Blazer, Oakwood lead area D-II contingent to state meet in Canton
Stroke after stroke, lap after lap.
Kenton Ridge senior Evan Blazer logs as many as 25,000 yards a week in practice but will swim only 150 in competition today as the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II state swim meet gets underway.
Those 150 yards, however, might propel Blazer to the top of the podium Friday. Blazer currently has the top time in the state in the boys D-II 100-yard freestyle event with a Southwest District time of 45.54 seconds. Blazer is also the third seed in the 50-yard freestyle event. The fourtime state placer is keeping it all in perspective.
“I’m just trying to go there and have some fun and go after my goal times,” Blazer said. “I don’t care about my seed as much as the final result.”
Blazer posted a career best fourth-place state finish in both events last year. But the pressure is off this year as the Cougars swimmer has committed to swim at Ohio State University next year.
“Once I got my college plans figured out it took a lot of weight off my shoulders,” Blazer said.
Blazer will have plenty of company as he will be joined by fellow Kenton Ridge swimmers Jayleigh Brown, Ryleigh Brown, Brooke DeHart, Chase Fyffe, Alyssa Shaffer and Kensley Smith at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. In addition to the D-I and D-II state tournaments, there will also be two events for para swimmers Friday night.
In it for the long run
While Blazer prefers the sprint events, Oakwood junior Tristan Prizler prefers the distance events. The Lumberjacks swimmer is the second seed at state in the D-II boys 500-yard freestyle event after posting a time of 4:34.57 at the district meet. Prizler is also seeded fourth in the 200-yard individual medley (1:54.65).
Oakwood teammates Truman Brun (100 freestyle and 100 backstroke), Nate Pennington (100 breaststroke and 200 IM) will also be swimming for the Jacks.
Matilda Prizler (200 and 500 freestyle), Lily Epley (50 freestyle), Callie Hayes (100 butterfly, 100 freestyle and
100 backstroke) will also compete for the Oakwood girls in Canton.
Division I: The Southwest District is the distance swimming powerhouse this season as the top six state seeds in the boys 500-yard freestyle event all competed at the Miami University district meet. St. Xavier junior Thackston McMullen won the district title and is the top state seed with a time of 4:30.38 while Beavercreek junior Caleb Manning is second with 4:36.13.
Centerville junior
Anna Gearhart is also just one spot out of the top state time in her event, the 100-yard butterfly. The Elks swimmer’s time of 54.87 is second only to Upper Arlington sophomore Hayden Hollingsworth (:54.64).
State schedule Today — Division II swimming prelims
■ 5-9 p.m.: Division II girls and boys preliminary swimming competition
Friday — Division I swimming prelims and Division II finals (including para)
■ 9 a.m.-1 p.m.: Division I girls and boys preliminary swimming competition
■ 5-9 p.m.: Division II girls and boys final swimming competition
Saturday - Division I swimming finals
■ 3-8 p.m.: Division I girls and boys final swimming competition
State tournament information, qualifiers and links the
NFHS Network and live results are available at: https://www.ohsaa.org/ Sports-Tournaments/ Swimming-Diving/Swimming-and-Diving-202223/2023-Swimming-Diving-State-TournamentCoverage