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The 2012 Swimming and Diving State Championships are underway in Canton. Lakota East and Lakota West swimmers, however, will compete Friday in the preliminaries. The Division I finals are scheduled to take place Saturday.

Parents John and Susan Hall watch their daughter as she is honored during a special signing ceremony at Lakota East High School Feb. 1, 2012 National Signing Day. Hall will continue her swimming career at Michigan State. Photo taken by Adam Kiefaber of WestChesterBuzz.com.

State qualifiers from Lakota East competing in the individual events include senior Paige Baisden (200-yard freestyle), senior Jessika Hall (200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly), freshman Matt McDonald (100-yard backstroke) and senior Rob VanKirk (500-yard freestyle). McDonald and VanKirk, along with seniors Jake Spela and Billy Barren, also qualified to complete in the 200-yard medley relay.

From Lakota West, junior Bryan McNamara (200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle) and sophomore Casey Frazier (200-yard individual medley) qualified to compete in individual events. Frazier, along with junior Joanna Sauter, junior Savannah Rice and sophomore Tiffany Howard, also qualified to compete in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

The preliminaries for the Division I state swimming meet begin at 9 a.m. Friday, while the finals are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Saturday. State competition began Wednesday with the Division II diving competition. Division I diving, along with the Division II swimming preliminaries, take place Thursday.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: 2012 Swimming and Diving State Championships, Billy Barren, Bryan McNamara, Casey Frazier, Jake Spela, Jessika Hall, Joanna Sauter, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota East swimming, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lakota West swimming, Matt McDonald, Rob VanKirk, Savannah Rice, state meet, Tiffany Howard

Three student athletes from the Lakota school district competed at the OHSAA Division I championship track and field meet this past weekend June 3-4 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University.

Lakota West junior Nathan Haynes led all local students with his sixth-place finish in the 800-meter run. Haynes finished with a time of 1:54.81, which was just under three seconds off the state champions time.

Haynes qualified for the state meet by finishing third in the 800 meters at the Division I regional meet at University of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.

Also, qualifying at the regional meet was Lakota East junior Lauren Buck (finished fourth in the shot put at the regional meet) and Lakota East freshman Autumn Heath (finished second in the 100 meters at the regional meet).

At the state meet, Buck finished 14th in the girls’ shot put and Heath finished 14th in the preliminaries in the 100-meter dash.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: Autumn Heath, Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lauren Buck, Nathan Haynes, Nathaniel Haynes, OHSAA Division I championship track and field meet, state meet, track

Lakota West senior Ty Davis, who will continue his wrestling career at Central Michigan University, ended his high school career with a third-place finish in the 135-pound class at the Division I State Wrestling tournament today, March 5.

Davis (47-2) defeated Mentor senior Alex Sweeney (45-9) in the semifinals of the consolation bracket this morning and then defeated Lakewood St. Edward junior Nick Barber (20-8) early this afternoon in the third-place match.

>>>PHOTOS FROM STATE WRESTLING MEET<<<

Meanwhile, Davis’ teammate Christian Estes (31-9) lost his seventh-place match against Clayton Northmont junior Jonah Newburg (36-4) today.

Lakota East senior Ryan Miller (130-pound class), Lakota West senior Vinnie Bradberry (160-pound class), Lakota East sophomore Austin Daly (103-pound class) and Lakota West junior Nick Bloch (130-pound class) all earned trips to the state tournament, but did not place.

For complete results, visit baumspage.com.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Austin Daly, Christian Estes, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Nick Bloch, Ryan Miller, state meet, state tournament, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling

Six wrestlers from the Lakota school district came to Columbus this week to compete in the Division I State Wrestling tournament. Two days and three sessions later, only two wrestlers remain and neither is competing for first place in their respected weight class.

Lakota West senior Ty Davis and Lakota West junior Christian Estes can still place at the meet. Davis, who was a top contender to win the 135-pound class, lost his second-round match of the championship bracket yesterday, March 4, afternoon. After the loss, Davis won matches in the second and third rounds of the consolation bracket. Today, he will take on Mentor senior Alex Sweeney (45-9) in the semifinals of the consolation bracket. If Davis (45-2) wins, he will face the winner of the match between Lakewood senior Nick Ramsey (39-3) and Lakewood St. Edward junior Nick Barber (19-7). The winner of that match will be awarded third place.

