Boys Gold Star Awards

2000-2009

Ohio High School Swimming

"Keep in mind that the past is not history, but a much vaster region of the dead, gone, unknowable or forgotten. History is what we choose to remember."
Joseph J. Ellis

2000

  • Jayme Cramer
    Junior
    Cincinnati St. Xavier
    • The last 2 years were record breaking in Ohio, but this was hands down the most prolific season in Ohio boys’ swimming history. 4 different swimmers had legitimate claim to the Gold Star. Firestone’s Mark Gangloff, Sycamore’s Dan Ketchum, Upper Arlington’s Ed Matkovich, and Cramer were all arguably top 5 national talents this season. Ohio also had 3 other swimmers (Todd Minnier, Marc Courtney-Brooks, Jon Haag) who scored more than 23 national level points, enough to usually contend for the top swimmer in Ohio.

    Cramer is the Gold Star winner in part for being the leader on a Cincinnati St. Xavier team that blew away their old (1999) state record for most points scored. With a total of 394, St. Xavier had upwards of 3 or 4 swimmers in many of the final heats, and Cramer led the way, becoming the 4th swimmer in state history to win all 4 of his events at the state meet. Moreover, Cramer set a state record in both of his individual events, easily besting the former marks in the 100 Butterfly and 100 Backstroke. His 48.31 time in the 100 butterfly beat Dave Wilson’s legendary (and former national) record by .19, and his 100 Backstroke time of 48.15 was over a half-second faster than Justin Thornton’s previous mark. Those times were the 3rd and 2nd best in the nation this year.

    Cramer’s best swim, however, may have been leading off St. Xavier’s 200 Medley Relay. In that, he started with an unheard of 22.00 split that is thought to be a national record in its own right. With teammates Brett Burns (26.50 breaststroke), Scott Ransenberg (21.87 butterfly) and Max Leassner (20.85 freestyle), St. Xavier had the top relay in the nation that year, set a state record, and missed the national record by 0.12. Cramer ended things by splitting 44.48 in the 400 Freestyle Relay, giving him national ranks in his 4 primary events of 1st, 3rd, 2nd, and 2nd to go along with his numerous records.

    Picking Cramer over Firestone senior Mark Gangloff was one of the more difficult decisions in the history of the Gold Star Rankings. Gangloff also broke 3 state records, starting with the 200 Medley Relay breaststroke split. In that, he dropped a half-second from his own record by going a 24.64. Their relay of Michael Jones (23.99 backstroke), Gangloff, Steve McDonald (21.91 butterfly), and Lane Flood (20.98 freestyle) challenged X the entire way, going a 1:31.51 time that was a full second under the previous state record and the 2nd best time in the nation that year (to X). Gangloff then broke Tony Kurth’s 200 IM state record with a 1:47.63 that was the top time in the nation. In his specialty 100 Breaststroke, Gangloff finally broke Glenn Mills’ legendary state (and former national) record time of 55.44 with a 55.10 time that was 3rd best in the country. Finally, Gangloff anchored Firestone’s 400 Freestyle Relay in a time of 44.55. His national ranks in the 4 events were 2nd, 1st, 3rd, and 4th to go along with his 3 state records. Cramer wins the award for leading the best team in state history, for having beaten Gangloff in both relays, and for having set what’s thought to be that national record in the 50 backstroke, but this was as close a call as there’s ever been.

    Sycamore senior Dan Ketchum almost seems to be an afterthought even though he’s a former Gold Star winner, state record holder, and defending national champion. Ketchum even tied Justin Thornton’s record by successfully completing a ‘threepeat’ in both of his events (the 200 and 500 Freestyle), also tying Thornton and Dale Hudson for an Ohio record 6 individual career state titles! The most impressive part about Ketchum is that he had several close races over the years, and always came through. This season, he was pressed by Ed Matkovich in the 200 Freestyle and touched him out by a tenth with a 1:37.54. Ketchum won his 500 Freestyle in a (slower than last year) 4:25 but his times were 2nd and 4th best in the nation. He once again had a best 400 Freestyle Relay split of 44.5 for Sycamore, and despite all that, Ketchum is just 3rd in our Gold Star Rankings.

