St. Xavier Wins Ohio Division 1 High School Champs

By Brian Savard

CANTON, Ohio, March 9. COVINGTON Catholic (Port Hills, Ky.) alumnus Nate Dusing had to make room atop the all-time great 100 butterfly performances as Westerville Central's Austin Staab tied his national high school record at the 2007 Ohio Division I State High School Championships.

Staab held nothing back in the preliminary heats of the 100 butterfly to swim a top-qualifying time of 47.15, which beat the second-best competitor by more than two seconds. Staab went out full throttle in final, splitting a 21.80 at the 50, and he came back in an equally impressive 25.20. His 47.10 time in the final erased the former state mark held by Cincinnati St. Xavier's Jayme Cramer (47.65), which he set back in 2001.

Staab continued to crush the 100 freestyle field as he turned in one of the best 100 freestyles that the state of Ohio has ever seen. His 43.93 time fell short of former Cincinnati St. Xavier swimmer Joe Hudepohl's 43.43 state record.

National junior team member and St. Xavier senior David Mosko reinforced his place at the top of Ohio swimming with victories in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle. Mosko swam a 1:37.97 time in the 200 freestyle, which easily sealed a victory. However, he fell well short of Hudepohl's 1:34.96 state and national high school record. He did, however, swim an event that Hudepohl never conquered in his tenure as a high school swimmer. His winning time of 4:20.56 chopped down the former state record of 4:22.73 set by Dan Ketchum of Cincinnati Sycamore in 1999.

Cincinnati St. Xavier fielded two first-place relays. The 200 medley relay quartet of Jim Barbiere, Joey Deters, Mosko and Steven Springer placed first with a 1:34.36 time. At the conclusion of the meet, Cincinnati St. Xavier bested second place St. Charles in the 400 freestyle relay (Barbiere, Bart Ginocchio, Charley Hessler and Mosko) hitting the wall at 3:07.58.

David Colturi of Saint John's took the diving title with 536.95 points. Kris Hill, of Aurora and Brent Eichenseer from New Albany took second and third with 487.85 and 481.65 points, respectively.

Cincinnati St. Xavier added another trophy to their case after monopolizing the Ohio state championship. Their first-place finish (250) trumped number two St. Charles by 73 points (177). Columbus Upper Arlington took third with 162 points.

Columbus Upper Arlington, despite its third-place effort on the men's side of the competition, cruised to a women's team title with 330 points. Two Cincinnati schools, Cincinnati Ursuline Academy and Cincinnati Anderson, took second and third with 202.5 and 159 points, respectively.

Columbus Upper Arlington's 200 medley relay (Maddie Armitage, Cori Meinert, Darcy Fishback and Jenna Hillier) used a 22.93 anchor split to best the competition with a final time of 1:45.50. The 400 freestyle relay foursome of Fishback, Katie Chin, Beth Loe and Kylie Eisenman avenged the 200 freestyle relay's narrow defeat by winning with a 3:31.00 time.

Anita Beck, an Anderson senior, posted top times in the 200 freestyle (1:50.40) and the 500 freestyle (4:54.50). Beck earned the distinction of being the only female swimmer to win two individual events.

Abby Johnson from Upper Arlington claimed the diving crown with 447.05 points, while Kristen Asman of Whetstone took second with 433.85 points. Aubrey Akromas of Solon rounded out the top three with 417.70 points.

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