>>>PHOTOS FROM STATE WRESTLING MEET<<<

Meanwhile, Estes (171-pound class), who lost his first-round match in the championship bracket on Thursday, March 3, won his first two matches in the consolation bracket. Estes (photo) did, however, lose in the third round of that bracket yesterday night. Estes (31-8) will now wrestle for seventh place against Clayton Northmont junior Jonah Newburg (35-4).

In other results from Friday, Lakota East senior Ryan Miller (130-pound class) lost to Fairmont sophomore Matt Denlinger and Lakota West senior Vinnie Bradberry (160-pound class) lost to Gr. City Central Crossing junior Vince Pickett in the second round of their consolation brackets. Both are eliminated.

Lakota East sophomore Austin Daly (103-pound class) and Lakota West junior Nick Bloch (130-pound class) were eliminated on Thursday.

Davis will wrestle his match today, March 5, at approximately 10 a.m. while Estes will wrestle his match around 11 a.m.

For live results, visit baumspage.com.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Austin Daly, Christian Estes, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Nick Bloch, Ryan Miller, state meet, state tournament, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling

Overall, six wrestlers combined from Lakota East and Lakota West took part in the Ohio High School Division I State Wrestling tournament, which began yesterday, March 3, afternoon at Value City Arena in Columbus. From those six, only Lakota West senior Ty Davis (135-pound class) won his first match in the championship bracket.

Davis (43-1) defeated Cuyahoga Falls junior Colin Taylor (36-9) 12-2 and will face junior Ruben Burrow (35-4) of Canton McKinley in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket today, March 4. The Division I Championship quarterfinals are scheduled to begin at 11:20 a.m. during the second session of the state tournament. Officially, state tournament wrestling for Divisions I-III begins this morning at 10 a.m.

For his first-round accomplishment, Davis (photo), who will continue his wrestling career at Central Michigan University, was featured in this morning’s article on Cincinnati.com.

As a sophomore, Davis finished second at 130 but last season he was eighth at 135, a result he called “a fluke.”

Davis (43-1) will oppose Canton McKinley’s Ruben Burrows in the quarterfinals.

“I can’t get nervous and have to wrestle like I know how to,” Davis said.

Davis enters the tournament as the projected champion at 135 by the Brakeman Report, but he said he doesn’t focus on predictions.

“I don’t look at that – I don’t know who I have in the next round,” Davis said. “I didn’t even know who I had in this round coming in. There’s not a lot of pressure because I want to win for myself and I really don’t care about predictions.”

In other results from Thursday, Lakota East sophomore Austin Daly (103-pound class) lost both of his matches in the first round of the championship preliminaries and in the consolation bracket. East senior Ryan Miller (130-pound class) lost in the first round of the championship preliminaries, but won his first round match in the consolation bracket.

Lakota West junior Nick Bloch (130-pound class) lost both of his matches in the first round of the championship preliminaries and in the consolation bracket. West senior Vinnie Bradberry (160-pound class) lost in the first round of the championship preliminaries, but won his first match in the consolation bracket. Like Bradberry, West junior Christian Estes (171-pound class) also lost his in the first round of the championship preliminaries, but won his first match in the consolation bracket.

>>>PHOTOS FROM STATE WRESTLING MEET<<<

Miller, Bradberry and Estes will compete this afternoon in the Division I consolation bracket. The second round is scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m.

A third session of the state tournament will start up tonight at 6:30 p.m. Davis, if he advances to the semifinals of the championship bracket will wrestle around 6:30 p.m. If Miller, Bradberry and Estes advance in the consolation bracket, they will also wrestle at around 6:30 p.m. There will be another series of consolation matches at 8:50 p.m.

On Saturday, March 5, the consolation semifinals and finals will take place at 10 a.m. and at 11 a.m. The first-place matches in the championship bracket will be wrestled at 5:45 p.m.

For complete results, visit baumspage.com.

For more from Cincinnati.com about local wrestlers, visit its story titled “Myers extends run of success with Reading.”

