Title streak continues for Ontario: Win in final girls race clinches MOAC sweep for the Warriors

ONTARIO – When her swim team needed it most, Ontario’s Tiffany Whittaker turned in a performance that was equal parts precious gem (befitting her first name) and steely resolve.

In the final two races of the day, Whittaker set a meet record in the 100 breaststroke and then clocked her best split by two seconds in the 400 freestyle relay as the host Warriors won in record fashion to secure their fifth straight Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title.

Whittaker repeated as breast champ with a meet-record 1:09.63 (more than second faster than her winning time last year) and then helped the 400 relay not only set the meet record but break the school record by two seconds (3:39.85).

“The only thing I was thinking about is that this is our fifth year in the MOAC and it’s always been an Ontario girl winning the breaststroke, and I wanted to keep that tradition going,” Whittaker said. “So that really pushed me.

“I’m ecstatic about winning my senior year. There were a lot of nerves going through my head. On the block, I knew (the team race) was coming down to (the relay). I had never gone under 57 (seconds), so I was shaking a little. But I actually went 55.”

Whittaker said the rush of setting a meet record 10 minutes earlier propelled her to another PR in the title-clinching relay.

“That really got me going,” she said. “And just to finish the 100 (split) like that, that did it for me.”

It also sunk Shelby’s bid to end Ontario’s stranglehold on the MOAC championship as the Warriors won the meet by a 162-159 margin over the Whippets. That relay win also clinched a clean sweep for Ontario because its boys essentially lapped the field for its second straight title and third in four years.

“It felt so good to go really fast in that (400 relay),” said junior Brie Trumpower, whose sub-53 lead-off leg was a meet and school record and her best 100 free since her freshman year. “We pulled it together when it really mattered.”

Trumpower and Whittaker were joined in the relay by Shelby Keever and anchor Ava Ruhe, who is bidding to become the first four-time state qualifier in program history. That same quartet won the 200 medley (1:53.43), and Trumpower finished as a quadruple winner, including firsts in the 100 butterfly (1:00.05) and 200 free (1:58.95).

“I’m proud of all the girls because I knew it was going to take a lot (in the final relay), especially with Tiffany just finishing the breast,” Trumpower said. “It was going to take everything we had.”

Everyone knew the overall title was on the line going into the final event.

“I feel like all of us do really well under pressure,” Trumpower said. “When it’s high stakes, I feel it pushes me more, so it’s really exciting.

“It was great to have good competition. The Shelby girls are so sweet. It’s awesome, too, that they’re fast, so it’s really exciting when we have a close race. It’s always fun.”

The girls competition made up for the lack of suspense on the boys side. The Ontario boys had things well in hand, more than doubling the points of runner-up Shelby (197-94), thanks in part to quadruple winners Colin Cordrey, Alex Rose and Evan Trumpower.

Cordrey, state tourney-tested like the two brothers who came before him, Kyle and Kenton, broke the meet record in the 500 free (5:08.99), while also winning the 100 fly (56.21) and swimming on the first-place 200 and 400 free relays. Joining him on both relays was Rose, Trumpower and Hunter Petit. The 200 won in 1:32.75 and the 400 in 3:29.14.

“That was a goal, to break the (500 record),” Cordrey said. “I was trying to keep it around 30 (seconds) for 50 (yards), not trying to go too fast at the beginning.”

Rose’s performance was further proof that his best sport is swimming, not basketball. Not that he needed more convincing. The broken arm that cost him a chance to compete in the 2021 postseason was a painful reminder that he chose the right sport.

“I made some bad choices,” Rose said, smiling. “I was messing around before practice with my buddies in the gym, went to dunk the basketball and broke my arm.

“Today was a really good day. I’m ahead of where I was last year at this time. We put all of our hard work in practice into this meet.”

Rose had personal bests in winning the 50 free (23.79) and 200 free (1:58.71). Also winning individual races for the Warriors were Evan Trumpower in the 200 IM (2:10.81) and 100 breast (1:03.86), Petit in the 100 free (52.11) and Logan Bernat in the 100 backstroke (59.51).

Bernat also joined Duncan McLean, Alex Matthes and Evan Ruhe to win the 200 medley relay (1:53.05).

“Hopefully, everyone will swim well at district and state, too. That’s our main goal,” said Chad Wright, co-coach at Ontario with Brooke Trumpower. “We knew Shelby had a really good (girls) team. I didn’t know if we could get them this year, but our girls swam really well. The guys did as well.

“(The girls 400 relay) swam faster than they went at state last year, which is nuts.”

In all, six meet records were set, five by Ontario. Wright knows something about records because he still owns multiple school and pool records from when he was a star for the Warriors.

He still got wet Saturday, but only because team members shoved him, Brooke Trumpower and former coach Debby Henry (still on the staff) in the pool during their title celebration.

“Sometimes I get in and swim with (the kids) just to work out and push them a little bit,” Wright said. “But I can’t beat a whole lot of them anymore.”

There was no beating Shelby senior Reyna Hoffman in her two specialities. She looks on pace to make a return trip to state in the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke after winning the former in meet record time (2:16.15) and the latter (1:00.23). She was also part of the winning 200 free relay team (1:45.02), with Elli Mayer, Riley Lewis and Emma Montgomery, who won the 500 free (5:29.76).

Hoffman wasn’t thinking about records beforehand.

“I was going into it to win the (IM), but my time wasn’t a big factor because I was more focused on scoring points for my team,” she said. “But it was great seeing I got the record.

“My time is right where I want it to be. Last year was different without a lot of big meets, but we’ve had more this year and, being able to swim great competition, the 2:16 is right where I want to be for the postseason.”

After finishing ninth at state in both the 50 and 100 at last year’s state meet, Galion freestyler Troie Grubbs has to be encouraged about getting medals this year after just missing the podium in both. Winning MOAC titles in both Saturday could be a good omen, since she didn’t win either in last year’s league meet.

“I’m hoping to be top five in both,” Grubbs said. “In the 100, right now I’m seeded seventh (in the state), and I’m not sure where I’m seeded in the 50 because I just started swimming it again.”

Grubbs had been swimming the 200 free until recently, but ultimately decided she had a better shot at the podium in the 50.

“I backed away from the 200 once I got the school record,” she said. “Having done the 200 for most of the season should help with my conditioning. It’s just a matter of getting back into the swing of things with sprints. That could hurt me since I haven’t been doing the 50. That race is extremely fast and it’s either hit or miss. You’re either having a good day or a bad day.”

This was a great day – for Grubbs, Hoffman and especially the Ontario Warriors.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Win in final girls race clinches MOAC sweep for Ontario