Brower said. "'He's a very determined individual and came here to make a statement. That's why you saw him go all out in both the preliminaries and finals.”
Overall, the Bombers won two relays and two individual state titles. But it was their depth that made the difference.
“We brought 19 people to state, eight who had never been here before and only three who had been in a championship final. Every swimmer scored,” Brower said.
Also, Sycamore senior Dan Ketchum closed his prep career in style. For the third straight year, he won the 500 freestyle, swimming the event in 4:25.20. Ketchum also won his third straight 200 freestyle state championships.
Here's a look at each of Saturday's events:
• 100 freestyle: St. X's Scott Ransenberg was Cincinnati's best, taking fifth in 45.81.
• 500 freestyle: Ketchum was by far the best, swimming the event in 4:25.20. The next swimmer was more than five seconds behind.
• 200 freestyle relay: The La Salle team of David Kessler, Kelly Tenbrink, Brian Tiemeier and Adam Dehne (1:25,74) took third.
• 100 backstroke: St. X's Cramer broke the state record of 48.67 set by St. Paris Graham's Justin Thornton in the morning preliminaries (48.35). He broke that record seven hours later in 48.15.
“Tonight I tried to relax more,” Cramer said. “My goal was to break 48 seconds, but I'm not disappointed.”
On Friday, Cramer set the state record in the 100 butterfly in 48.31.
• 100 breaststroke: Defending state champion Mark Gangloff from Akron Firestone won in a state record time of 55.10. St. Xavier senior Brett Burns took second in 58.31.
• 400 freestyle relay: St. X was just No. 5 in qualifying, but turned it on during the final 100 yards as Cramer led the way to a 3:03.36 clocking.
“I never dream of winning a state championship,” St. Xavier's Andrew Keefe said. “We used a different lineup in the morning to get some other guys a chance to swim.”
Brower said the indecision on the relays was his doing. “We wanted to go out by win ning the last event. I can never remember not loading up for the 400 freestyle relay.”
Team standings: 1. St. Xavier 394, 2. Cle. St. Ignatius 182, 3. Akron Firestone 173.5, 4. Upper Arlington 161, 5. Anderson 142. Other Locals: 8. Sycamore 94, 10. LaSalle 77, 17. Fairfield 32, 24. Turpin 20, 33. Summit 12, 49 (tie) Badin, Edgewood 2.
100 freestyle: 1. Matkovich (Upper Arlington) 45.06. Locals: 5. Ransenberg (St. Xavier) 45.81; 8. Leassner (St. Xavier) 46.72; 9. Tiemeier (LaSalle) 47.06;
500 freestyle: 1. Ketchum (Sycamore) 4:25.2. Locals: 3. McCollum (Fairfield) 4:34.01; 5. Stoffer (St. Xavier) 4:37.07; 9. Keefe (St. Xavier) 4:39.88; 10. Thomes (Anderson) 4:41.44; 11. Ransom (St. Xavier) 4:41.48; 24. Davis (Milford) 4:46.82, 20. Rauen (St. Xavier) 4:48.14.
200 freestyle relay: 1. St. Ignatius 1:24.89. Locals: 3. LaSalle (Kessler, Tenbrink, Tiemeier, Dehne) 1:25.74; 5. St. Xavier (Stoffer, Pater, Janszen, Leassner) 1:26.28; 7. Sycamore (Ford, Aukstuolis, Walsh, Ketchum) 1:27.47; 12. Anderson (Cummings, Kauscher, Tomes, Keyes) 1:28.84; 18. Wyoming (Henkel, Giardina, Byrnes, Appel) 1:29.56, 24. Princeton (Wilson, Hui, Shafer, Miller) 1:31.40.
100 backstroke: 1. Cramer (St. Xavier) 48.15 (state record). Locals: 2. Hardesty (St. Xavier) 50.98; 3. Cummings (Anderson) 51.0; 5. Keefe (St. Xavier) 51.4; 10. Tomes (Anderson) 52.8; 23. Blohm (Wilmington) 55.34.
100 breaststroke: 1. Gangloff (Akron Firestone) 55.1. Locals: 2. Burns (St. Xavier) 58.31; 6. Kauscher (Anderson) 58.96; 9. Jacob (St. Xavier) 58.77; 13. Janszen (St. Xavier) 1:00.01; 15. Pater (St. Xavier) 1:00.32; 16. Robinson (Badin) 1:00.34; 23. Hartman (Fairfield) 1:02.36.
400 freestyle relay: 1. St. Xavier (Keefe, Stoffer, Cramer, Ransenberg) 3:03.36. Locals: 6. Sycamore (Hunter Aukstuolis, Ford, Ketchum) 3:11.6; 8. Anderson (M. Tomes, Daley, M. Tomes, Keyes) 3:15.64; 16. LaSalle (Tenbrink, Huey, Tiemeier, Dehne) DQ; 19. Wyoming (Henkel, Koscianski, Byrnes, Appel) 3:19.60, 20. Moeller (Jacobs, Herdeman, Church, Pierce) 3:20.55.
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