    Ed Matkovich at 4th might be the most absurd part of this 2000 season because he was the top national scorer this year for the entire nation! Matkovich overcame his rival, Todd Minnier, to win his first individual title in the 100 Freestyle with a 45.06, and earlier in the meet, he gave Ketchum all he could handle in the 200 Freestyle with a 1:37.66. Leading off Upper Arlington’s district meet 200 Freestyle Relay, Matkvich posted a 20.44 time in the 50 Freestyle. That means that in the 50, 100, and 200 Freestyle, Matkovich’s national rankings were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and that completely ignores fact that this guy was a Top-16 100 Backstroker last year! Most impressively, however, were Matkovich’s relay finals swims at state, and in those, he anchored Upper Arlington with times of 19.75 and 43.98!

    Speaking of Todd Minnier, he may be just 5th in our Gold Star ranks this year and missing an individual state title, but Minnier’s 45.07 runner-up time in the 100 Freestyle was the 3rd best in the nation this year, and his 49.44 runner-up time in the 100 Butterfly was 9th. Like Matkovich though, Minnier saved his best for the relays. In fact, after he anchored St. Ignatius to the state title in the 200 Freestyle Relay with a 20.13, Minnier dropped a state record 43.62 split (20.84/22.78) in the 400 Freestyle Relay to catch Mark Gangloff and give St. Ignatius the 2nd place medal in that event! And he’s 5th on the list.

    Other swimmers still needing mention are Marc Courtney-Brooks from Columbus St. Charles, Jon Haag of Ashland, Scott Ransenberg from St. Xavier, and Brad Bartel from Avon Lake. Courtney-Brooks was just 3rd in the 100 and 200 Freestyle, but his times of 45.14 and 1:39.38 were the 4th and 5th best times in the country this year! Like Minnier, he saved his best for last and had a 44.20 split on the final relay! Haag was the 50 Freestyle state champion and 4th in the 100 Freestyle, and his times of 20.57 and 45.38 were 5th and 9th in the nation! Ransenberg was 2nd in the 50 Freestyle with a 20.80 that was 10th best in the nation, and his 45.63 in the 100 Freestyle was 14th best. His best swims, though, were also relay performances, and in those, he had a 21.87 butterfly split on X’s record setting 200 Medley Relay, and then he finished by anchoring St. X to their historic finish with a 44.83. Finally, Bartel notably broke 1:50 in the 200 IM with a 1:49.99 time that was 6th best in the country, and he’s 9th on our list this year.

2001

  • Jayme Cramer
    Senior
    Cincinnati St. Xavier
    • The last 3 years saw across-the-board talent never seen before in Ohio boys’ swimming. While the depth of that talent didn’t quite hold up this year, the high-end speed was as good as ever, and it’s because of Jayme Cramer and his St. Xavier teammates.

    Cramer wins his 2nd Gold Star Award in a row after leading X to not just their 3rd straight state title by significant margin, but also to their 3rd national title to go along with the Hudepohl led 1992 team and the dominant 1973 squad. Cramer was the national swimmer of the year (the 2nd Ohio has seen in the last 3 years) and became what’s thought to be the first high school swimmer in history to have the top national time in all 4 of his state high school events (and certainly in Ohio history).

    After swimming what’s thought to be a national record backstroke split on last year’s national title 200 Medley Relay, Cramer switched to butterfly this year and led his team to their 3rd straight state championship in that event with another state record split of 21.15. He then won his 2nd straight state title in the 100 Butterfly, breaking his own state record with a time of 47.65. On day 2, Cramer won his best event, the 100 Backstroke, for a 3rd straight year in another record time of 47.65 before Anchoring St. Xavier’s 400 Freestyle Relay to victory with a 44.36 split. Again, both of those individual swims and both relays were the top time in the nation this year. Cramer graduated with 10 state titles to his name, tying Hudepohl for 2nd behind Dod Wales on the all-time Ohio boys’ wins list, and he is the only boys’ swimmer to have won all 4 of his events at the state meet, twice (through 2/2023).

