FREMONT – The pool isn’t the only thing that’s deep at the Hawk-Bucci Natatorium.
The Ross boys swim team has some pretty good depth to it too.
The Little Giants proved that Saturday, where they not only defended their NWOAC championship, but did so by nearly 200 points over second-place Sylvania Southview. Making the feat all the more impressive was the fact Ross won only two individual events, meaning the Little Giants won going away thanks to a dominant performance from throughout its lineup.
Dylan Weisenauer
Andrew Evans
“The kids did a really good job. It was a team effort,” boys swim coach Phil Moran said. “We just dominated with depth of our kids. That was a nice thing to see.”
The Little Giants’ only wins came via Dylan Weisenauer and Andrew Evans. Weisenauer won the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.04, which was 2.04 seconds faster than that of second place. Evans won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 59.31.
Tate Williams finished second in the 100 backstroke, clocking a time of 58.79.
Weisenauer, Evans and Williams also each swam in the second-place 200 medley and freestyle relays. Williams Taylor joined them in the medley, finishing in 1:40.75 while Mitchell Mullholand swam in the freestyle relay which turning in a time of 1:32.65.
Mullholand, Ethan Taylor, Logan Kropp and William Taylor combined for another second-place finish in the 400 relay.
Taylor finished third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.63.
“We didn’t have stellar times, but we were really hard on them training-wise this week, so I wasn’t anticipating massive PRs,” Moran said. “The crazy thing was, I think we only had two swims not score. If you want to talk in terms of depth, that’s what pays off, when you have that many guys sprinkled in there.
Ross’ 472.5 points ran away from second-place Southview’s 288.5.
“It’s kind of a unique year for us, we just have so much depth and it paid off,” Moran said. “We know we’re going to graduate 10, so next year should be an insane dogfight for whoever wins.”
Girls team finishes a close second
With the boys winning their championship, the girls team came just 25 points shy of making it a clean sweep for the Swimming Giants.
The girls team’s bid for a NWOAC championship fell 24.5 points shy, as Napoleon finished with 500 points to Ross’ 475.5. Wauseon finished a distant third place with 240.5 points.
“The team did a nice job overall, considering they trained hard through last week, especially on Friday, as we are about to head into taper and can’t back off too soon,” Ross girls coach Tina Moses said.
“I think a lot of teams rest for conference meets but my top focus right now is the postseason and having the fastest swims possible at the right time.”
Olivia DeRodes
MaKennah Fitzgerald
Olivia DeRodes led the Lady Giants with two of Ross’ four individual championships. She won the 100 freestyle in 55.05 and the 200 with a time of 1:58.98, which was just .02 seconds faster than Bowling Green’s Rona Mejiritski.
MaKennah Fitzgerald won the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.56 and Alexis Prenzlin finished first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07.51.
“We had a handful of nice swims, Olivia in the 200, MaKennah is the 100 back,” Moses said. “Lauren Zimmerman and Hannah Widman both PR’d in the 200 IM.”
The Lady Giant relays, which had grown accustomed to first-place finished this season, took second in the 200 medley (Fitzgerald, Lauren Zimmerman, AnneMarie Moses and Prenzlin) and 400 freestyle (DeRodes, Moses, Mara Brown and Fitzgerald). Ross also finished third place in the 200 freestyle with the team of Prenzlin, Faith Zimmerman, Brown and DeRodes.
Moses (100 butterfly) and Lauren Zimmerman (100 breaststroke) both also took third-place finishes.
(Editor’s Note: My apologies for not having these results posted Saturday. My son had an all-day hockey tournament. Thank you for understanding.)
NWOAC
Boys results
Fremont Ross 472.5, Southview 288.5, Wauseon 283, Perkins 279, St. John’s 197, Oak Harbor 140, Napoleon 135, Bowling Green 132, Northview 128, Sandusky 122, Port Clinton 116, Ayersville 17.
First place finishes
100 butterfly: Fremont Ross, Dylan Weisenauer, 54.04
100 breaststroke: Fremont Ross, Andrew Evans, 59.31
Second place finishes
200 medley relay: Fremont Ross (Dylan Weisenauer, Andrew Evans, William Taylor, Tate Williams), 1:40.75
200 freestyle relay: Fremont Ross, (Dylan Weisenauer, Andrew Evans, Tate Williams, Mitchell Mullholand), 1:32.65
100 backstroke: Fremont Ross, Tate Williams, 58.79
400 freestyle relay: Fremont Ross (Ethan Taylor, Mitchell Mullholand, Logan Kropp, William Taylor), 3:32.69
Third place finishes
100 butterfly: Fremont Ross, Williams Taylor, 57.63
Girls results
Napoleon 500, Fremont Ross 475.5, Wauseon 240.5, Northview 215, Perkins 177, Southview 169.5, Oak Harbor 148.5, Port Clinton 132, Sandusky 119, Notre Dame 80, Bowling Green 68.
First place finishes
200 freestyle: Fremont Ross, Olivia DeRodes, 1:58.98
100 freestyle: Fremont Ross, Olivia DeRodes, 55.05
100 backstroke: Fremont Ross, MaKennah Fitzgerald, 1:00.56
100 breaststroke: Fremont Ross, Alexis Prenzlin, 1:07.51
Second place finishes
200 medley relay: Fremont Ross (MaKennah Fitzgerald, Lauren Zimmerman, AnneMarie Moses, Alexis Prenzlin), 1:53.79
400 freestyle relay: Fremont Ross (Olivia DeRodes, AnneMArie Moses, Mara Brown, MaKennah Fitzgerald), 3:45.70
Third place finishes
100 butterfly: Fremont Ross, AnneMarie Moses, 1:02.74
200 freestyle relay: Fremont Ross (Alexis Prenzlin, Faith Zimmerman, Mara Brown, Olivia DeRodes), 1:44.88
100 breaststroke: Lauren Zimmerman, 1:11.08