Hathaway Brown Girls, Hunting Valley University Boys Repeat As OHSAA Division II Champions

2025 Ohio State High School Division 2 Championships

• February 18-22, 2025
• C.T. Branin Natatorium, Canton, Ohio
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Prelim Results (PDF)
• Swimming Finals Results (PDF)
• Girls Diving Results (PDF)
• Boys Diving Results (PDF)

The Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown girls and Hunting Valley University boys cruised to repeat titles over the weekend at the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Division II Swimming and Diving Championships.

GIRLS’ RECAP

The Hathaway Brown girls won two relays and had two individual winners as they posted a 104-point victory over Cincinnati Hills Christian to successfully defend their title.

Kicking off the meet in the 200 medley relay, Hathaway Brown’s quartet of Josephine Piliang (25.68), Catherine Dorsey (28.74), Sofia Jimenez (24.33) and Oma Agwa (23.76) combined for a time of 1:42.51, winning the event by more than three seconds.

Midway through the session in the 200 free relay, Agwa (24.43), Rachel Porter (24.23), Beatrice Stewart (24.22) and Jimenez (23.14) clocked 1:36.02 to win over Gahanna Columbus Academy (1:36.79) by over three-quarters of a second.

Stewart, a senior, led the team in individual points, winning the 500 free (4:53.60) and placing 3rd in the 200 free (1:51.06). A Brown commit, Stewart was 3rd in the 500 free and 4th in the 200 free last year.

Piliang, a sophomore, won the 100 back (54.69) and was 4th in the 100 free (52.06) for Hathaway Brown, setting a new PB in the latter in the prelims (51.93).

A new Division II State Record fell at the hands of Carrie Furbee, as the Grandview Heights senior clocked 53.36 in the 100 fly to break the previous record of 53.43 set by Ella Jo Piersma in 2022. The swim for Furbee also marked a new PB, lowering her previous best of 53.49 set in December 2023.

For the runner-ups from Cincinnati Hills, they had four victories including an individual sweep from senior Julia Shafer.

Shafer, a Penn State commit, won the 100 free (50.77) and 200 IM (2:01.71), with the latter marking a new best time. She placed 5th and 6th in those two events, respectively, last season.

Auburn commit Taylor Bacher scored a win for Cincinnati Hills in the 200 free, hitting a season-best of 1:49.49 while finishing as the runner-up to Furbee in the 100 fly (54.87).

To close things out in the 400 free relay, Bacher (51.48), Posey Sollmann (52.98), Sophia Fink (53.36) and Shafer (50.56) touched in 3:28.38 to edge out Hathaway Brown (3:28.68) for the victory, with Hathaway Brown’s squad including a 51.18 anchor from Piliang.

Other Winners

• Bexley freshman Katie Drummond won the 50 free in a new lifetime best of 23.46.
• Saint Bernard Roger Bacon junior Reese Reilly (1:01.89) topped Hathaway Brown’s Catherine Dorsey (1:02.17) in the 100 breast, with the top six swimmers in the final all hitting new PBs.
• Napoleon junior Ella Borstelman dominated the 1-meter diving event, scoring 431.75 top Liberty junior Joy Brown (411.00).

Team Standings – Top 5

1. Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown, 331
2. Cincinnati Hills Christian, 227
3. Bexley, 192
4. Gahanna Columbus Academy, 117
5. Cincinnati Wyoming, 114

BOYS’ RECAP

Despite winning the team title by 49 points, the Hunting Valley University boys only had one event win on the day, showing off their superior depth with several finishes in the 4-5-6 range.

The team’s lone win came from senior Quinn McPhail, who topped the 500 free in a personal best of 4:30.85 and added a 4th-place finish in the 200 IM to lead the team with 35 individual points.

Finishing 2nd in the team race was Hamilton Ross, which piled up six wins during the meet, including a pair of individual sweeps from Cooper Burt and Connor Bennett.

Burt, a senior, set a Division II State Record en route to winning the 100 back, clocking 48.28 to lower the previous mark of 48.29 set by Seven Hills’ Matthew Marquardt in 2016 (Marquardt is now notably a professional triathlete).

Burt also won the 100 fly in a time of 47.72, with both swims marking new lifetime bests. He is committed to OSU for the fall of 2025.

Bennett, a senior and Cincinnati commit, set new personal bests en route to wins in the 100 breast (55.61 / 55.48 prelims) and 200 IM (1:49.32), marking sizeable improvements after he was 9th in both races last year.

The two swimmers also contributed on Hamilton Ross’ two winning relays, which started with the 200 medley.

Burt (22.77), Bennett (24.92), Luke Mignery (22.37) and Timmy Pfirrman (22.24) clocked 1:32.30 to win the 200 medley by nearly three seconds, while in the 400 free relay, Burt (45.97), Mignery (46.78), Pfirrman (48.67) and Bennett (45.82) touched in 3:07.24 to top runner-up Indian Hill (3:08.43).

Indian Hill notably had a blazing 42.68 anchor from senior Jason Zhao, who had an individual win in the 200 free (1:35.42).

Zhao also set a new personal best of 20.05 in the 50 free, doing so leading off the 200 free relay in the prelims.

In the final, Zhao led off Indian Hill in 20.60, with the team ultimately getting run down by Mentor Lake Catholic by three one-hundredths, 1:26.49 to 1:26.52.

Mentor Lake Catholic’s team featured Darren Bittner (21.39), Tino Perkovic (21.75), Evan Ream (21.83) and Owen Pesek (21.52), with Pesek overcoming a 0.84-second deficit on the final leg.

Along with Burt and Bennett, a third swimmer went two-for-two individually at the meet in Vincent Warren senior Mason Francis, who ran the table with dominant wins in the 50 and 100 free.

Francis, an OSU commit, won the 50 free in a PB of 19.71 to narrowly miss the D2 State Record of 19.62 set by Erik Risolvato in 2012.

Then, in the 100 free, Francis clocked 43.55 to lower the D2 State Record of 43.75 set by Cody Bybee in 2018.

Coming into the meet, Francis held best times of 20.16 in the 50 free and 44.28 in the 100 free.

Winning the 1-meter diving event was Bexley sophomore Jackson Monus, who scored 444.55 to top the next-highest scoring diver by more than 31 points.

Team Standings – Top 5

1. Hunting Valley University, 231
2. Hamilton Ross, 172
3. Cincinnati Indian Hill, 146
4. Beachwood / Mentor Lake Catholic, 114
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