St. Paul sends four swimmers to state

BOWLING GREEN — In what was a banner day for the program, the St. Paul boys swim team is sending four competitors to the Division II state championships on Thursday in Canton. Competing at the Div. II Northwest District championships on Friday at Cooper Pool on the campus of Bowling Green State University, the 200-yard medley relay team of Andrew Schaffer, Ryan Hedrick, Jarrett Schaffer and Gavin Moffit turned in a time of 1:41.04. The eighth-place finish was not only a new school record, but earned the relay the 19th-best time and a spot in Thursday's state championship preliminaries at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. Then, Jarret Schaffer, a returning All-Ohioan from last season, qualified individually in both the 50 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke. Jarrett had set the school mark last season at the district (1:00.53) on his way to a 10th-place finish and All-Ohio honors at the 2019 state championships. On Saturday, Jarret swam the race in a new record time of 59.21 seconds, good for a third-place finish and the No. 8 overall seed on Thursday at state. He swam the 50 in 22.31 seconds to place sixth, tied with Lexington's Tanner Holmes. After the meet was finished, the two swam the race again, with Holmes edging Schaffer out. The seventh-place finish was still good for the state championships as the No. 22 time entering the event. "We have so much to be proud of this season, and so much potential for next year," St. Paul coach Stacy Stoll said. "I cannot wait to see what we can do this week at state. "I am so proud of what these boys have accomplished and look forward to the future for this team — both this week and the years to come," she added. Overall, St. Paul had six swimmers compete in eight races (five individual, three relays) at the district. Hedrick also competed in the 50 free with Jarret Schaffer, setting a new personal best time of 23.09 to place 23rd. He added a 12th-place finish alongside Jarret in the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.79 "It wasn't the time he wanted, nor the placement," Stoll said of Hedrick. "But what a year he has had, and Ryan has so much to bring to the table next year." Moffit swam the 100 free and placed 30th, also with a new personal best time of 51.58 seconds. The same quartet from the 200 medley relay then teamed up to swim the 200 free relay. This time, the group took down a school record from 2014 with a time of 1:32.16 to place 11th. However, the time missed the 24-team field for state by just .28 seconds. "We knew it was going to be tight to make it (to state) with that time, but we were hopeful," Stoll said. "It was a heartbreaker, but I reminded them we still had races to go yet." The final relay on Friday was the 400 free, which included Andrew Schaffer, Moffit, Bryce Wnek and Alex Stine. Looking for a fourth program record swim, the team finished in 3:36.86, which placed them 16th overall — but just missed the 2014 record time by just .12 seconds. "We knew we had to really make the end of our night a big one and to finish with as much energy as we started," Stoll said. "The boys came into this race with a time of 3:43.22, and ended just a tenth of a second from the record. "We saw that and said, 'Next year it is ours,'" Stoll added. "After this weekend, I'm sure these boys will all be hungry for more next season."