Bulldogs have historical day

CANTON - A group of Celina girls made program history at the Division II State Swimming Championships on Friday in Canton.

Friday began with the 200-yard medley relay team of Kenzie Conn, Claire Gass, Emma Guggenbiller and Kennedy Newell finishing sixth. Later, the 200 freestyle relay team of Newell, Guggenbiller, Zoe Rolfes and Conn placed seventh - breaking the school record with a time of 1:38.19. And for the first time in girls' program history, Celina had two relay teams earn first team All-Ohio.

"We thought it was really cool because we made history today," Kenzie Conn said. "We were the first girls teams to podium in both relays from Celina. We were really excited about that and we were pretty excited with our overall finishes. We got our PRs today. We broke our school record today."

Celina's 200 medley team completed the event in a time of 1:48.26. Hawken won (1:42.35), Seven Hills was second (1:46.21), Mariemont placed third (1:46.52), Toledo St. Ursula fourth (1:47.38) and Gilmour Academy fifth (1:47.81).

Toledo St. Ursulu won the 200 freestyle (1:35.97). Hathaway Brown was second (1:35.99), Mariemont third (1:36.21), Hawken fourth (1:36.69), Columbus School for Girls fifth (1:37.54) and Napoleon sixth (1:38.14) with Celina just behind.

The 2018-2019 Bulldog quartets now own the school records in both 200 relay events.

"Standing up on the podium is honestly one of the best feelings ever," Newell said. "There's really nothing like it. It feels so rewarding."

In-between the relay events, Gass swam in the B-final of the 100 breaststroke. She finished 12th in a time of 1:05.01. Cincinnati Hills' Jessey Li was the heat's top swimmer (1:03.50).

"I'm glad that I had the experience that I did," Gass said. "I went in expecting more, but I'm glad I did how I did. I'm really grateful that I made it back to finals in the individual event and just really excited I got to come here and excited for the future."

The future looks bright for Celina.

Newell and Conn also qualified for state in individual events for Celina but didn't post fast-enough times in the prelims to reach either final. Celina's 400 relay team of Danielle Slechter, Gass, Guggenbiller and Rolfes also competed in the prelims, finishing 19th.

Each state qualifier will be back next season - and they expect even better results.

"With our sixth-and seventh-place finishes on podium, we now have a goal for next year - we want to get higher on the podium in our relays," Guggenbiller said.