    Since Cramer might have ended up as the top national recruit regardless, the primary reason St. Xavier was able to win the national team title was because of Max Leassner. A swimmer who finished just 7th and 8th in the 50 and 100 Freestyle in 2000, Leassner improved drastically. So much in fact that he didn’t lose an event at a real meet the entire season. That includes the state meet where Leassner was arguably as dominant as Cramer. He blew away the field in the 200 Freestyle with a 1:37.78 that was the 2nd fastest time in the country, and then won the 100 Freestyle with a 45.17 that was the 6th best time nationally. In the one relay Cramer wasn’t on (the 200 Freestyle Relay), St. Xavier was expected to come in 3rd or 4th, but catalyzed by Leassner’s All-American leadoff time, they came through in that as well. Leassner about matched Cramer on the 400 Freestyle Relay, splitting a 44.52, and that relay missed the national record by a half-second. Leassner and Cramer were the first instance of teammates both winning all 4 of their events at the state meet, making them arguably the best 1-2 punch in state history.

    Also helping St. Xavier with their national title were all-star David Janszen (jr.), who was maybe the best ‘utility’ guy in Ohio this year. He swam the breaststroke split on the 200 Medley Relay, was runner-up in the 200 IM, 6th in the 100 Backstroke and split 46.2 on the 400 Freestyle Relay. Kurt Hardesty (jr.) was perhaps even more important as he finished 2nd to Cramer in the 100 Backstroke for the second straight year with a 49.98 time that was the 13th best time in the nation, and then scored points in the 50 Freestyle and was huge on the 200 Freestyle Relay. Kyle Ransom (so.) was 5th in the 500 Freestyle and part of all 3 state title winning relays, and Pete Carothers (fr.) was part of that title winning 200 Freestyle Relay.

    The only other swimmer that will be mentioned this year is Ed Matkovich of Upper Arlington. After finishing as the country’s national high point award winner in 2000, Matkovich took the summer off and wasn’t quite the same, but he did win the 50 Freestyle for his 2nd state title. His best times this year of 20.88 and 45.53 were both Top-16 times.

2002

  • Jon Albrecht
    Senior
    Akron Firestone
    • The speed that Ohio boys’ swimming saw from 1998-2001 decreased substantially this season, but in no way does that suggest that Ohio was no longer relevant at the national level - quite the opposite. In fact, Akron Firestone followed in St. Xavier’s footsteps by winning Ohio’s 2nd straight national boys’ team title, and their star swimmer was Jon Albrecht.

    The only double-event winner on the boys’ side this year, Albrecht also led in national points scored, and would have joined that rare club of having won all 4 events at the state meet had St. Xavier not had an upset victory in the 200 Freestyle Relay. Albrecht won the 200 Freestyle in 1:38.32, and the 100 Freestyle in 45.51. Those times were the 5th and 13th best in the nation this year. Albrecht also split 20.26 anchoring Firestone’s runner-up 200 Freestyle Relay and 44.88 on their 400 Freestyle Relay to finish the meet. Those relays were ranked 9th and 2nd nationally. Firestone’s other national level points to give them their title came from their 200 Medley Relay (1st at state, 2nd in the nation), Steve McDonald’s 100 Butterfly time of 49.60 (2nd at state, 13th in the nation) and Chris Ash’s 100 Breaststroke time of 56.46 (1st at state, 7th in the nation). Ash became just the 5th freshman boy to win an individual event at the state meet, and no freshman has ever had an event ranked 7th in the nation.

    Funnily enough, Cincinnati St. Xavier was so deep this year that despite not approaching Firestone on the national scale (they finished 2nd), they still won the state team title by 42 points (301-259). They were led by 4 primary swimmers, 3 of which were all-stars this year: sophomore Pete Carothers, junior Kyle Ransom, senior Kurt Hardesty, and 2001 all-star and now senior, David Janszen. Carothers was their only event winner where he won the 100 Butterfly with the 8th best time in the country and upset Firestone’s McDonald, but all 3 other swimmers were runner-up in their best event.

    The only other swimmer to be mentioned will be Nick McCollum of Fairfield who is actually 2nd in the Gold Star rankings this season. An all-star 2 years ago, McCollum rebounded this year and won the state title by several seconds in the 200 IM while also finishing runner-up in a close race in the 500 Freestyle. That 200 IM time of 1:50.07 was the 8th best time in the nation this year as McCollum joins Albrecht, Carothers, Ash, and McDonald as the only national point scorers this season.

2003

  • Tyler O’Halloran
    Senior
    Youngstown Boardman
    • 2003 was a competitive year all-around for Ohio boys’ swimming but two things were never in doubt: St. Xavier was the best team, and Tyler O’Halloran was the best swimmer.