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Austin Daly, Christian Estes, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Nick Bloch, Ryan Miller, state meet, state tournament, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling

Over the weekend at the Division I Southwest Ohio district meets, multiple wrestlers and gymnasts from the Lakota school district automatically qualified to compete in this week’s state meets.

At the district wrestling meet at Fairfield High School, Lakota West finished in sixth place, while Lakota East finished in ninth. Individually, between the two Lakota high schools, six wrestlers finished in the top four in their weight class and automatically qualified to compete at the state meet March 3-5 at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus.

Lakota West senior Ty Davis, who will continue his wrestling career at Central Michigan University, won the 135-pound class at the district meet for the second consecutive year. Davis’ teammates junior Nick Bloch (finished fourth in 130-pound class), senior Vinnie Bradberry (finished fourth in the 160-pound class) and junior Christian Estes (finished third in the 171-pound class) also qualified to compete at the state meet.

From Lakota East, sophomore Austin Daly (103-pound class) and senior Ryan Miller (130-pound class) both finished third in their respected weight classes at the district meet and both will compete at the state meet.

In gymnastics, two of the region’s top performers at the district meet came from the Lakota school district.

Lakota West senior Stephanie Powers (photo) finished in first place in the floor competition at the district meet at Lakota East High School. She also automatically qualified in the all-around competition where she finished fifth overall.

Lakota East freshman Natalie Potts automatically qualified to compete in three events (floor, beam and all-around) at the state meet. Potts finished in fourth in the floor, third in the beam and fourth in the all-around competition at the district meet.

The gymnastics state meet will take place March 4-5 at Hilliard Bradley High School near Columbus.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Austin Daly, Christian Estes, district meet, gymnastics, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West sports, Laktoa West, Natalie Potts, Nick Bloch, Ryan Miller, state meet, Stephanie Powers, Ty Davis, Vinnie Bradberry, wrestling

Five individual swimmers and two relay teams competed in the Division I state swimming meet this Saturday, Feb. 26, at the C.T. Natatorium in Canton. Lakota West sophomore Bryan McNamara had the best finish in the meet as he was the only swimmer from the Lakota school district to qualify for the championship final in his event.

McNamara finished eighth in the championship final of the 500 freestyle event. For his accomplishment, McNamara is now qualified to go on the Lakota West Wall of Champions on the school’s Main Street after he graduates. He also competed in the 200 freestyle event, but did not qualify to compete in the championship or consolation final.

Lakota East featured three swimmers who qualified to compete in the consolation finals. East junior Paige Baisden finished fifth in the consolation final of the 200 freestyle, which placed her 13th overall. Her teammate, Jessika Hall finished sixth in the consolation final of the 200 individual medley, which placed her 14th overall.

On the boys’ side, East senior Parker Baisden finished eighth in the consolation final of the 100 butterfly, which placed him 16th overall. Lakota West senior Dennie Patton (photo) competed in the 500 freestyle and in the 100 freestyle, but didn’t qualify to compete in either final.

Lakota East also featured a pair of relay teams that qualified in the state tournament, but didn’t qualify for the finals. On the girls’ side, the 200 freestyle relay team consisted of senior Rebecka Sepela, freshman Shelby Hutton, senior Abbey Cramer and Baisden and the boys’ 200 medley team consisted of senior Alex Espinoza, senior Greg Reynaert, Baisden and senior Kyle Morrison.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Abbey Cramer, Alex Espinoza, Bryan McNamara, Canton, Dennie Patton, diving, Greg Reynaert, Jessika Hall, Kyle Morrioson, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Paige Baisden, Parker Baisden, Rebecka Sepela, Shelby Hutton, state meet, swimming

Lakota East freshman Abby McConnell finished in 13th place yesterday, Feb. 24, at the Division I girls’ 1-meter state diving competition at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. McConnell was the only diver, boy or girl, from the Lakota school district to qualify for the state meet.

Last Wednesday, Feb. 16, McConnell finished in eighth place with a score of 389.90 at the Southwest Ohio district meet. The top eight divers at that sectional automatically qualified for the state competition.

McConnell’s sectional score ranked her 20th out of the state’s 24 qualifiers. At the state meet, she improved her score to 391.25 and finished second among freshmen in the competition.

