The end of the journey has arrived for the Saint Ignatius swimming and diving program.
The countless hours spent in the pool in early mornings and late afternoons and the myriad of meets have been leading up to the largest stage of all for the Wildcats – the State Meet.
Eight swimmers and one diver with represent the Aqua Cats at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton this weekend.
As always, St. Xavier is the overwhelming favorite to win the team crown. The Bombers have won the last 10 Division I state titles, 19 of the last 20, and 39 all-time dating back to 1970.
However, the Wildcats will look to make plenty of noise. Under the direction of Head Coach Mike Lehto, the Wildcats earned runner-up honors in 2017, and hope to repeat the feat in 2019. This young Wildcats squad is hungry and ready.
Division I Diving
The 2019 OHSAA State Meet is the fifth in a row with a Claus involved. Alex Claus '18 placed 4th, 6th, 6th, and 7th in his four years at Saint Ignatius, competing with his younger brother, Will, last year. Will tallied a 7th place finish as a freshman, mirroring Alex's freshman placement.
The torch has now officially been passed off to Will. Now a sophomore, Will won the Northwest District with a top score of 452.85. Under the direction of diving coach Tom Blankenship, Claus will look to score even better on Saturday.
The diving preliminaries, semifinals, and finals will all take place on Saturday, beginning at 9 am. The score Claus tallied at Districts places him in 11th, but diving scores are based on human judgment, so scores can vary significantly. Claus could be near the top when the dust settles.
Division I Swimming
All 8 Wildcat swimmers will look to score this weekend. But first, they must survive prelims.
Division I prelims will begin on Friday morning at 9 am, starting with the 200-yard medley relay. The Wildcats will be represented in 7 of 11 events.
Tyler Hong, Nicky Hong, Joe Richmond, and John Soeder will kick things off on Friday morning with the 200 medley relay. The Wildcats' quartet qualified with a time of 1:33.58, placing them 6th among 24 squads. The Wildcats claimed gold at Districts, but will have to shave off some seconds to do the same at States, as Cincinnati Sycamore rolls into the event with the best time – 1:29.66.
Tyler Hong will be the first Wildcat individual to swim, as the sophomore will compete in the 200 IM. Hong won Districts by clocking in at 1:51.63, the fifth-best seed time of 25 state competitors. Sycamore's Jake Foster is the favorite, with a seed time of 1:45.95, but Hong is within two seconds of the other four swimmers above him.
The Wildcats' next representative comes four events later. Joe Richmond will swim in the 500 free. The sophomore clocked a time of 4:41.60 in the District Meet, seeding him 21st of 24 swimmers in the event. Richmond will look to play the underdog role to score points for the Aqua Cats.
The second of the Wildcats' three relay teams will compete next in the 200 free relay. John Soeder, Micah Murtha, Thomas Metz, and William Van de Walle roared to silver at Districts with a mark of 1:26.92. The Wildcats' quartet comes in as the No. 18 seed in the event.
Tyler Hong will swim again in the 100 back, Event 30 of the meet. The second-year Wildcat touted a time of 49.70 in the District Meet, running away with the gold. Hong will have tougher competition at States, as Hong enters as the fifth seed. Sycamore's Carson Foster leads the pack with a top seed time of 46.93, but never count out Hong.
The last individual event of Nicky Hong's Wildcat career will be the 100 breaststroke. Hong punched his ticket with a third-place time of 58.53 at Districts. Nicky will face a challenge in his final individual race, running against plenty of talented swimmers, including Sycamore's top-seeded Jake Foster and three Bombers. Hong will be the No. 19 seed in the race, but look for the veteran to make some noise.
The final event of the meet will prominently feature the Wildcats' 400 free relay team. Daemyen Haywood, Joe Richmond, John Soeder, and Tyler Hong rocked the District race for a second-place mark of 3:08.96. The quartet will enter as the No. 11 seed out of 24 relay teams. The Wildcats will look to end the meet with a bang in this race.
Qualifiers from the prelims will take part in the Division I finals on Saturday at 4 pm.
For a full schedule of events and other information, visit the OHSAA website.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter (@SIHSSports) for live updates from the pool on Friday and Saturday.