St. Xavier's Max Leassner wins the 200 freestyle. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        CANTON — Jayme Cramer walked from the victory stand with his head down.

        “I was going for the national record and didn't get it,” Cramer said after winning the 100 butterfly state championship. “Tonight wasn't even my best time.”

        Although Cramer was discouraged, St. Xavier coach Jim Brower was happy with Cramer and the Bombers performance Friday during the first day of the boys state swimming and diving meet at C.T. Branin Natatorium.

        “Jayme had an incredible swim,” Brower said of the Stanford-bound Cramer. “Someday, he'll look back on tonight and realize the accomplishment.”

        St. X won three events: 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle (Max Leassner) and 200 medley relay.

        Cramer took control early in the race and was never threatened. He swam the first 50 yards in 22.10 and brought it home in 25.59 for a time of 47.69. He won the event in 48.51 last year.

        The national record in the butterfly is held by former Covington Catholic standout Nate Dusing (47.10 in 1997).

        Leassner won the 200 free in a personal-best 1:37.78, more than three seconds ahead of Centerville's Greg Middleton (1:41.05)

        “It's always been a goal to win state,” Leassner said. “I set the bar high and went for it. I took more than two seconds off my best time.”

        For Leassner, last year's state meet was a disappointment. He was seventh in the 100 freestyle and eighth in the 50 freestyle.

        “I worked much harder and was more focused all season,” Leassner said. “This is something I wanted real bad.”

        St. Xavier's 200 medley relay team of Kurt Hardesty, David Janszen, Cramer and Kyle Ransom set the tone for the meet by winning the first event in 1:32.89.

        “This is the way we wanted to start,” sophomore Ransom said. “This will be a confidence builder for the rest of the meet.”

        David Janszen's dream of winning an individual state championship in the 200 individual medley was thwarted by Drian Demelli, a sophomore from Gates Mills Hawken.

        Janszen fell more than a second behind Demelli in the backstroke and couldn't make up the difference. He finished in second place.

        LaSalle's Adam Dehne, who qualified second fastest in the 50 freestyle (21.31), finished eighth.

        Wyoming's Ben Appel was one of the happiest Cincinnati swimmers after taking third in the 50 freestyle in 21.27. He qualified in 21.75.

        Action resumes today at 9 a.m. with the preliminaries in the final six events. The championship and consolation finals begin at 6 p.m. No tickets available at the gate.

        TEAM SCORES

        DIVISION I

        1, St. Xavier 139; 2, Akr. Firestone 81; 3, Tol. St. Francis 72; 4, Centerville 70.50; 5, Cle. St. Ignatius 69; 6, Upper Arlington 68; 7, Anderson 53; 8, Gates Mills Hawken 45; 9, LaSalle 40; 10, Wyoming 39; 11, Summit Country Day 20; 12, Westerville N. 18; 13, Spring. N. 17; 14, Kettering Alter 16; 14 (tie), Turpin 16; 14 (tie), Copley 16; 17, Beavercreek 15.50; 18, Wooster 15; 18 (tie), Fairfield 15; 20, Brecksville-Broadview Hts. 14; 20 (tie), Thomas Worthington 14; 20 (tie), Warren Harding 14; 20 (tie), N. Robinson Col. Crawford 14; 20 (tie), Canfield 14; 20 (tie), Cols. DeSales 14; 26, Mt. Vernon 13; 26 (tie), Worthington Kilbourne 13; 26 (tie), Youngs. Boardman 13; 26 (tie), Sycamore 13; 30, Twinsburg 12; 40, Wilmington 6; 40 (tie), Cin. Hills Christian 6

        200 Medley Relay

        1, St. Xavier, 1:32.89; 2, Akr. Firestone, 1:33.70; 3, Upper Arlington, 1:34.55; 4, Anderson, 1:35.12; 9, Wyoming, 1:37.79; 14, Sycamore, 1:39.48; ; 19. Fairfield (McCollum, Ivey, Marcy, Hartman) 1:41.76, 21. Milford (Davis, Carroll, Stratton, Stafford) 1:42.45, 22. Moeller (Bittner, Magnus, Herdemann, Taylor) 1:42.73.

        200 Freestyle

        1, Max Leassner, Sr., St. Xavier, 1:37.78; 2, Greg Middleton, Jr., Centerville, 1:41.05; 3, Russell Hunt, Sr., Upper Arlington, 1:42.40; 18. Davis (Milford) 1:45.92, 19. Miller (Princeton) 1:45.9 8, 20. Keefe (St. Xavier) 1:46.05, 21. Neubauer (Sycamore) 1:46.81.

        200 Individual Medley

        1, Brian Demell, Sr., Gates Mills Hawken, 1:52.65; 2, David Janszen, Jr., St. Xavier, 1:53.18; 3, Nick Douville, Sr., Kettering Alter, 1:53.69; 4, Nick McCollum, Jr., Fairfield, 1:54.01; 7, John Stoneburner, Jr., St. Xavier, 1:56.81; 17. Roebuck (Wyoming) 1:59.65, 23. Myers (Wyoming) 2:01.56.

        50 Freestyle

        1, Ed Matkovich, Sr., Upper Arlington, 20.88; 2, Andy Swonger, Sr., Spring. N., 20.94; 3, Ben Appel, Sr., Wyoming, 21.27; 8, Adam Dehne, Sr., LaSalle, 21.57; 17. Byrnes (Wyoming) 22.09, 19. Mail (Middletown) 22.10, 24. Marcy (Fairfield) 22.45.

        100 Butterfly

        1, Jayme Cramer, Sr., St. Xavier, 47.69; 2, Steven McDonald, Jr., Akr. Firestone, 50.05; 3, Rian Glaser, Sr., Copley, 50.14; 4, Adam Dehne, Sr., LaSalle, 50.88; 5, Marty Tomes, Jr., Anderson, 50.95; 17. Tanner (St. Xavier) 53.29, 19. Bingham (St. Xavier) 53.72, 20. Raszka (Middletown) 53.98.

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