Ohio DI district swimming: McMullan leads St. Xavier to title, St. Ursula girls take 1st

James Weber
Cincinnati Enquirer

St. Xavier's championship tradition shone through with another team district championship in the Division I boys meet Saturday at Miami University's Nixon Aquatic Center.

The Bombers won six of the 11 events in addition to Gavin Hang’s diving championship earlier in the week.

“We had a great day. Our guys really stepped up,” Bombers head coach Dave Albert said. “It was definitely a team effort.”

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Junior Thackston McMullan won the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle and was on both of St. X’s championship freestyle relays.

St. Xavier junior Thackston McMullan wears his championship medal during the OHSAA Southwest District Division I swimming championships Saturday.

“He’s very talented,” Albert said. “He's all in about the team and we're looking forward to seeing how he swims in the two and the five at state.”

Said McMullan: “I knew that coming in we didn’t truly rest for this meet. We still were doing harder practices through the week, so my times are all right around where they should have been.”

Jaeger Ellerman won the 100-yard breaststroke. He combined with Chase Dillon, Max Ward and Adam Wade to win the medley relay. McMullan, Alex Ingram and senior Luca Eckert swam on both freestyle relays that won titles. Ward swam one freestyle relay and Kyle Silvestain the other.

St. Xavier sophomore Jaeger Ellerman wins the 100-yard breaststroke during the OHSAA Southwest District Division I swimming championships Saturday.

“It is truly an honor to represent this team,” McMullan said. “The history speaks for itself: 43 state titles in 50 years. Getting some of the fastest summers ever come from this team. It's tradition, everything. The blue hair, the cheering for each other through every race, being more of a family. It's such an honor to be part of it.”

He hopes the Bombers can contend for another state championship.

“We're in a lot better position as we were last year, not just individually, but as a team,” he said.

Mason senior Max Plumley was another double-winner in the meet. He won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle in All-American consideration time.

Mason senior Max Plumley won two events during the OHSAA Southwest District Division I swimming championships Feb. 18, 2023 at Miami University

“Just an awesome meet,” he said. “I owe it all to the coaches. I was just feeling good. Good racing, great coaching and just a fun fun time.”

Plumley hopes to contend for a state title.

“Just drop best times and race with my teammates,” he said. “It’s the last one I got, so make the most of it.”

Plumley led the Comets to second place in the team standings.

Boys district results

The top three finishers in solo events and top two in relays automatically advance to next week’s state meet in Canton. There are 20 at-large berths in solo events and 16 in relays available across the four districts.

Team scores: 1. St. Xavier 493, 2. Mason 241, 3. Beavercreek 227, 4. Turpin 163, 5. Moeller 161, 6. Walnut Hills 119, 7. Centerville 107, 8. Sycamore 91, 9. Kings 89, 10. Ross 82, 11. Milford and Elder 73, 13. Springboro 56, 14. Oak Hills 55, 15. Lakota East 54, 16. Anderson 50, 17. Lakota West 48, 18. Sidney 40, 19. La Salle 36, 20. Fairfield 26, 21. Little Miami 18, 22. Xenia 9, 23. Talawanda 8, 24. Fairmont 3, 25. Miamisburg 2, 26. Middletown 1.

50 freestyle: 1. Max Plumley (Mason) 20.77, 3. Kyle Silvestain (St. X) 21.15, 4. Max Ward (St. X) 21.16, 5. Cam Craft (Walnut Hills) 21.17, 6. Max Reed (Fairfield) 21.51, 7. Cole Scheidler (Mason) 21.61.

100 freestyle: 1. Max Plumley (Mason) 45.24, 3. Luca Eckert (St. X) 46.31, 4. Cam Craft (Walnut Hills) 46.32, 5. Chase Dillon (St. X) 47.22, 6. Adam Wade (St. X) 47.31, 8. Ryan Corson (La Salle) 47.74.

200 freestyle: 1. Thackston McMullan (St. X) 1:38.83, 2. Alex Ingram (St. X) 1:39.35, 3. Bryce Menchhofer (Sycamore) 1:40.57, 4. Braydon Myers (St. X) 1:40.94, 5. Nathan Spetz (Lakota West) 1:41.46, 6. Xander Williams (Lakota East) 1:41.59, 7. Luca Eckert (St. X) 1:42.28, 8. Andrew Fox (Mason) 1:42.30.

500 freestyle: 1. Thackston McMullan (St. X) 4:30.38, 3. Bryce Menchhofer (Sycamore) 4:36.15, 4. Peter Schmelzer (Turpin) 4:37.35, 5. Nathan Spetz (Lakota West) 4:37.46, 6. Alex Ingram (St. X) 4:37.59, 7. Tyler Houpt (Mason) 4:41, 8. Nick Stroh (St. X) 4:41.96.

Turpin senior Will Meyers advances to state from the OHSAA Southwest District Division I swimming championships Saturday.

