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The
Boys Swimming & Diving Tournament is one of the oldest
statewide high school tournaments. The 2006 OHSAA swim
tournament program states that the first swimming and
diving tournament was held in 1928. However, according
to the All-Sports Record Book, put out by the OHSAA in
1957 to celebrate the organization�s 50th
anniversary, there was a State Swimming & Diving Meet in
1927. Only seven schools participated in that meet,
which consisted of just two events, and no team champion
was named. East Cleveland Shaw won the 160-yard relay,
while a Mr. Heil from Columbus South won the �fancy
diving� event.
In 1928
the first true state interscholastic swimming and diving
meet was held. It is not known how many schools
participated, but 11 managed to score points. The meet
was won by Lakewood High School, with Cincinnati Withrow
the runner-up. The meet was expanded to six events that
year, going to nine by 1949 and eventually the even
dozen events that we enjoy today. Still, however, there
remains but one diving event, now known as �one-meter
diving.�
Boys
swimming is one of the few sports in Ohio in which all
schools are thrown together in one statewide class or
division. Beginning with that first boys state meet in
1928, thru the 1969 tournament, the swimming and diving
championships were dominated by schools primarily from
the northeastern part of the state, and almost totally
by schools within a stone�s throw of Lake Erie. The
earliest �powers� of the sport were Lakewood High, which
won the first two meets on 1928 and 1929, and finished
second by a single point to Cincinnati Withrow in 1930,
and Cleveland Heights High School, which swam to victory
in 1932-33-34.
In 1931
Canton McKinley, under the direction of its legendary
coach Ted Branin, finished second in the tournament, but
the Bulldogs and coach Branin were just warming up. It
would take McKinley until 1937 before it won its first
state swim title, but after that the names of Canton
McKinley and Ted Branin would became synonymous with
Ohio high school swim championships. Over the next 15
years the Bulldogs won six more state titles, and
finished as the runner-up an additional five times.
From 1953-1955 the Bulldogs finished sixth, third and
fifth, respectively.
Then
came what can only be described as the �Golden Era� of
Canton McKinley swimming. From 1956 thru 1961 the
Bulldogs of coach Branin completely dominated the world
of Ohio high school swimming, winning the state
tournament each year. In 1960 the team scored a then
record 60 points, easily defeating runner-up Lakewood
and its 28 points. Coach Branin and his Bulldogs made
their final trip to the podium in 1966, when they
collected a runner-up trophy.
The
Bulldogs, with their 13 state championships, had set the
standard. Fremont Ross High School, with seven state
championships from 1936 to 1953, had been McKinley�s
closest rival. Soon, however, a team would come along
that would shatter those marks and put Ohio high school
swimming onto the national map.
Before
1970, Cincinnati St. Xavier High School had only
finished as high as second place in the state swimming
and diving tournament but one time, and that was way
back in 1945. All of that would come to a sudden and
decisive halt beginning with the 1970 state tournament.
From 1970 thru 1981 the Bombers won 12 consecutive state
swimming championships, the eighth longest such streak
in the nation. They achieved this remarkable success
under three different coaches. Dennis White directed
the team from 1970-74, followed by Mike Arat, 1975-76,
Jim Loomis, 1977-79, and then back again with Dennis
White in 1980 and �81. The Bombers string of
championships was briefly interrupted in 1982 and �83 by
Akron�s Firestone High School, but St. Xavier finished
second both times, missing the 1983 title by just six
points.
After
regaining the state championship in 1984, the Bombers
went on a five year hiatus in which Upper Arlington took
three consecutive titles and Hawken School of Gates
Mills two in a row. These championships were especially
sweet for the Golden Bears from Columbus, who had
previously finished second to St. Xavier no less than
seven times.
If
anyone thought that the St. Xavier run of success had
come to an end after 1984, they were sadly mistaken.
From 1990 thru the 2006 tournament, the Bombers under
coach Jim Brower have won 15 of the last 17 state
titles. Only Toledo St. Francis High School has been
able to dethrone the Bombers over that span, taking the
championship in 1996 and 1998. St. Xavier finished a
close second to the Knights each time.
St.
Xavier�s current total of 28 state championships is the
second most for any school in the country. The way they
are going, it would seem that the only way to defeat the
Bombers would be to drain the pool.
High
school swimming, like track, is a team sport in which
individuals compete both by themselves, as well as with
others in relay events. Not too surprisingly, over the
years there have been many swimmers whose performance
has stood out in the form of multiple championships, be
it in the individual events, the team relays or a
combination of the two. Topping this distinguished list
in Ohio are three boys from St. Xavier High School. Dod
Wales, who competed for the Bombers from 1992-1995,
earned 12 state championships during his high school
career, five individual and seven on relay teams. From
1999-2001 Jayme Cramer earned 10 championship medals for
St. Xavier, five individual and five on relay teams. In
2001 Cramer set the state record in both the 100-yard
butterfly and the 100-yard breaststroke, both in
identical times of 47.65 seconds. Cramer�s times
currently rank him fourth in the nation in both events.
