Marlington swimmers advance from Division II prelims to state championship finals

Steve Doerschuk, The Repository
·2 min read

CANTON − The Marlington Dukes continue to swim with the big fish.

Senior Claire Cox and junior Leah Guess both advanced in their two individual events for the Dukes in Thursday's OHSAA girls Division II preliminaries. Next up is Friday's state championship finals in Branin Natatorium. Teammates Caitlin Cox and Megan Montgomery also moved on to finals, in a relay.

Gates Mills Hawken has won all 23 Division II championships since the girls state meet created a second division in 2000. Hathaway Brown has placed second in the Division II state meet the last five years and lost a close race with Hawken last year 269-243.

Marlington’s Claire Cox swims her leg of the 400 yard freestyle relay at the OHSAA Div. II State Swimming prelims held at Branin Natatorium in Canton Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
Marlington’s Claire Cox swims her leg of the 400 yard freestyle relay at the OHSAA Div. II State Swimming prelims held at Branin Natatorium in Canton Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

Hathaway Brown announced itself right away Thursday, posting the fastest 200 medley relay time, 1:44.67, well ahead of Hawken's 1:47.54.

Cox reached championship finals with the second-best time in the 200-yard breaststroke and the fifth-best time in the 100 freestyle.

Marlington’s Leah Guess competes in the 100-yard butterfly in the OHSAA Division II state meet prelims at Branin Natatorium, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
Marlington’s Leah Guess competes in the 100-yard butterfly in the OHSAA Division II state meet prelims at Branin Natatorium, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

Guess posted the fourth-best time in the 100 butterfly, edging Hawken's entry by more than a second. She later put up the No. 4 time in the 100 backstroke.

Marlington fought to the eighth and final qualifying time in the 200 medley relay, edging No. 9 Tippecanoe 1:50.24-1:50.49. The Dukes' swim order was Montgomery, Claire Cox, Guess and Caitlin Cox.

Marlington’s Caitlin Cox competes in the 500 yard freestyle at the OHSAA Div. II State Swimming prelims held at Branin Natatorium in Canton Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
Marlington’s Caitlin Cox competes in the 500 yard freestyle at the OHSAA Div. II State Swimming prelims held at Branin Natatorium in Canton Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

Caitlin Cox, Claire's sister, reached B finals in both the 500 freestyle with the No. 13 time and the 200 freestyle with the No. 15 time. Sixteen places advanced from Thursday's prelims to Friday's A and B finals.

The Dukes also reached the B finals with the 15th-best time in the 400 freestyle relay.

Marlington’s Leah Guess competes in the 100 yard backstroke in the OHSAA Division II state meet prelims at Branin Natatorium, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
Marlington’s Leah Guess competes in the 100 yard backstroke in the OHSAA Division II state meet prelims at Branin Natatorium, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

Senior Holly Perkowski (10th, butterfly) and sophomore Elizabeth Lane (15th, 100 free) of Dover reached B finals.

In Division II boys prelims, Dover senior Lucas Lane edged Kenton Ridge senior Evan Blazer 45.82-45.89 for the fastest 100 freestyle time. His 1:39.93 was the fastest time in the 200 free by more than a second.

Marlington’s Claire Cox swims the breast stroke portion of the 200 yard medley relay at the OHSAA Div. II State Swimming prelims held at Branin Natatorium in Canton Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
Marlington’s Claire Cox swims the breast stroke portion of the 200 yard medley relay at the OHSAA Div. II State Swimming prelims held at Branin Natatorium in Canton Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

Dover was sixth in the 400 free relay (Thomas Perkowski, Kasey Ruegsegger, Cameron Marshall, Lane). They same four are 11th in the 200 free relay.

Ben Craig of Alliance advanced to B finals with a No. 13 finish in the 100 backstroke.

Alliance’s Ben Craig competes in the 100 yard backstroke at the OHSAA Div. II State Swimming prelims held at Branin Natatorium in Canton Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
Alliance’s Ben Craig competes in the 100 yard backstroke at the OHSAA Div. II State Swimming prelims held at Branin Natatorium in Canton Ohio, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

The Division I meet heats up with preliminaries for both boys and girls at 9 a.m. Friday.

The Division II championship meet will begin at 5 p.m. Friday.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marlington Dukes reach finals in OHSAA state swimming prelims