Sunday, February 18, 2001
Division I girls district swimming
Ursuline looks strong heading to state meet
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
OXFORD — Defending Division I state swimming and diving champion Ursuline is poised to make it two in a row.
Paced by Tami Ransom and Whitney Myers, the Lions won seven of 11 races to capture the District championship while qualifying swimmers in 10 of the 11 events.
“I'm pretty happy with the results,” Ursuline coach Tim Beerman said. “We may have had one or two off swims, but I'm excited. Last year, we took 12 swimmers to state, and one of our goals was to improve. We'll take 13 and maybe 14 this year.”
The top four swimmers advance to the state meet with the next 11 fastest from the four districts also qualifying.
Ransom and Myers both won two events. The Lions' 400-yard medley (1:58.76) and 200 freestyle (1:36.75) relays also won.
Five district records were broken, four by Ursuline.
Here's a look at each district event:
200 Medley Relay: The Ursuline team of Maggi Bulla, Tiffany Lipari, Margy Keefe and Jenny Kunkel edged Oak Hills, the team that beat the Lions at sectionals. Ursuline edged the Highlanders 1:48.27 to 1:48.55.
200 Freestyle: Defending state champion Myers trailed Anderson's Megan Tomes after the first 100 yards, but the Ursuline sophomore came on to win in 1:51.31.
“I knew Megan was a sprinter and would go out fast,” said Myers, who won last year in 1:48.60. “So I paced myself early.”
200 Individual Medley: Ramson, the defending state champion, took a quick lead in the backstroke and went on to extend it.
When Ransom's time of 1:58.76 was announced, she was given a standing ovation by the crowd of 900 for breaking the national record (1:58.84) set by Natalie Coughlin from Carondelet, Calif.
But after the awards ceremony, Ransom informed Beerman that Coughlin had lowered the time to 1:58.45 last year. A check confirmed Ransom's suspicions.
“Tami has been shooting for the national mark and knew it was possible, because this pool is very fast,” Beerman said.
50 Freestyle: Carolyn McHugh from Oak Hills took the early lead and held off Liz Keating from St. Ursula.
100 Butterfly: The second-fastest qualifier, Oak Hills junior Liz Schoborg, took almost three seconds off last week's sectional time to claim the championship in 56.66.
100 Freestyle: This was a start-to-finish victory for Ransom, who broke the district record of 50.14 set by Aimee Berzins from Centerville with a 49.90.
500 Freestyle: Myers, the defending state champion, closed fast to win in 4:56.78. Keefe took second in 4:57.99.
200 Freestyle Relay: Oak Hills took the lead during the first 50 yards, but Ursuline's Bulla took over in the second 50 and Kunkel and Ransom closed it out in a district record of 1:36.75.
100 Backstroke: Centerville freshman Erin Forster won in a district-record 56.76.
100 Breaststroke: This was the closest race of the night. Oak Hills senior Katie Hunter won in 1:06.27, with Mount Notre Dame's Tiffany Clay second in 1:06.28.
400 Freestyle Relay: Ursuline made it a sweep in the relays, leading from start to finish.
Team Standings: 1. Ursuline 474 1/2, 2. Centerville 2178 1/2, 3. St. Ursula 268, 3. Oak Hills 178, 5. Sycamore 159, 6. Anderson 119, 7. Mount Notre Dame 105, 8. Mason 97, 9. Mercy 84, 10. Beavercreek 79, 11. Princeton 71, 12. Lakota West 65, 13. McAuley 51, 14. McAuley 51, 14. Turpin 36, 15. Fairmont 33, 16. (tie) Lebanon 26, 17. Colerain 26, 18. (tie) Talawanda, Dayton Carroll 24, 20. (tie) Lakota East, Seton 22, 22. Milford 18, 23. Winton Woods 16, 24. Troy 12, 25. Vandalia Butler 11, 26. Fairfield 9, 27. West Carrollton 8, 28. Loveland 7, 29. Fairborn 1.
State Qualifiers
200 Medley Relay: 1. Ursuline (Bulla, Lipari, Keefe, Kunkel) 1:48.27, 2. Oak Hills (Schnur, Hunter, Schoborg, McHugh) 1:48.55, 3. St. Ursula (Tepe, Gartner, Fessel, Keating) 1:49.26, 4. Centerville (Forster, Chandler, Roach, Schriner) 1:50.66.
200 Freestyle: 1. Myers (Ursuline) 1:51.31, 2. Tomes (Anderson) 1:52.72, 3. Greiner (Ursuline) 1:53.43, 4. Keefe (Ursuline) 000.00.
200 Individual Medley: 1. Ransom (Ursuline) 1:58.76 (district record), 2. Koch (Mercy) 2:04.63, 3. Roach (Centerville) 2:05.17, 4. Forster (Centerville) 2:05.56.
50 Freestyle: 1. McHugh (Oak Hills) 24.21, 2. Keating (St. Ursula) 24.58, 3. Lipari (Ursuline) 24.85, 4. Schneider (St. Ursula) 24.95.
Diving: 1. Lachmann (McAuley) 381.95,2. Windholtz (Centerville) 348.75, 3. Lampe (McAuley) 326.60, 4. Brenner (Colerain) 317.30, 5. Meister (McAuley) 300.60, 6. Sylvester (Sycamore) 299.00.
100 Butterfly: 1. Schoborg (Oak Hills) 56.66, 2. Vogel (Mount Notre Dame) 56.67, 3. Meade (Ursuline) 57.15, Krallman (Ursuline) 58.11.
100 Freestyle: 1. Ransom (Ursuline) 49.90, 2. Tomes (Anderson) 52.55, 3. McHugh (Oak Hills) 52.78, 4. Meade (Ursuline) 53.13.
500 Freestyle: 1. Myers (Ursuline) 4:56.78, 2. Keefe (Ursuline) 4:57.99, 3. Roach (Centerville) 4:58.06, 4. Forster (Centerville) 4:58.23.
200 Freestyle Relay: 1. Ursuline (Meade, Bulla, Kunkel, Ransom) 1:36.75 (district record), 2. Oak Hills (Schoborg, Eilerman, Schnur, McHugh) 1:39.34, 3. St. Ursula (Fessel, Barnes, Schnieber, Ball) 1:39.94, 4. Centerville :41.24.
100 Backstroke: 1. Forster (Centerville) 56.17 (district record), 2. Tepe (St. Ursula) 56.90, 3. Fessel (St. Ursula) 57.17, 4. Vogel (Mount Notre Dame) 57.39.
100 Breaststroke: 1. Hunter (Oak Hills) 1:06.27, 2. Clay (Mount Notre Dame) 1:06.28, 3. Koch (Mercy) 1:06.84, 4. Lipari (Ursuline) 1:07.19.
400 Freestyle Relay: 1. Ursuline (Myers, Keefe, Greiner, Ransom) 3:30.13 (district record), 2. Centerville (Roach, Whitson, K. Forster, E. Forster) 3:35.82, 3. St. Ursula (Keating, Schnieber, Ball, Forster) 3:37.36, 4. Sycamore (Siemer, MacKnight, Tameris, Ursini) 3:40.87.
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Division I girls district swimming