Wednesday, July 04, 2001
St. X named national swim champion
Ursuline finishes 2nd among girls
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
What appeared to be an impossible task for the St.Xavier swimming team in January turned into reality Monday.
Cramer
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Leassner
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That's when St.X coach Jim Brower was notified by Phil Whitten, editor-in-chief of Swimming World magazine, that the Bombers are the 2000-01 national high school champions.
Two-time defending Division I state champion Ursuline finished second with 122 points in the girls competition, eight behind Irvine (Calif.) High School.
“The fact that two Cincinnati schools finished in the first and second spots is really an incredible honor,” Ursuline coach Tim Beerman said. “It shows Cincinnati swimming is right up with there with Texas and Florida and every other place, and that's what we're working toward.”
St.X's chief rival was the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla.
“We looked at the times of the Bolles School swimmers in January and thought there was no way we could beat them,” Brower said.
“They had multiple swimmers with good times in most events and knew if they used them in the relays, they would be unbeatable.”
Whitten said that before scoring the mythical national meet, he also expected Bolles to finish first for the third consecutive year.
“St.X used its resources more efficiently than Bolles to win it,” Whitten said. “They had just a few kids who scored the maximum points, which was the difference.”
The publication takes the top 16 times in every event from all the state and district meets to score the mythical meet and determine the national champion.
St.X's strength in the relays, along with outstanding performances by Jayme Cramer, Max Leassner and Kurt Hardesty, determined the outcome of the boys title.
Cramer's state-record times in the 100 butterfly (47.65 seconds) and 100 backstroke (47.65) were the fastest in the country.
Leassner's state-championship time in the 200 freestyle was second-best in the United States (1:37.78), and he was sixth-fastest in the 100 freestyle (45.17). Hardesty was 12th in the 100 backstroke (49.98).
St.Xavier's previous national titles came in 1973 and '92.
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St. X named national swim champion