100 backstroke: 1. Will Meyers (Turpin) 49.41, 2. Cooper Burt (Ross) 50.11, 5. Chase Dillon (St. X) 51.57, 6. Andrew Fox (Mason) and Hayden Meyers (Turpin) 51.76, 8. Ryder Hicks (Moeller) 52.32.

100 breaststroke: 1. Jaeger Ellerman (St. X) 56.96, 4. Adam Wade (St. X) 58.27, 5. Ryoma Platt (Turpin) 58.77, 6. Walker Bailey (St. X) 58.78, 7. Liam Bien (St. X) 58.94, 8. Sean Schoelwer (Moeller) 59.51.

100 butterfly: 2. Max Ward (St. X) 49.55, 3. Kyle Silvestain (St. X) 49.92, 4. Justin Dostal (Anderson) 50.02, 5. Braydon Myers (St. X) 50.92, 6. Cooper Burt (Ross) 51.03, 7. Will Ballard (Kings) 51.12, 8. Max Brunner (Elder) 51.26.

Anderson senior Justin Dostal advances to state in the 100-yard butterfly after placing second in Saturday's OHSAA Southwest District Division I swimming championships.

200 individual medley: 2. Justin Dostal (Anderson) 1:52.64, 5. Tyler Houpt (Mason) 1:54.51, 6. Ethan Fang (Mason) 1:54.74, 7. Peter Schmelzer (Turpin) 1:54.95, 8. Charles Grisi (St. X) 1:55.13.

200 freestyle relay: 1. St. Xavier 1:23.19, 2. Mason 1:25.56, 3. Walnut Hills 1:27.38, 4. Kings 1:27.46, 5. Elder 1:27.51, 6. Turpin 1:27.96, 7. Lakota East 1:28.71, 8. Milford 1:29.12.

200 medley relay: 1. St. Xavier 1:32.02, 3. Moeller 1:35.27, 4. Mason 1:35.87, 5. Ross 1:35.97, 6. Turpin 1:36.50, 8. Sycamore 1:38.61.

400 freestyle relay: 1. St. Xavier 3:04.96, 2. Mason 3:08.51, 4. Moeller 3:12.71, 5. Walnut Hills 3:13.63, 6. Turpin 3:14.44, 8. Sycamore 3:14.94.

Who advanced to state from the Division I girls meet?

St. Ursula got a clutch performance from sophomore Addie Robillard to help lead the Bulldogs to the team championship Saturday night.

St. Ursula entered the final event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle relay, trailing Mason by two points for the team championship.

St. Ursula sophomore Addie Robillard swims to victory in the 200 individual medley during the OHSAA Southwest District Division I girls swimming championships Feb. 18, 2023 at Miami University

With Robillard anchoring, the Bulldogs led the entire way, while Mason finished third in the relay. Others in the relay were Caroline Lied, Natalie Gockerman and Sydney Herr.

“They’re very solid,” St. Ursula Academy co-head coach Erin Albert said of Mason. “So we knew we had a good chance going in (as) Mason’s a very strong team. They had a really great night. We were just really proud of the way they stepped up. We told them basically just to swim for each other. Just focus on their race, not focus on anybody else’s race and they really showed up for each other.”

Lied had two medal finishes on the podium individually, one of several Bulldogs who likely punched tickets to next week’s state meet in Canton in solo events. St. Ursula won all three relays. Lied was on two of them as well as Robillard, Herr, Courtney McKeown, Gockerman and Audrey Zimmerman. The 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams broke school records as well.

Albert, who is co-head coach with Hanna Belza, is married to St. X head coach Dave Albert and her mother was a longtime head coach at St. Ursula.

“It was definitely a team effort tonight,” Albert said. “All of the girls contributed in some way, shape or form and we were really, really proud of them. We had the highest number of qualifiers I think we've ever had.”

Robillard won the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke in All-American times to give her four titles on the night. In the 100-yard breaststroke, the reigning state champion broke the district record by more than a second in 1:00.17. The state record is 59.29.

“She's a great kid,” Albert said. “She's extremely spirited, extremely enthusiastic, very hard working, definitely a racer. She works hard in practice to get where she is. Just overall a really good kid.”

Milford senior Erin Fentress with her medal for winning a district title in the 50 freestyle during the OHSAA Southwest District Division I girls swimming championships Feb. 18, 2023 at Miami University

Team runner-up Mason didn’t have an individual title but had plenty of automatic and likely state qualifiers with high finishes, led by Dana Fairbanks, Isabella Teply, Evie Mendelsohn, Julia Gregory, Lillian Paley, Chloe Wall and Addison Soehnlen.

Individual titles were spread out.

Milford senior Erin Fentress won the 50 freestyle becoming the first female in school history to win a district swimming championship.

Turpin senior Ava Sutphin won the 500 freestyle and finished third in the 200 free.

Kings' Maya Schweikert won the 100 backstroke and was second in the 100 butterfly. Teammate Faith Rudowski won the 100 freestyle.

Kings junior Faith Rudowski reacts to her district title in the 100 freestyle during the OHSAA Southwest District Division I girls swimming championships Saturday.