    The only double-event winner, O’Halloran bettered his 2002 times in the 50 and 100 Freestyle to marks of 20.61 and 45.11. That 50 Freestyle was a title defense, and those times handily won the state title and were both the 11th fastest such swims in the country this year. Although all his state success came in the sprint freestyle events, O’Halloran’s pick for the Gold Star was based on a wider range of results. Looking at other meets throughout the season, it’s safe to suggest that in addition to sprint Freestyle, he was arguably the best butterflier and breaststroker in the state this year. St. Xavier’s Pete Carothers and Firestone’s Chris Ash are now both 2x winners in the 100 Butterfly and 100 Breaststroke, respectively, but O’Halloran beat them both in their primary events when swimming heads-up this year. Not only that, O’Halloran almost broke Mark Gangloff’s state record breaststroke split on the 200 Medley Relay after posting a 24.89 time!

    As previously stated, O’Halloran’s dominance this year was matched only by St. Xavier in the team standings, and it was because they had a contingency of swimmers who capitalized at the state finals, led by 3 all-stars. Senior Kyle Ransom, junior Pete Carothers, and sophomore Kit French led the way as the group of just 9 swimmers won all 3 relays and scored over 300 points. Ransom won the 200 IM with a 1:50.70 that was the 9th best time in the country; Carothers won the 100 Butterfly and had a 48.66 prelim time that was the 3rd best time in the country; French won the 100 Backstroke with a best mark of 50.67 that was 12th best nationally. Carothers also finished 3rd in the 200 Freestyle while Ransom and French were 4th and 6th in the 100 Freestyle, respectively.

    Sophomore Chris Ash from Akron Firestone notably won the 100 Breaststroke for the 2nd straight year, and this time, his 55.74 finish was the 3rd best swim in the country this season. Other national level scorers included junior John Kevin Koehler from Springfield Catholic Central who won the 500 Freestyle with a 4:26 time that was 4th best in the nation; Steve Roof, senior from Canton Central Catholic who scored 14 national level points with his runner-up swims in the 200 and 500 Freestyle; and Adam Ritter, Columbus St. Charles senior who won the 200 Freestyle with a 1:39.38 that was ranked 12th nationally.

2004

  • Pete Carothers
    Senior
    Cincinnati St. Xavier
    • Choosing this year’s winner was difficult because there were 2 exceptional performances in what was a relatively dominant season for Ohio boys’ swimming. Pete Carothers and John Kevin Koehler were the only double-event-winners this year, and both were among the very best in the nation with Koehler edging Carothers in national level points. Another close race this year was that for the state team title as Upper Arlington threatened to knock off St. Xavier for the first time since 1998. In the end, St. Xavier won their 6th straight, and a lot of it had to do with Pete Carothers.

    Although he was already the 2x defending state champion in the 100 Butterfly, Carothers had never swam on the 200 Medley Relay at the state meet. This time, he swam the butterfly leg, and although it was close when he dove in, his 21.75 split blew away the field, easily handing St. X the event. Later that night, he successfully completed the coveted ‘threepeat’ in the 100 Butterfly, winning with a 48.29 time that was 2nd best in Ohio history, and #1 in the nation this year. On day 2 he surprised even himself, winning the 100 Freestyle with a 45.21 that was the 5th best time in the country this year, but his best was yet to come. Anchoring the 400 Freestyle Relay, Carothers dove in behind, needing to run down the Upper Arlington Anchor, Nate Cass. Carothers swam a 44.29 time that would end up as the fastest anchor leg in Ohio High School swimming for a period of almost 14 years. If it had been anyone else other than Cass (who split a 44.95, himself), Pete would have caught up, but with Carothers leading the way, St. Xavier still won the meet, 263 to 226.

    The reason it was a difficult choice putting Carothers first is because Koehler wasn’t just a top national swimmer like Carothers this year - he was national champion in both of his events! The Springfield Catholic Central senior was absolutely dominant the entire season in the 200 and 500 Freestyle. Those national title winning times (swum at the state meet) were 1:37.84 and 4:24.11, respectively. That 500 Freestyle time was 2nd best in Ohio history. In the end, Carothers was given the edge due to the team aspect, and the fact that he won the same event for 3 years, tying the Ohio record. This was as close a race as ever, though.

