Swimming & Diving

Record performances surprise Upper Arlington

At a glance

Below are the district qualifiers with sectional time and district seeds for the Upper Arlington boys and girls swimming & diving teams:

BOYS

Ryan Baas: 100 breast (1:05.22, 18th); Ryan Cutler: 200 free (1:46.95, second), 100 fly (53.35, sixth); Geoff Dickhaut: 50 free (23.39, 21st), 100 free (51.04, 17th); Adam Dodson: 50 free (22.93, ninth), 100 free (49.07, seventh); Austin Gorski: 200 IM (2:11.93, 22nd); Max Jelen: 100 back (54.96, fourth), 100 fly (53.06, fourth); John Leanza: 50 free (23.63, 25th), 100 free (50.94, 15th); Joey Long: 200 free (1:41.3, first), 500 free (4:33.32, first); Corey Miles: 200 free (1:51.39, 10th), 500 free (5:10.11, 14th); Andrew Mollman: 100 breast (1:03.82, 13th); Sean Neri: 500 free (4:46.17, second), 100 back (52.46, first); Zach Newcome: 200 free (1:48.27, fourth), 500 free (4:52.94, third); Victor Pataky: 100 breast (1:03.78, 12th), 200 IM (2:09.78, 19th); Andrew Rabe: 50 free (22.34, fourth), 100 free (48.77, fifth); Ian Reardon: 100 breast (1:01.94, fourth), 200 IM (1:57.58, second); Dan Sullivan: 100 back (56.32, ninth), 100 fly (56.27, 14th); Thomas Trace: 100 back (52.8, second), 200 IM (2:00.83, fourth); 200 medley relay (1:39.32, first); 200 free relay (1:29.14, first); 400 free relay (3:16.48, first)

GIRLS

Emily Annen: 100 fly (1:01.15, eighth), 100 back (1:04.11, 25th); Megan Brewer: 50 free (26.07, 14th); Lauren Comer: 200 IM (2:05.13, first), 100 back (59.00, third); Julie Dierker: 500 free (5:16.4, fourth), 100 breast (1:13.74, 22nd); Alexandra Hedden: 200 free (1:58.28, fifth), 100 free (54.74, fifth); Marissa Jaskot: 50 free (25.95, 10th), 100 free (57:15, 23rd); Jamie Krupp: 200 IM (2:16.13, eighth), 100 breast (1:08.89, seventh); Emma Lammers: 100 fly (58.68, third); Beth Long: 50 free (26.07, 13th), 100 breast (1:08.74, fourth); Gracie Long: 200 free (1:53.78, first), 100 free (53.14, first); Sarah Mamo: 200 IM (2:12.64, fourth), 100 breast (1:09.91, 10th); Jessica Miller: 200 free (1:55.69, third), 500 free (5:10.59, second); Jenny Smith: 200 IM (2:09.37, second), 500 free (5:00.72, first); Betsy Trace: 100 back (1:01.49, 12th); Claire Van Fossen: 100 fly (58.36, second), 100 back (1:00.7, 10th); Gabby Veri: 50 free (24.67, second), 100 free (53.89, third); Rachel Webber: 100 fly (1:01.41, 10th); Elizabeth Weldon: 200 free (1:57.81, fourth), 500 free (5:11.28, third); 200 medley relay (1:50.14, first); 200 free relay (1:39.68, first); 400 free relay (3:32.22, first)

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Paul Vernon/ThisWeek

The Golden Bears’ Rachel Webber is seeded 10th in the 100-yard butterfly for the Division I district meet Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18, at Ohio State. Buy This Photo

By PAUL BATTERSON

ThisWeek Community News Wednesday February 15, 2012 10:54 AM

Members of the Upper Arlington High School boys and girls swimming and diving teams are used to breaking records.

However, a program record in the boys 500-yard freestyle and pool records in the girls 200 individual medley and 400 freestyle relay in the Division I sectional meet Feb. 11 at home came as a bit of a surprise.

Junior Joey Long shaved .08 of a second off the previous program record that he set in the 500 free last season, winning the event in 4 minutes, 33.32 seconds as the boys team scored 397.5 points in the 12-team sectional to finish ahead of runner-up St. Charles (300) and third-place Westerville Central (135.5).

“When I looked up and saw that time, I was really surprised,” said Long, who also won the 200 free (1:41.3). “It’s a good sign. Everyone is swimming really well right now. Hopefully I can drop some more time and get a good setup for the state meet.”

Senior Lauren Comer swam a pool-record 2:05.13 in the 200 IM, breaking the previous mark of 2:05.29 set by Solon’s Alisa Vereshagin in 2007, and teamed with freshman Gracie Long, sophomore Jenny Smith and senior Gabby Veri to swim a pool-record 3:32.22 in the 400 free relay. The previous record of 3:33.35 was set by Comer, Veri and 2011 graduates Kayla Hammerberg and Abby Chin last year.

The girls team scored 446 points in the 12-team sectional to finish ahead of Watterson (171) and Westerville Central (141).

“I always get a little nervous when they swim that aggressively,” girls coach Dan Peterkoski said. “It’s very important to be safe at the sectional meet. I knew they had the ability, but I was a little surprised they were that aggressive in terms of doing it.”

The top finisher in each swimming event at sectional automatically qualified for the district meet on Friday, Feb. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 18, at Ohio State. In addition, 27 at-large district berths were awarded in each swimming event based on times in the Central, East and Southeast sectionals.

At district, the top two finishers in each swimming event automatically qualify for the state meet Feb. 23-25 at Branin Natatorium in Canton. In addition, 16 at-large state berths will be awarded for each swimming event based on times statewide.

The top three finishers in boys diving and top four finishers in girls diving advance to state.

“Obviously, we still have a ways to go, but we’re focused on getting everyone on to the big one,” junior Max Jelen said. “It’s like the playoffs. If you (don’t perform well), you’re not going to be able to advance. You want to keep it safe but make sure you advance at the same time.”

The boys team won five individual events and all three relays at sectional. In addition to Long in the 200 free and 500 free, finishing first were Jelen in the 100 butterfly (53.06), senior Sean Neri in the 100 backstroke (52.46), junior Ian Reardon in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.94), Thomas Trace, Long, Adam Dodson and Andrew Rabe in the 200 free relay (1:29.14), Long, Rabe, Neri and Ryan Cutler in the 400 free relay (3:16.48) and Neri, Reardon, Jelen and Trace in the 200 medley relay (1:39.32).

The girls team won all but two events at sectional. In addition to Comer in the 200 IM and the 400 free relay, finishing first were freshman Grace Long in the 100 free (53.14) and 200 free (1:53.78), senior Beth Long in the 100 breast (1:08.74), senior Claire Van Fossen in the 100 fly (58.36), sophomore Jenny Smith in the 500 free (5:00.72), Veri, senior Jessica Miller, Smith and freshman Alexandra Hedden in the 200 free relay (1:39.68) and Comer, Beth Long, Van Fossen and Grace Long in the 200 medley relay (1:50.14).

“We survived and advanced,” boys coach Mike de Bear said. “From here on out, our focus is resting and fine-tuning things. We’ve put ourselves in a position to have good weeks at Ohio State and at Canton, but we have two weeks left to do our job.”