Girls district final results

As with boys, the top three finishers in solo events and top two in relays automatically advance to next week’s state meet in Canton. There are 20 at-large berths in solo events and 16 in relays available across the four districts.

50 freestyle: 1. Erin Fentress (Milford) 23.70, 2. Melia Eckman (UA) 23.94, 3. Cora Spetz (Lakota West) 24.02, 4. Faith Rudowski (Kings) and Lily Roberts (Turpin) 24.09, 6. Audrey Zimmerman (St. Ursula) 24.15, 7. Sarah Glosson (Lakota West) 24.18.

100 freestyle: 1. Faith Rudowski (Kings) 51.47, 2. Maren Patterson (Talawanda) 51.68, 3. Erin Fentress (Milford) 51.74, 4. Caroline Lied (SUA) 52.14, 5. Kiley Dunlap (Loveland) 52.37, 6. Olivia Studenka (Turpin) 52.52, 7. Melia Eckman (UA) 52.65.

200 freestyle: 2. Grier Gordon (Ursuline Academy) 1:51.66, 3. Ava Sutphin (Turpin) 1:52.51, 4. Maggie O’Toole (Anderson) 1:53.02, 5. Dana Fairbanks (Mason) 1:53.20, 6. Isabella Teply (Mason) 1:54.18, 7. Ellen Lange (SUA) 1:54.31, 8. Caroline Lied (SUA) 1:54.62.

500 freestyle: 1. Ava Sutphin (Turpin) 4:54.26, 3. Audrina Sutphin (Turpin) 5:03.76, 4. Isabella Teply (Mason) 5:04.16, 5. Ellen Lange (SUA) 5:10.11, 6. Maddie Nixon (SUA) 5:10.94, 7. Kate Luckett (Kings) 5:21.28, 8. Evie Mendelsohn (Mason) 5:21.70.

Kings freshman Maya Schweikert swims the 100 butterfly during the OHSAA Southwest District Division I girls swimming championships Saturday.

100 backstroke: 1. Maya Schweikert (Kings) 54.48, 2. Sofia Matern (Walnut Hills) 56.36, 3. Lauren Clippard (Colerain) 56.52, 4. Sydney Herr (SUA) 56.78, 5. Maggie O’Toole (Anderson) 56.80, 6. Sarah Glosson (Lakota West) 57.13, 7. Dana Fairbanks (Mason) 57.19, 8. Maren Patterson (Talawanda) 57.29.

100 breaststroke: 1. Addie Robillard (SUA) 1:00.17, 2. Quinn Schureck (Walnut Hills) 1:03.22, 3. Alyssa Uhlman (UA) 1:04.61, 4. Julia Gregory (Mason) 1:05.54, 5, Katie Fisher (Lebanon) 1:05.58, 6. Lillian Paley (Mason) 1;05.99, 7. Ashleigh Bender (Kings) 1:06.98, 8. Sophia Simon (UA) 1:07.30.

100 butterfly: 2. Maya Schweikert (Kings) 55.46, 3. Katie Fisher (Lebanon) 56.64, 4. Courtney McKeown (SUA) 56.77, 5. Grier Gordon (UA) 56.93, 6. Addison Soehnlen (Mason) 57.07, 7. Alexandra Johnson (Turpin) 57.70, 8. Julia Gregory (Mason) 57.72.

Mason sophomore Chloe Wall swims the 200 individual medley during the OHSAA Southwest District Division I girls swimming championships Feb. 18, 2023 at Miami University

200 individual medley: 1. Addie Robillard (SUA) 2:01.09, 2. Chloe Wall (Mason) 2:06.16, 3. Sofia Matern (Walnut Hills) 2:06.36, 5. Quinn Schureck (Walnut Hills) 2:07.30, 7. Alyssa Uhlman (UA) 2:08.19, 8. Courtney McKeown (SUA) 2:08.77.

200 medley relay: 1. St. Ursula (Herr, Robillard, McKeown, Zimmerman) 1:44.36, 2. Ursuline 1:46.35, 3. Mason 1:46.67, 4. Kings 1:47.15, 5. Walnut Hills 1:47.18, 6. Turpin 1:48.52, 7. Lebanon 1:48.80, 8. Lakota West 1:49.37.

200 freestyle relay: 1. St. Ursula (McKeown, Lied, Gockerman, Zimmerman) 1:36.29, 2. Mason 1:36.96, 3. Turpin 1:38.38, 4. Walnut Hills 1:38.56, 5. Kings 1:38.68, 6. Lakota West 1:39.09, 7. Talawanda 1:39.15.

400 freestyle relay: 1. St. Ursula 3:28.24, 2. Kings 3:30.25, 3. Mason 3:31.42, 4. Ursuline 3:31.73, 5. Turpin 3:34.58, 7. Mt. Notre Dame 3:40.95.

Turpin senior Ava Sutphin reacts to her district championship in the 500 freestyle uring the OHSAA Southwest District Division I girls swimming championships Feb. 18, 2023 at Miami University