Chagrin Valley Conference swimmers won two individual state titles and had several others earn a spot on the podium at the 2023 OHSAA State Swimming & Diving Championships over the weekend.
Chagrin Falls junior Samantha Holtz won the state title in the diving competition while Hawken junior Sarah Pophal claimed an exciting win the 500-yard freestyle.
Holtz dominated the competition by scoring 454.95 points, nearly 50 more points than the second-place finisher.
Pophal won her race in 4:53.77, just .08 seconds faster than Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy’s Taylor Bacher, who placed second.
Pophal also finished as the state runner-up in the 200 freestyle (1:51.36) and earned a spot on the podium in a pair of relays.
She teamed up with Nina Newton, Addy Pruce, and Savannah Hirsch to place second in the 400 freestyle relay (3:31.56) and Asma Khan, Chloe Bautista, and Pruce finished third in the 200 medley relay (1:47.27).
Despite Pophal’s success, and that of her teammates, the Hawks saw their remarkable streak of 24 straight state championships halted by Hathaway Brown, who won the state title with 308 points. Hawken finished with 265.
Also earning All-Ohio honors were Chagrin Falls’ Madi Machado (4th, 100 Breaststroke, 1:05.64); Hawken’s Chloe Bautista (5th, 100 Butterfly, :57.68), Erin Butler (6th, 500 Freestyle, 5:07.38), Carys Edgar (3rd, 500 Freestyle, 5:00.35; 5th, 200 Freestyle, 1:54.00), Asma Khan (7th, 100 Backstroke, :57.47), and Nina Newton (7th, 50 Freestyle, :23.94; 3rd, 100 Freestyle, :51.77); and West Geauga’s Ashley Chase (7th, 200 Freestyle, 1:55.26).
Hawken’s 200 freestyle relay team of Newton, Hirsch, Bautista, and Bree Shirkey placed second in 1:36.54.
Hawken’s boys’ team placed 13th overall with 52 points. Chagrin Falls was 22nd with 31 and Beachwood also finished among the top 25 with 30 points.
All-Ohioans included Beachwood’s Evan Warner (7th, 50 Freestyle, :21.54) and Geneva’s Nathan Reigle (8th, 200 Freestyle, 1:44.17).
Hawken’s 200 freestyle relay team of Daniel Xu, Cooper Ryan, Akhil Peruri, and Preston Wooley placed seventh in :21.54.
