Titles in hand, WHS swimmers focused on fast finish

Titles in hand, WHS swimmers focused on fast finish
Vicki Bosler-Kilmer

Wooster High won both the girls and boys team titles at the recent Ohio Cardinal Conference swim meet. Piper Udell and Alessandra Gerber shared OCC Girls Swimmer of the Year honors and Andrei Dordea and Gabe Bosler-Kilmer won the boys honor.

                        

For most swim teams, February is the month everything they worked for all season comes together.

While Wooster High’s boys are no different, they have no plans on waiting until the end of the year to start seeing that hard work pay off.

The Generals picked up a pair of team titles in championship meets this month — one in the Northeast Aquatic Conference and the other in Ohio Cardinal Conference — setting the tone for what should be an exciting final month of the season.

And while there were a host of record performances in each of those meets, the success for Wooster starts well before any of those races start.

“Their dedication to the rigor that I ask of the daily is what truly makes them stand out,” Generals coach Chris Matthew said. “They all have high expectations for themselves, and it’s universal on the team. We have great leaders who set the pace and tone every day.”

Leading that charge has been senior Andrei Dordea.

The veteran and four-event state qualifier from a year ago set the tone in a team win at the NEAC Championships — helping Wooster lock up its second straight title in the eight-team conference after an eight-year title drought.

Dordea won both the 50- and 100-yard freestyles and helped both the 200 free and 200 medley relays to victory — along with sophomore Gabe Bosler-Kilmer, senior Luke Boucher and senior Cooper Udell in the medley and freshman Aidan McMillan, sophomore Kellen Smith and Boucher in the free. That helped Dordea earn Swimmer of the Year for the conference.

Simply put, Dordea is a man on a mission after getting a taste of state competition last winter.

“His sights have been on state since the end of last season, and it has shown in his effort all summer, in the fall and now during the high school season,” Matthew said. “He is an outstanding student-athlete in all ways, and he is the leader of the group.”

Good news for the Generals is Dordea is far from alone as a host of others have played key roles in both conference titles.

Fellow senior Boucher has been one of a handful of senior leaders, along with Dordea, while underclassmen like Bosler-Kilmer have taken their skills to another level. Boucher, whose freshman and sophomore seasons were plagued by injury, is a key member of all three of Wooster’s relay teams, along with the 200 individual medley, while Bosler-Kilmer contributes in both relays and individually in everything from the backstroke to the butterfly.

Bosler-Kilmer joined Dordea in Swimmer of the Year honors at the OCC Championships as he shattered the league record for the 200 IM, along with taking first in the 100 back and on the 200 and 400 free teams. Dordea also broke a meet record with his win in the 50 free.

A host of other seniors in Cole Walenciak, Cooper Udell and Caleb Kostohryz also have led the Generals and continue to improve their times, according to Matthew, along with junior Santiago Salazar and McMillan.

On the girls side, Wooster captured another OCC Championship behind the strength of sophomore Piper Udell and freshman Alessandra Gerber.

The underclassman duo paced an impressive 112-point win by the Generals as Udell and Gerber each helped the 200 and 400 free relays to win. Udell also shined in the 100 and 200 free while Gerber was a winner in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. The tandem each shared Swimmer of the Year honors.

Gerber enters the week undefeated on the season in the 200 IM.

Colleen Frantz, a junior diver who was a state qualifier last season, set the tone in both the OCC and NEAC — where Wooster was second overall to Boardman — with wins on the diving board.

Other rookies in McKenzie Grimwood, Ellie Hansen, Olivia Kelly and Sydney McAfoos also scored major points in each of the league meets, along with junior Lauren Hershberger and Margaret McBride.

“The culture of our team is that everybody works together,” Matthew said of both the boys and girls teams. “We train hard. We are disciplined. We don’t rest until the end of the season, and we expect excellence from our athletes.

“It’s a culture that has been established, and the kids take great pride in being a member of our team. This has been a wonderful season to experience, and the best part is yet to come.”

The postseason for the Generals will begin the week of Feb. 5 in Canton, followed by districts at Cleveland State (week of Feb. 12) and the state championships back in Canton (Feb. 20-24).


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