    Besides the 2 superstars, several other Ohio boys’ swimmers were nationally relevant this season. Upper Arlington was able to challenge St. Xavier because they had depth along with Nate Cass and Matt Voelker. Cass, just a junior, was state champion in the 200 IM and runner-up in the 100 Backstroke. His times were 1:49.98 and 49.35, giving him the nation’s 7th best mark in each. Remember, that’s on top of his 44.95 anchor leg and 25.29 breaststroke split on the 200 Medley Relay. Voelker, meanwhile, was 2nd and 4th in the 50 and 100 Freestyle and had season best times of 20.63 and 45.88.

    3rd in the Gold Star ranks is Nick Thoman, a Mariemont senior who won the 100 Backstroke and finished 2nd to Carothers in the 100 Butterfly. His 48.95 time in the 100 Backstroke was 3rd best in both the country and Ohio history, while his 49.31 in the 100 Butterfly was 7th best nationally. Next is John Sands of Granville. The senior was 50 Freestyle champion and 100 Freestyle runner-up. His best times were 2nd and 9th nationally this year, with that 50 Freestyle being significant: he went a 20.19 time at the district meet the week prior, giving him the 2nd best time in state history. Chris Ash of Akron Firestone makes his 3rd all-star team in as many tries after again defending his state title in the 100 Breaststroke. His prelim time of 55.89 was 4th in the country and he was also 3rd at state in the 200 IM. The final swimmer of mention is Hank Browning of Turpin. Another junior, Browning was 2nd to Koehler in both the 200 and 500 Freestyle, but his best times of 1:38.74 and 4:29.38 were both ranked 4th in the nation this year.

2005

  • Chris Ash
    Senior
    Akron Firestone
    • At first glance, this almost looks like a controversial pick for the Gold Star. 4 boys scored more state points than Ash, and 2 of those swimmers scored more national points. There were 2 boys who were double-event winners this year, and Ash wasn’t even on the winning team. Despite all that, there’s little doubt that Ash is the most deserving swimmer of the award this year, and it has as much to do with longevity as it does this year’s performance.

    Ash was state champion in the 100 Breaststroke, 4th in the 200 IM, and was part of two state medal relays for Firestone. There have been, to date, 3 separate instances of girls’ swimmers accomplishing the coveted “4 wins in a row in a single event”, and none of them won the Gold Star for it (Whitney Myers would have won in 2002 even if the feat hadn’t been accomplished). Chris Ash won his 4th straight state title in the 100 Breaststroke this year, so why does he get the award? Because it’s more rare for a boys’ swimmer to be at the top of the field for multiple years, especially as an underclassman.

    As stated, since the girls’ meet started in 1977, three separate swimmers have accomplished that feat. Since the first Ohio High School state championships in 1928, this is the very first time a male swimmer has done it. For more perspective, since that initial girls’ meet in 1977, of all the all-stars picked for the Gold Star rankings, there have been 93 girls who were underclassmen, 31 of which were freshmen. For the boys during that same stretch, just 46 all-stars have been underclassmen, 7 of which were freshmen.

    But enough about history; Ash’s season itself was more than worthy of the Gold Star. At the prelims, he broke Olympian Mark Gangloff’s state record in the 100 Breaststroke with a 55.03, the only swimmer to set an individual boys’ state since 2001! At finals, he came right back and set the new mark at 54.70, a time that ended up giving him the #1 national time this year in that 100 Breaststroke. With national rankings in his 4 years of 7th, 3rd, 4th, and 1st, Ash’s total of 63 national level points are far and away the most in state history for a single event by a swimmer. Almost as an afterthought, he swam a 24.80 split on Firestone’s 200 Medley Relay that was the 2nd best time in Ohio history (to Gangloff’s 24.64 in 2000).

    Besides Ash’s historic year, there were 4 other boys’ who deserve mention. Upper Arlington and St. Xavier went head-to-head again for the team title, and this year, Upper Arlington was expected to win. In a crazy final session, St. Xavier erased a huge deficit to keep their streak alive at 7, and much of it had to do with their stars: Kit French and David Mosko. Their captain was French, a senior who was a prior state champion in the 100 Backstroke but didn’t have quite the same meet last year. He came through this time spectacularly, winning both the 100 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke. That backstroke time was a 49.66, the 3rd best in the nation this year, while his 45.85 in the 100 Freestyle was 17th. Mosko, just a sophomore, was a surprise winner in the 100 Butterfly, and finished runner-up in the 500 Freestyle. His time in the latter of 4:29.77 was 10th best in the country, while his best butterfly time of 49.86 was 20th best.

