Mason’s Zoe Thatcher competes in the girls’ 500-yard freestyle.
Mark Schmetzer reports:
Finishing almost four seconds slower than your seeding time in your main event might leave some swimmers a bit disturbed.
Xanna (pronounced “Zanna”) Tracy was ecstatic.
The Indian Hill senior, who prefers that nickname to her given Alexandra, finished second to her freshman teammate, Elizabeth Drerup, in the 100-yard backstroke at Saturday’s Division II Mason sectional meet. Tracy finished in 59.07 seconds after earning the top seed with a time of 55.23.
“I feel great about it,” said Smith, the Enquirer’s Division II Swimmer of the Year last year after finishing second in the state in the event. “I was around 1:01 last year at this time, so to be this close without tapering is great.
“I wasn’t working too hard. I was working more on underwater stuff. I’m tapering more for state than for district, unlike last year. Right now, I’m cutting intensity, not yardage. I had a long workout this morning.”
Tracy is driven by falling just short in last year’s state final, which extended her streak of improving her finish every year, from 10th as a freshman to fifth as a sophomore to runner-up as a junior.
“Hopefully, I’ll continue that this year,” she said.
Tracy and Drerup also swam on two winning Braves relay teams, as did senior Rachel McGoff while also winning the 200 individual medley to lead them to the team championship. Indian Hill outscored Mariemont, 426-402, in Saturday’s swim competition. The scores from last Monday’s diving were not included in the swim totals.
Cincinnati Country Day sophomore Allie Wooden was the only swimmer with two individual titles, winning the 200 and 100 freestyles.
Mason, the No. 2 team in the Enquirer’s Division I coaches’ poll, finished with just two event championships, but the Comets still piled up enough points to finish ahead of No. 1 Ursuline, 430-381. Junior Zoe Thatcher won the 200 and 500 freestyle to lead Mason.
Mason’s Maureen Sullivan prepares alongside several competitors for the start of the girls’ 100-yard freestyle during Saturday’s Division I sectional meet at Mason.
Junior Temarie Tomley led the second-place Lions, finishing first in the 50 and 100 freestyle.
Turpin senior Morgan Contino and Springboro freshman Hannah Whiteley were the only girls not from Mason or Ursuline to win events. Whiteley won the 100 backstroke, while Contino captured the 100 butterfly in 57.24 seconds.
The top two finishers in each event at Saturday’s three Division I sectionals – Mason, Cincinnati at Keating Natatorium and Centerville – automatically qualified for the district meet next Saturday at Miami University’s Corwin M. Nixon Aquatics Center.
The top two finishers in each of the two Division II sectionals – Mason and Trotwood-Madison – automatically qualified for the district meet.
The Division II girls’ district meet is scheduled for Friday at 10:45 a.m. The Division I girls’ district meet is scheduled for 5:45 p.m. Friday.
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