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The Aqua Cats Win Their Third Straight District Title

By Joe Mertens '15, 02/22/22, 2:15PM EST

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At the District Meet at BGSU, the Cats hoisted their third straight District Title, they send nine to the State Meet.

BOWLING GREEN, Oh - Saint Ignatius Swimming and Diving continues to dominate the Northwest District. This past weekend the Cats hoisted their third straight District Title at Bowling Green State University. This marks the 11th time in program history that the Aqua Cats have won the District Championship. On Saturday, two program records were broken as the Wildcats will compete at the State Meet in Canton next weekend.

Senior Micah Murtha is coming off a memorable Sectional Meet where he broke a meet record in the 50-Yard Freestyle and was a part of the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay team. In the District Meet at BGSU, Murtha broke a program record in the 50-Yard Freestyle with a time of 20.57. A record previously set in 2014 by Nathan Christian ‘14 with a time of 20.65.

The District Meet began on a good note as freshman diver Jake Gilbride would compete on Tuesday, February 15. The freshman would place sixth and qualify for the State Meet in Canton, putting the Wildcats in a good spot before the entire team competed on Saturday.

On Saturday, another program record was shattered, coming in the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay event. The relay team features Micah Murtha, Sam Hessler, Jonathan Merimee and Daniel Argalious that broke the record with a time of 1:22.30. The group broke a Saint Ignatius record set last season by the team of Murtha, Hessler, Argalious and William Van de Walle ‘21 with a time of 1:24.44.

Murtha would also place first in the 100-Yard Freestyle with a time of 45.60. The Aqua Cats would see multiple second and third-place finishes, qualifying many for the State Meet. In the 400-Yard Freestyle, the Wildcats would place second with a time of 3:07.19 with a relay team of Murtha, Tyler Williams, Joshua Toothman and Brendan Kiskrona. Toledo St. Francis would take first with a time of 3:06.41.

Senior Tommy McIntyre would take third place in the 200-Yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:00.30.

Brendan Kiskorna placed second in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:41.68. Kiskorna would also place second in the 500-Yard Freestyle with a time of 4:41.65.

Daniel Argalious would place second in the Boys 100-Yard Butterfly with a time of 50.99.

Erik Sicean, in the 100-Yard Backstroke, placed fourth with a time of 51.24.

There will be nine total from the Swimming and Diving team that will be representing Saint Ignatius at the State Meet. At 9 a.m. on Friday, February 25, Preliminaries will begin at C.T. Branin Natatorium. The State Meet will wrap up the following evening on Saturday.

This weekend, the Wildcats will look to win their first State Championship in program history. At the same time, there will be individual opportunities to become State Champions at the Meet. Head Swimming and Diving Coach Eric Dennis continues to build a powerhouse in the pool as with one week left in the season, the Cats are Sectional and District Champions.