On Feb. 22 at Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio, the Dublin Coffman Girls Swim Team – led by coach Steve VonSchriltz – made history by taking home the Division I State Championship title for the first time.
The girls accomplished this feat against some tough odds, as the state team was only made up of six swimmers: KristynSabol, Hannah Bailey, Ellie Andrews, AvaWarren, Emma Bowman and Gretchen Schneider. Because of their small team size, the swimmers knew they needed to win as many events as possible to have a chance of taking home the gold. Specifically, then-junior Andrews needed to win both of her individual events and the team needed at least one relay win.
When the team arrived to the meet the day of the championships, nerves were high. The first race was the 200-meter medley relay, which was a must-win for the team. Freshman Schneider kicked off the race with backstroke, keeping up with upperclassmen on the other teams. Next was Andrews, who, with the fastest split in the pool, gave Coffman a strong lead. Senior Bailey then kept the team ahead with her butterfly lengths and freshman Bowman wrapped up the relay with freestyle, winning the race.
“It was incredible,” says Bow-man, recalling the win. “I didn’t know we won at first because I couldn't see a couple of the girls, and I look up into the stands at my parents and they’re holding up number ones. I remember just screaming and jumping out of the pool and hugging the other three girls and we were so excited.”
The medley relay gave the Coffman Shamrocks a great shot at the title, but the girls didn’t let this get to their heads as the events continued that meet. Andrews went on to win both of her individual events which helped her earn the title of Girl Swimmer of the Meet. Senior Sabolplaced second in the 200 meter freestyle wrapped up the meet as part of the third-place 400 meter freestyle relay with Andrews, Schneider and Warren. All the team's events earned them the winning score of 214 points, and for Sabol, ending her senior year on such a historic note was a dream come true.
“I couldn’t be happier for myself and my team and my coach,” she says. “We all worked very hard this season and we had the goal since the beginning. My coach had introduced us to the goal at our first team meeting, and we were all kind of suspicious, but we just pushed through the whole season long and then when that actually happened, it was so surreal. I couldn't believe it.”
The historic success did not come easy, however. To prepare for taking home the title, the team worked tirelessly every day in preparation. A usual day included hitting the weight room at 5:45 a.m., going to school, practicing after school, and finally taking care of homework in the evening. Even with such a hectic schedule, the girls managed to keep their grades high and even found time to volunteer on school holidays, making lunches for students who needed them. All that time together created a bond among the swimmers, most of whom have known each other since childhood, and being able to win the state title among friends only sweetened the accomplishment.
“We are all best friends, we push each other all the time and want each other to be our best,” says Bowman. “We sometimes nag each other but that’s just because we want each and every one of them to do as good as they possibly can. That really the only reason that we won states is because our team is so close and we were always pushing each other.”
“It’s honestly one of the best things to say I’m a part of because it’s a family,” adds Andrews. “I’m best friends with everyone on the team, and it is honestly like a family where, yeah, sometimes you argue, but you’re family so you get over it and then we're laughing five minutes later.”
This fall, Sabol will embark on her first college swimming season at the University of Kentucky and Bailey will head to theUniversity of Pittsburgh. Assuming the Dublin Coffman swimming season will still run as planned this year, rising sophomore Bowman says her goal is to qualify individually for state in the 50 meter free-style and help win the 200 meter medley relay once again. Andrews has already committed to swim at the University ofTexas at Austin next year and hopes to end her last high school season with another state trophy.
“I think that our goal for next year is to try to win it again and see what we can do,” she says. “We definitely are still the underdogs, but we proved to ourselves that we can do it, so I think there’s nothing that we can’t do.”
Grace Lenehan Vaughn is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
