Grandview Heights Roundup
Swim teams cruise to sectional titles
Hallie Kerr and the Grandview Heights girls and boys swimming teams are gearing for the Division II district meet Friday, Feb. 17, at Ohio State after sweeping the sectional titles Feb. 11 at Upper Arlington. Buy This Photo
Coaches prepare their swimmers to peak during the postseason, and the Grandview Heights High School boys and girls teams appear to be following Patti Hoch’s plan.
The Bobcats piled up numerous personal bests en route to sweeping the Division II sectional meet titles Feb. 11 at Upper Arlington.
The boys scored 383.5 points to outpace runner-up Centennial (168). Watterson (159.5) was third, followed by Wellington (125) and Ready (4).
The girls won with 349 points, followed by Centennial (318.5), Wellington (287) and Ready (62.5).
“We had a great day. I don’t think we had one swimmer who didn’t swim a personal best,” Hoch said. “We had our freshmen and sophomores step up. A lot of younger swimmers qualified for the district meet. Our senior swimmers and relay swimmers didn’t taper for this meet, so we got the times we needed to get to the next meet. We will see what we can do there.”
The Bobcats compete Friday, Feb. 17, in the district meet at Ohio State. The top two individuals and relays in each district event automatically advance to the state meet Feb. 22-24 at Branin Natatorium in Canton. Sixteen at-large qualifiers will be selected for each event based on times from all the district meets.
“The sectional meet was pretty much to get me into a good heat for the district meet,” said sophomore Josh Smith, who is seeded eighth in the 50-yard freestyle after finishing in a personal-best 23.55 seconds. “I felt like that time should get me into the last heat of the 50 free (at district).
“I was feeling it (in the 50 free at sectional). I had a lot of adrenaline going into it, so I was pumped up and ready to go. I felt like I had a really good start and I had a nice kick going back. I finished really solid.”
Smith also qualified in the 100 free and is seeded 17th with an effort of 53.1.
Other double-qualifiers in individual events for the boys included Peter Bonn (200 free and 500 free), William Kramer (200 individual medley and 100 butterfly), Sean Oberschlake (200 free and 100 backstroke), Tucker Rinehart (100 back and 100 fly), Jacob Smith (200 free and 100 back) and Evan Tillett (100 free and 50 free).
Double-qualifiers for the girls included Halli Bair (200 free and 100 fly), Maddie Bills (500 free and 200 free), Ellie MacLeod (50 free and 100 free) and Lindsay Swihart (500 free and 200 free).
•The boys basketball team learned its Division III district tournament path on Feb. 12 during the draw at Olentangy Liberty.
The ninth-seeded Bobcats have a first-round bye and open with a second-round game against fifth-seeded Fredericktown or Centerburg at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 29 at Westerville North. The winner advances to a district semifinal against sixth-seeded Worthington Christian, 11th-seeded West Jefferson or Marion Elgin in a district semifinal at 6 p.m. March 6 at North.
Bloom-Carroll, the top-ranked team in last week’s state poll, is the top seed.
“If you want to reach (a) district (semifinal), you have to beat someone (tough) in the first two rounds,” said coach Ray Corbett, whose team was 11-6 overall and 9-3 in the MSL-Cardinal Division before playing West Jefferson on Feb. 14. “It’s never easy no matter where you go on the bracket.”
Fredericktown and Centerburg play in the MBC. Fredericktown was 13-5 after beating Danville 58-41 on Feb. 10. Centerburg is 6-13 and closes the regular season Friday, Feb. 17, at Utica.
The Bobcats close their league schedule Friday, Feb. 17, at home against Harvest Prep. They beat the Warriors 56-44 on Jan. 20.
In the MSL-Cardinal through 12 games, Licking Heights had clinched at least a tie for the championship at 11-1 with Grandview in second and Millersport and West Jefferson tied for third (8-4). Fisher Catholic (6-6) was fifth, followed by Berne Union (3-9), Harvest Prep (2-10) and Liberty Union (0-12).
Grandview closes the regular season at home Saturday, Feb. 18, against Jonathan Alder, the top-seeded team in the Division II district tournament. The Pioneers won 59-43 last season and were 17-1 after defeating Hilliard Darby 61-51 on Feb. 11.
“We still have a big week left before we start the tournament,” Corbett said. “(We played) West Jefferson and have Harvest Prep and Jonathan Alder. We’ll play them and then get ready for the tournament.”
On Feb. 11, the Bobcats beat Liberty Union 56-51. Payton Jones had 12 points with three 3-pointers and Dakota Williams had 11 points with three 3s. Oliver Rouch also had 11 points and Luke Miller scored 10 points.
Williams scored 19 points with three 3-pointers and Rouch added 12 points as Grandview beat Millersport 55-47 on Feb. 7.
•The girls basketball team opens the Division III district tournament against Heath at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at New Albany.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season 5-13 and have not played Grandview this season.
The winner will play top-seeded Africentric at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 24 in a second-round game at New Albany. The Nubians went 16-4 in the regular season. Last year, they ousted the Bobcats with an 83-37 decision in a district semifinal after Grandview beat Madison Plains 37-35 in the opener and defeated Fairbanks 44-40 in overtime in the second round.
The Bobcats closed the regular season with a 35-25 loss to Harvest Prep on Feb. 10 to fall to 2-18 overall. Morgan Taylor scored six points and Grace Palmer added five points.
Liberty Union won the MSL-Cardinal title at 14-0, followed by Harvest Prep and West Jefferson (both 9-5), Licking Heights (8-6), Berne Union and Fisher Catholic (both 7-7), Grandview (2-12) and Millersport (0-14).
On Feb. 8, the Bobcats lost to Ready 47-17. Ali Lachey and Connor Skeen both had five points.
