By Susan Jenior

Staff Writer

It was a decisive runner-up victory for the Kent Roosevelt Rough Riders girls swimming and diving team, as they started their journey through the OHSAA tournaments at Ocasek Natatorium on the campus of the University of Akron on Saturday.

Only fellow Suburban League competitor Hudson topped Roosevelt, which scored 300 points on their way to second place.

Kent Roosevelt started out with a victory in the girls 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:52.97 scored by four juniors, Natalie St. John, Keira Hilton, Trinity Heath and Coco Golden, breaking the school record.

There were many solid performances but it was again the 200-yard freestyle relay that grabbed another first-place for the Riders.

Trinity Heath, Sophia Richards, Coco Golden and Nicole Cornici won the event in a time of 1:40.87, a full 2 seconds better than runner-up Hudson.

Heath earned the victory in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing in 24.21.

Corey Spicer, coach of the Roosevelt swimming teams, offered that it was a fantastic day for the girls swimming team.

“The hard work and dedication to be great paid off for the girls today,” said Spicer. “They have been working so hard the past two months, and we finally got to see some of that fire power on display today.

“As a team filled with a solid Junior leadership core and some young talent who are ready to show up on the big stage, they really have set the bar high for the next four years,” Spicer added. “Watching them get excited for their teammates success just as much as their own is what has really helped this group come together.

“Our medley relay has been swimming together through middle school and their journey together has een so fun to watch. The 200 Freestyle relay had a goal to break the school record ever since last season when they got so close to it at Districts. Today, they achieved that goal and now have the goal to take it down again next week and give themselves the best opportunity to qualify out for the state meet,” Spicer continued.

“Our 400 freestyle relay has really started to jell together and keep getting faster and faster each race they swim. Excited to see what they an do next week and in the future together,” concluded the coach.

GIRLS SWIMMING AND DIVING SCOREBOARD

OHSAA DIVISION I SECTIONAL

(At Ocasek Auditorium, The University of Akron)

TEAM STANDINGS: Hudson 447, Kent Roosevelt 300.5, Nordonia 251.5, Firestone 223, Revere 154, Stow 147, Brecksville 137, Walsh Jesuit 121, Copley 104, North Royalton 100, Archbishop Hoban 83, Cuyahoga Falls 20, Normandy 20, Warren G. Harding 14.

200 YARD MEDLEY RELAY: 1^st Kent Roosevelt 1:52.97 (Natalie St. John, Keira Hilton, Trinity Heath, Coco Golden.

200 YARD FREESTYLE: Kent Roosevelt—4^th Sophia Richards 2:05.84; 10^th Natalie St. John 2:09.18; 12^th Molly Murphy 2:09.58, 16^th Corrine Simmons 2:13.58.

200 YARD INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: Kent Roosevelt—12^th Keira Hilton 2:24.90.

50 YARD FREESTYLE: Kent Roosevelt—1^st Trinity Heath 24.21, 6^th Nicole Cornici 25.69, 10^th Sydney Houk 26.35, 23^rd Jacey Stewart 27.54.

100 YARD BUTTERFLY: Kent Roosevelt—6^th Coco Golden 1:03.86.

100 YARD FREESTYLE: Kent Roosevelt—2^nd Trinity Heath 53.90, 4^th Nicole Cornici 56.32, 8^th Sophia Richards 56.95,

500 YARD FREESTYLE: Kent Roosevelt—13^th Molly Murphy 5:57.50, 14^th Corrine Simmons 5:59.64, 23^rd Kylie Keim 5:32.27, 28^th Jacey Stewart 6:55.34.

200 YARD FREESTYLE RELAY: 1^st Kent Roosevelt 1:40.87 (Trinity Heath, Sophia Richards, Coco Golden, Nicole Cornici).

100 YARD BACKSTROKE: 4^th Natalie St. John 1:03.97, 11^th Sydney Houk 1:06.76, 25^th Ellie Amodio 1:16.93.

100 YARD BREASTROKE: 3^rd Keira Hilton 1:10.19, 8^th Coco Golden 1:15.79, 34^th Rylie Keim 1:34.48,

400 YARD FREESTYLE RELAY: 3^rd Kent Roosevelt 3:51.75 (Nicole Cornici, Sophia Richards, Sydney Houk, Natalie St. John).

SWIM-OFF 50 YARD FREESTYLE: Kent Roosevelt’s Sydney Houk won the swim-off with a time of 25.91, breaking a tie for 10^th place.