However, of all of the great high school swimmers who
have competed in Ohio, perhaps none has been as
successful as Joe Hudepohl of St. Xavier. Joe captured
10 championships for the Bombers from 1990-1992, five
individual and five on relay teams. But even more
impressive, Joe Hudepohl holds more individual state and
national high school records than any other male swimmer
in the country. In 1991 he set the state and national
record of 1:34.96 in the 200-yard freestyle. In 1992 he
duplicated that effort when he set state and national
records in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 43.43
seconds. All four of those records still stand. Also
in 1992, Joe set the state record in the 50-yard
freestyle at 20.01 seconds. At the time this was also a
national record, but it has since been beaten. However,
this time is still good enough for fourth fastest in the
country.
In
1992, Joe Hudepohl went on to win a gold medal at the
Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, on the U.S.A.�s 400-meter
freestyle relay team, and a bronze medal as part of the
800-meter team. In the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta he won
a second gold medal as a member of the 800-meter relay
team.
When it
comes to setting national records, Joe Hudepohl has to
share the limelight with a couple of Ohio relay teams.
In 1999, the 400-yard freestyle relay team from Toledo
St. Francis High School, consisting of Brink Ciferri,
James Leahy, David Fraas and Tony Kurth, set the state
record and tied the national mark in this event with a
time of 3:01.80. The boys share this record with the
team from Bolles High School of Jacksonville, Florida,
which beat the Ohioans to the national record book by a
mere 38 days. St. Francis High School also owns the
third fastest time in the nation (1:23.21) in the
200-yard freestyle relay.
On
February 25, 2000, the 200-yard medley relay team from
St. Xavier, manned by Jayme Cramer, Brett Burns, Scott
Ransenberg and Max Leassner, broke the previous national
record for this event by .03 seconds with a time of
1:31.22 � a time that still stands as the national
record.
One
other achievement also needs to be mentioned. At the
2005 state swim tournament, Chris Ash of Firestone High
School in Akron became the first boy in Ohio history to
win four individual state championships in the same
event when he won the 100-yard breaststroke with a
record time of 54.7 seconds, tying for the fifth best
time in the nation. The National High School Sports
Record Book does not keep track of such things for
swimming, but you have to believe that Mr. Ash is in
pretty rare company with that outstanding
accomplishment.
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Looking Back at the
OHSAA's Swimming & Diving Championships - Girls
A centennial moment
By Timothy L. Hudak
Sports Heritage Specialty Publications
4814 Broadview Rd.
Cleveland, Ohio 44109
www.SportsHeritagePublications.net
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The
state tournament for girls swimming and diving began in
1977. All schools competed together in one
class/division until 2000, at which time they were
divided into two Divisions, I and II. Although there
are 296 schools that compete in girls interscholastic
swimming in Ohio, the sport, at least at the state
tournament level, has been dominated by just a handful
of schools. Of the 37 state championships that have
been won since 1977, only 11 different schools have
walked off with first place team trophies. If you add
in the teams that have finished as runners-up, only
another five schools are added to this exclusive list.
As in
the case of boys swimming, the early champions have
given way to even more dominating teams. Worthington�s
Thomas Worthington High School won four of the first
five girls state swimming championships. In 1981, when
Worthington captured its fourth title, the runner-up was
Hawken School of Gates Mills, coached by Jerry Holtrey.
As far as the Hawks were concerned, this was just the
tip of the iceberg and the start of something really
big.
It
would take Hawken School three more years to earn its
first state girls swimming title, but then the
championships just kept coming.
1984,1985,1986,1987,1988 � the first place trophy had
the name �Hawken School� engraved upon it each season.
In 1989 Thomas Worthington won its fifth state
championship, edging out the Hawks by 31� points. But
in 1990 the name of Hawken School was once again
engraved upon the championship trophy.
Starting in 1991, and continuing for a few years
thereafter, several schools from Cincinnati stepped up
to claim state championships, and one has gone on to
establish itself as a true power in the world of Ohio
high school girls swimming. First it was Ursuline
Academy (1991), and then Sycamore High School (1992)
that claimed swimming championships. St. Ursula Academy
took home the championship trophies in each of the next
three years, 1993-94-95. In those years of the early
90�s one of these schools was usually also in the
runner-up spot.
In
1996, coach Jerry Holtrey and his Hawken Hawks arrived
back on the scene � and they have yet to leave. From
1996 thru 1999 it was usually Hawken and Cincinnati�s
Ursuline Academy battling head to head for the
championship. Hawken took the title in �96, with
Cincinnati Anderson High School sneaking in to grab
second place honors. In �97 the Hawks were again the
champs, with Ursuline Academy the runner-up. In 1998
the two schools switched finishing positions, and in
1999 they switched back, with Hawken taking its third
title of the last four years, while Ursuline again
finished second.
In the
year 2000, girls swimming was divided into two
divisions. One would think that this would have opened
up the championship to a few more schools, but all it
did, for the first few years anyway, was open up the
runner-up spot to some new contenders.