Of the top 15 finishers in the state competition, only three were underclassmen. Mason sophomore Madeline Sewell led all underclassmen with a fifth place finish. Findlay freshman Bethany Glick finished in 11th place.

Five individual swimmers and two relay teams from the Lakota school district will compete in the preliminaries of the state meet this morning, Feb. 25. The finals will take place Saturday, Feb. 26, at 5 p.m.

(Photo of Abby McConnell competing in the sectional meet Feb. 9 – click to enlarge)

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Abby McConnell, diving, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, postseason, state meet, state tournament, swimming

Not one of the 36 individual swimmers or 12 relay teams from Lakota East and Lakota West automatically qualified to compete in this week’s state meet in Canton. However, five individual swimmers and two relay teams, due to times they turned in at the Division I Southwest Ohio Sectional meet Feb. 18-19, will represent the Lakota school district at the state meet.

To automatically qualify for the state meet, an individual swimmer or relay team would have to finish in the top four in their sectional meet.

On the girls’ side, Lakota East juniors Paige Baisden (100 freestyle and 200 freestyle) and Jessika Hall (200 individual medley) will be competing at the state meet Feb. 25-26.

Baisden finished eighth, in both the 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle, in the sectional meet. Both times were good enough to put Baisden in the top 24 in the state in both categories (No. 20 in 100 and No. 14 in 200).

Hall, who finished fifth in the 200 individual medley at the sectional, posted the best time (No. 10) in the state for a swimmer in her category who didn’t automatically qualify.

The 200 freestyle relay team of senior Rebecka Sepela, freshman Shelby Hutton, senior Abbey Cramer and Baisden, will also represent Lakota East at the state meet. The group finished sixth at the sectional and posted the 17th-best time in the state. (more…)

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Tags: Tags: Abbey Cramer, Alex Espinoza, Bryan McNamara, Canton, Dennie Patton, district meet, diving, Greg Reynaert, Jessika Hall, Kyle Morrison, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Miami University, Paige Baisden, Parker Baisden, Rebecka Sepela, sectional meet, Shelby Hutton, state meet, swimming

A total of 36 individual swimmers and 12 relay teams from Lakota East and Lakota West competed in the Division I Southwest Ohio district meet at Miami University on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 18-19. It was the largest group of Lakota swimmers to compete in the event.

The record-setting group came up short, however, when it came to qualifying for this week’s Division I state meet at the C.T. Natatorium in Canton.

In both the individual and team competitions, the top four finishers in each event would qualify for the state meet.

The best finish came from Lakota East junior Jessika Hall, who finished fifth in the 200-yard individual medley. In the sectional meet, Hall finished in third place in the same event.

Other individual performances from Lakota student athletes that stood out include Lakota West senior Dennie Patton, who finished in eighth place in the 50-yard freestyle and seventh place in the 100-yard freestyle; Lakota West sophomore Bryan McNamara, who finished in seventh place in the 200-yard freestyle and sixth place in the 500-yard freestyle; Lakota East senior Parker Baisden, who finished in eighth place in the 100-yard butterfly; and Lakota East junior Paige Baisden, who finished eighth in the 100-yard freestyle and eighth in the 200-yard freestyle.

Lakota East also featured three relay teams that finished in the top-ten in their events: The 200-yard medley relay team of senior Alex Espinoza, senior Greg Reynaert, Baisden and senior Kyle Morrison finished eighth place; the 200-yard freestyle relay team of senior Rebecka Sepela, freshman Shelby Hutton, senior Abbey Cramer and Baisden finished in sixth place; and the 400-yard freestyle relay of Hall, Sepela, freshman Courtney Yanzsa and Baisden.

Earlier last week, Lakota East freshman Abby McConnell qualified to compete in the diving portion of the state meet, which will take place Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. in Canton.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Abbey Cramer, Alex Espinoza, Bryan McNamara, Courtney Yanzsa, Dennie Patton, district meet, diving, Greg Reynaert, Jessika Hall, Kyle Morrison, Lakota East, Lakota East Sports, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Miami University, Paige Baisden, Parker Baisden, Rebecka Sepela, sectional meet, Shelby Hutton, state meet, swimming