by Cincinnati Enquirer sports writer Nick Robbe:
CANTON – There’s a good feeling surrounding the St. Ursula Academy swim team. You can see it in head coach Ann Gartner '77 when she talks about her swimmers.
That good feeling can also be seen from the results in the pool. The Bulldogs tallied 270.5 points in the state meet during the weekend, a second-place finish. Upper Arlington won the team title with 285 points.
The Bulldogs peppered the standings and it eventually came down to the last couple events before the Bears grabbed the lead and wouldn’t let go.
Key finishes for St. Ursula included Josie Grote’s third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke, her second-place finish in the 200 medley, Katie Kerr’s third place in the 500 freestyle and the two second-place finishes by the 400 freestyle and 200 medley relays.
Freshman Hannah Foster picked up third-place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyles. Junior Molly Zilch finished in fourth in the 200 free.
Sophomore diver Audrey Capannari finished in 22nd place.
“There aren’t words to describe how proud I am of this team,” Gartner said. “They performed above expectations. To go from 12th last year, to runner-up is an amazing journey. It’s such a special group of young ladies. I couldn’t be more proud.”
No swimmer is more emblematic of the program’s 180 than Kerr.
“For her to improve as much as she has in four years is amazing,” Gartner said. “To score that many points for us her senior year at the state meet was incredible.”
Though she didn’t have the meet she probably would have liked to close her high school career with, Gartner said Marissa DelGado’s influence can’t be overlooked.
She said without DelGado, there is no chance the Bulldogs make it to Canton.
“From day one, it was her mission to be the best leader she could be,” the coach said. “She definitely fulfilled that role and went above it. I can’t say enough about what she’s meant to this program, especially this year.”
Her leadership is an infectious characteristic that has to be picked up by the younger swimmers on the roster. Five out of nine swimmers on this year’s state team were freshmen or sophomores.
“The future is very bright,” Gartner said. “Hopefully, we use this as motivation to come back here next year and do the best we can.”