    St. Xavier’s primary competition, Upper Arlington, was led by versatile star, Nate Cass. Probably the state’s best overall swimmer, he successfully repeated as state champion in the 200 IM and did so with a 1:48.22 that was the #1 time in the nation this year. Cass beat French in the 100 Backstroke last year but French out-touched him this time with that 49.66 to Cass’s 49.83: the nation’s 7th best time. Cass also swam a 25.3 breaststroke split and 44.6 freestyle split on Upper Arlington’s state title winning 200 Medley and 400 Freestyle Relays, suggesting he’d be a top national swimmer in freestyle and breaststroke as well, but it wasn’t enough to take down X.

    Finally, Turpin’s Hank Browning was actually #2 in the Gold Star rankings this season. Last year, Browning challenged national champion Koehler in the 200 and 500 Freestyle, as those two were well ahead of the rest of the field, both posting top national marks. This time, Browning won that 200 and 500 Freestyle with relative ease, swimming times of 1:38.30 and 4:27.93 to win by a combined 4 and a half seconds. Add in his leadoff 45.64 in the 100 Freestyle leading off the final relay, and Browning had national rankings of 5th, 4th, and 12th this year, giving him the best national point total of any Ohio swimmer.

2006

  • Austin Staab
    Junior
    Westerville Central
    • In one of the easiest picks in years, Austin Staab burst onto the scene with a completely dominant performance to officially establish himself as the best swimmer in Ohio.

    At the start of the year, St. Xavier’s David Mosko was easily the best returning swimmer from last year’s state meet, and the only such returning state champion. As the season went on, Staab continued to post some of the best times, and when he decided to swim the 100 Butterfly at the state qualifying meets, the talk was about the eventual showdown between Staab and last year’s winner, Mosko. At the state meet, Mosko actually bettered his own best time in the event, swimming over a half-second faster than his championship winning time from 2005, but Staab proved to be in a class of his own. He won the event with a 48.44 time that was 3rd best in the nation, and Ohio history. On day 2, Staab proved to be easily the best once again in the 100 Freestyle. He won with a 44.94 that made him the 5th fastest in the country, and the first Ohioan to swim a flat-start 44 at Canton’s pool since Tony Kurth in 1999. Staab was the only double-event winner this year, and his 30 national level points made him the only boys’ swimmer in Ohio with more than 10.

    David Mosko was still the easy pick for 2nd on the list as his 2nd place finish to Staab in that 100 Butterfly was the only event he didn’t win. He was champion in the 500 Freestyle and was the primary force on X’s state title winning 200 Medley and 400 Freestyle Relays. His 4:28.52 time in the 500 Freestyle was 12th best in the nation, as was his in-season 200 Freestyle time of 1:39.93. His 22.26 butterfly split on the 200 Medley Relay and his 45.31 anchor leg on the 400 Freestyle Relay were both best in Ohio. His St. Xavier team, despite not scoring near their best ever team total, still completely demolished every other team in Ohio. Led by Mosko and 3 other (former or current) all-stars, they won 4 events and finished runner-up in another 5. Senior Jim Mertens was runner-up in the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke, sophomore Jim Barbiere was state champion in the 100 Backstroke and had the 4th best 200 Freestyle time, while 2005 all-star, Bart Ginocchio, finished 2nd to Mosko in the 500 Freestyle and 4th in the 200 Freestyle.

    Other than Staab and St. Xavier, 3 other swimmers deserve mention, all seniors. Kyle Greene of Cincinnati Turpin was 3rd in the Gold Star ranks this year after winning the 200 Freestyle and finishing 2nd in the 100 Freestyle. His 1:39.95 time in that 200 Freestyle was 13th best in the country this year while his 45.85 time in the 100 Freestyle was also All-American. Chris Doman from Columbus St. Charles was runner-up in the 200 Freestyle and 4th in the 100 Butterfly, and also led his team to a state title in the 200 Freestyle Relay, preventing St. Xavier from having a clean-sweep. Finally, Colin Murtagh of Toledo St. Francis makes his 2nd straight all-star team after a 2nd and 3rd place performance in the 50 and 100 Freestyle. His best season time in the 50 Freestyle of 20.98 was best in Ohio this year.