With
the designation of the two divisions, Hawken School
found itself in Division II, while Ursuline Academy was
placed in Division I. For the first three years of this
new alignment, these two schools won their respective
divisional state championship, while the other schools
fought over the runner-up slot. In 2002 the Golden
Bears of Upper Arlington High School finished second to
Ursuline Academy in Division I � and Ursuline�s days at
the very top were numbered. In 2003 Upper Arlington
edged out the Lions of Ursuline Academy for the Division
I championship by a mere 5� points, 259.5-254 Every
year since then the Golden Bears have won the Division I
girls swim title, while the Lions of Ursuline Academy
have had to settle for three more second place
finishes.
Meanwhile, over in Division II the Hawks just keep
rolling along. In 2006 they won their seventh
consecutive Division II championship (eighth consecutive
title overall), the only school to win a Division II
championship thus far. The girls from Cincinnati�s
Indian Hill High School have finished second to the
Hawks each of the last five seasons (and Chardon�s Notre
Dame-Cathedral Latin High School and Napoleon High
School before them), but the Hawks have been so
dominating that their smallest margin of victory has
been a whopping 171 points.
Altogether, the Hawks of Hawken School have won an
incredible 16 girls state swimming championships. Their
next closest rivals are Thomas Worthington High School
and Cincinnati�s Ursuline Academy with five each.
A
lion�s share of the credit for Hawken�s incredible
success has to go to their head coach, Jerry Holtrey.
The dean of Ohio high school swimming coaches, the
internationally renowned Holtrey enters his 39th
year as the Hawks head coach in 2007. After graduating
from Indiana University in 1962, Holtrey taught and
coached at eight schools before getting hired on at
Hawken in 1969 (the previous year he took over his other
coaching gig with the Lake Erie Silver Dolphins swim
team). He has been at Hawken ever since, teaching
physical education and coaching both the boys and the
girls swim teams.
Success
in the form of a state championship was not an overnight
thing for Jerry and his lady Hawks, but once they
grabbed that championship ring they have not let go.
Many
would probably consider the 1988-89 seasons as the
highlight of his career, when Holtrey�s boys team won
their only state titles, while the girls also won a
state championship in 1988 and finished a close second
in �89. However, Jerry Holtrey probably does not look
at it that way. Like most great coaches, trying to get
him to name his favorite championship team would be like
asking him to name his favorite child � it cannot be
done. Instead, Holtrey, who has coached one world
champion, two Olympic gold medallists and some 200
All-Americans, enjoys the current success and looks
forward to the challenge of the next season.
As he
told the Cleveland Plain Dealer a few years ago,
�Every year is a brand new team. You lose a few kids
and some new ones come in. You try to develop each in
terms of their swimming abilities. That�s what makes it
interesting. Every year is a challenge.�
And the
challenge for Ohio�s other girls swim teams is to some
how find a way to beat Jerry�s girls.
It
would take a small book to recognize all of the
outstanding young ladies who have competed in the Ohio
high school swimming championships, but a few should be
recognized. Alyssa Kiel, who swam for Hawken School
from 2002-2005, is Ohio�s �champion of champions� with
14 state titles, evenly divided between individual and
team events. She also holds the nation�s ninth fastest
time in the 500-yard freestyle at 4:42.15. Close behind
her is another Hawk, and Alyssa�s former teammate, Sarah
Dorenkott, who won 12 titles from 2003-2006 (5
individual and 7 team).
The
state�s top winner of individual gold medals is Whitney
Meyers of Cincinnati Ursuline Academy. From 2000 to
2003, Ms. Meyers won eight individual events, as well as
contributing on three state championship relay teams,
for a grand total of 11 championships. Whitney Meyers
is in the national high school record book three times.
She owns the nation�s seventh best time of 1:47.19 in
the 200-yard freestyle, and has the fifth (53.89 sec.)
and tenth (54.08 sec.) best times in the 100-yard
butterfly.
Ohio�s
best placing nationally in relay events belongs to the
girls from Upper Arlington High School, who in 2002 swam
the nation�s fifth fastest time of 1:44.74 in the
200-yard medley relay.
Very
often the girls get overshadowed by the boys when
competing in similar events or sports, but there is at
least one swim category in which Ohio�s young ladies far
exceed the boys. Only one boy, Chris Ash of Firestone
High School, has won a state championship in the same
event four times. However, there are no less than six
girls who have accomplished this extraordinary feat.
They are: Katherine Creighton (500-yard freestyle, Cin.
Wyoming High School and Hawken School, 1985-1988), Tina
Silbersack (100-yard butterfly, Cin. McNicholas High
School and Cin. St. Ursula Academy, 1989-1992), Whitney
Meyers (200-yard freestyle, Cin. Ursuline Academy,
2000-2003), Lauren Preyss (100-yard freestyle, Chagrin
Falls High School, 2000-2003), Emily Hunter (one-meter
diving, Cin. Indian Hill High School, 2000-2003), and
Alyssa Kiel (500-yard freestyle, Hawken, 2002-2005). |
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