Seven Hills Boys Swim Team Brings Home School’s First Team State Title
Celebration is in order! The Seven Hills boys swim team traveled to the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Swim Championships last weekend and came home with the Championship Trophy – a first team state title win for the school. The boys team scored 209 points, out-swimming Dover (152), Dayton Oakwood (139), Wyoming (137), and Hawken (133) in an exciting meet.
The Seven Hills School Athletic Director Brian Phelps will host a rousing pep rally assembly on Wednesday, March 4, to mark this historic occasion, which will feature a presentation by Phelps and speeches from students on the swim team. “We are tremendously pleased with the strength and perseverance of our swim team, and so happy for our young men and woman who put in countless hours of practice and showed exemplary sportsmanship to bring together this outstanding outcome and historic moment for our school,” said Phelps. “This is the kind of moment that our student athletes, our families, and our faculty will never forget.”
More details on the championship:
A first place win on two relays, the 200 Medley Relay (junior Matthew Marquardt, senior Pearce Kieser, sophomore Henry Marquardt, and senior Sean Gray), and the 400 Free Relay (sophomore Tim Hagemeister, Gray, M. Marquardt and Kieser) scored huge points for the team, setting up the overall team win. Strong second place individuals swims by Kieser in the 100 Breast and M. Marquardt in the 100 Back and 100 Fly pulled in critical points. The Stinger swimmers demonstrated the depth of their team with a sixth place finish by the 200 Free Relay team (Gray, H Marquardt, junior Tigar Cyr, and Hagemeister), as well as a fourth place in the 500 free by Hagemeister, sixth from Kieser in 100 Free, and eighth from freshman Tindar Cyr in the 100 Breast. Additional individual swims by Gray, H. Marquardt, Tindar Cyr, freshman Nick Purple, Tigar Cyr and sophomore Jason Guo pulled in the last few points for the team.
Three swims from the state meet automatically qualified for All-America Awards (Top 100 swims in USA among all high schools) by the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association. Those swims were the 200 Medley Relay (M. Marquardt, Kieser, H. Marquardt, Gray), Kieser in the 100 Breast, and M. Marquardt in the 100 Back. Kieser and Marquardt also swam their way onto the list of Top 20 All-Time Ohio High School State Meet Performances.
Many Seven Hills school records fell over the weekend, with all three relays setting new records, the 200 Med Relay, 200 Free Relay and 400 Free Relay; as well as four individual swims breaking records in the 100 Free and 100 Breast (Kieser), 500 Free (Hagemeister) and 100 Back (M Marquardt).
On the girls team, freshman Lucy Callard represented Seven Hills with impressive swims in her first state meet, placing fourth in the 500 Free, setting a new school record, and seventh in 100 Fly.