Ross boys swim team trying to put pieces in right places as it looks to defend NWOAC championship

FREMONT – As its season nears, the Fremont Ross boys swim team is keeping the long view.

The Little Giants know they have talent throughout its lineup across all events. But finding the right mix of whom to swim where, is going to be a process Ross will be experimenting with all season. While regular season duel meet victories are nice, the Little Giants are focusing on getting themselves in the best position possible for the postseason.

“It really is kind of a chess game, when you make your lineup, to figure out how you’re going to win,” coach Phil Moran said. “Sometimes you don’t stick your kid in their best event because you know the other team isn’t strong in different events, so you put them over there and try to pick up the points in that regard.”

“We have traditionally been a team that our focus is at the end of the season and we use the duel meets as stepping stones and tools to see where we’re at,” Moran added. “If we can win them, great, but nobody really cares about who wins their meet or not, they want to know is who went to state or how you did at districts, that kind of thing. And that’s where we’ve spent our time and focus.”

That long-term focus served Ross well a year ago as the Little Giants won their first Northwest Ohio Aquatics Conference championship and sent four swimmers to the state meet, three of whom are back this season.

Seniors Tate Williams and Andrew Evans, along with sophomore Dylan Weisenauer were three-fourths of the state-qualifying relay teams in the 200 medley and 200 freestyle. Evans also swam in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke in the state meet while Weisenauer competed in the 100 butterfly.

The relays will have to find a replacement for now-graduated Jared Fox – the only major contributor lost from last season’s team. Moran said there is no shortage of candidates to fill the relay vacancy but, like everything else, sorting out the best fit will take time.

“There is a lot of talent so I’d say it’s pretty wide open,” Moran said. “That’s what this year is going to be, figuring (things) out. If we’re tweaking the relays, if we have to move people around from where we had them last year, then who is going to fill in a position? That’s our big question for the year.”

Other major point-scorers back from a season ago are seniors Will Taylor and Mitchell Mullholand as well as sophomore Ethan Taylor and junior diver Dane Michael. The Little Giants also have a handful of freshmen Moran is excited to see chip in and contribute as well.

“We had a large group of first-year guys who did extremely well, some first-year guys snuck into district, with their times. Will they be able to move up for us into the top 16? That’s going to be a big (question).

“We got some really young freshmen that are coming in that will need to improve and progress to get to the district level but the potential is there and we’re fairly excited about that.”

Ross sent four qualifiers to districts last year in the 100 breaststroke, Williams, Evans, Austin Kramer and Andrew Edmonds, all of whom return, giving the Little Giants a definitive advantage in the event.

“We have insane depth at breaststroke,” Moran said. “It’s one of those strokes where a kid is naturally a breaststroker or not, and if you don’t have a natural breaststroker, it’s tough to get them to go as fast as you need to get them to go. We have a ton of kids who’ve come in and have excelled at the breaststroke.”

The breaststroke isn’t the only area of strength for Ross. Moran is looking to Mullholand and Ethan Taylor to give the Little Giants a pair of sub-5:00 times in the 500.

“We’ve never had two guys go under five in the 500 in the regular season,” Moran said. “We have potential to do that on a regular basis. Mullholand went under (last year) and Taylor was 5:01 in districts.”

With as much talent and depth as the Little Giants expects to have in the pool this year, Moran believes Ross has the ability to defend its NWOAC championship, though Slyvania Southview and Perrysburg will challenge for the title.

Beyond the NWOAC, Moran wants his team to have the confidence when it ventures outside of league meets.

“In general, thinking you can swim with the big boys in the area and in the state,” he said. “We’re going to do fine in our duel meets, we have to potential to go undefeated, it’ll depend on the luck of draw and how you’re swimming that day.”

The Little Giants begin their season Tuesday at home hosting a duel meet against Sandusky at 5 p.m.