2007

  • Austin Staab
    Senior
    Westerville Central
    • In what looks like almost a repeat of last year, Austin Staab wins the Gold Star Award while David Mosko finishes 2nd and leads St. Xavier to the state title. In reality, both swimmers were immensely better here in 2007, and starts with Staab.

    For a period in the late 1970’s through the early 1990’s, there were several national records set by Ohio swimmers. Since Joe Hudepohl, however, not a single national mark has been se - until now. Austin Staab tied the national record in the 100 Butterfly this year, and while Nate Dusing’s 1997 record he tied was obviously impressive, the underwater 15-meter mark rules weren’t exactly the same back then, making Staab’s mark perhaps a tad more impressive. The 47.10 record became more elusive after Staab posted a 47.15 preliminary time, making the finals session one of the most anticipated in years. The entire crowd on its feet, Staab took the first 50 out in a 21.9, and when he touched at the end, the place erupted - partially because he tied the record, partially because he didn’t break it.

    On day 2, Staab was almost as brilliant in the 100 Freestyle, posting the 2nd fastest time in state history and one of the best ever national times at 43.93. Those were both obviously the best times in the nation this year, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. While the Gold Star summary is usually reserved for high school results only, it’s notable that Staab posted times this year of 20.1 in the 50 Freestyle, 1:36 in the 200 Freestyle, 1:47 in the 200 IM, 57 in the 100 Breaststroke in addition to his state title times. That means he was the top national recruit in 4 separate events, something not even Hudepohl was able to accomplish.

    After Staab, Gold Star runner-up David Mosko had a season that would have won the award probably 9 out of 10 times. He switched from the 100 Butterfly to the 200 Freestyle, and in that and his trademark 500 Freestyle, he blew away the fields by record margins. His 200 Freestyle time of 1:37.97 was over 4 seconds ahead of the runner-up, and his 500 Freestyle time of 4:20.56 not only broke Olympian Dan Ketchum’s 1999 record by numerous seconds but won the event by almost 11 seconds! Both of those swims were national title times for 2007, and Mosko even had an in-season 49.33 in the 100 Butterfly that gave him the nation’s 11th best time in that event! Moreover, Mosko led X to state titles in the 200 Medley and 400 Freestyle Relays again, making him the 6th swimmer in boys’ history to win all 4 of his events at the state meet. Mosko also notably becomes just the 4th boys’ swimmer in OHSAA history to win a state title in 3 separate individual events, joining Scott Claypool, Dale Hudson, Brent Axline, and Joe Hudepohl.

    St. Xavier once again ran away with the team title, and most of it had to do with Mosko and junior Jim Barbiere. After a 5th place in the 100 Backstroke as a freshman that about won them the meet, and then a state title as a sophomore, Barbiere successfully defended that 100 Backstroke win with his closest race yet. He swam a 50.06 that beat out 2 other guys by a tenth, and he was also a part of all 3 of St. Xavier’s relays, 2 of which won state titles. Barbiere’s 100 Backstroke time was 13th best in the nation this year, giving him one of the only Top-16 national performance for someone not named Staab or Mosko.

    Other swimmers deserving mention are Doug Spraul and Brian Howell. Spraul, a Princeton senior, had posted some of the state’s best times the last 3 years, but hadn’t yet had a great state meet. This year, he was the only swimmer on Staab’s radar in the 100 Butterfly, swimming a 49.61, and then he finished 3rd in the 100 Backstroke with a 50.16. Both of those times were Top-16 national marks. Howell, a Moeller junior, was the 200 IM state champion, and his best time of 1:50.81 was 13th in the nation this year.

2008

  • Jake Epperson
    Senior
    Toledo St. Johns
    • In what was another easy decision, Jake Epperson wins the Gold Star for Ohio boys’ after posting easily the best performance in the state this year. He was a double-event winner, taking gold in both the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke, and he had some of the best relay splits in Ohio. Epperson’s 200 IM time of 1:48.84 was 3rd fastest in the nation and 4th best in Ohio history, while his best 100 Breaststroke time of 55.93 was 5th best nationally. Epperson also split 25.5 on the breaststroke leg of St. Johns’ 200 Medley Relay, and anchored their 400 Freestyle Relay with a 46-low. Epperson’s wins were especially sweet as he overcame both swimmers that he finished 2nd to last year: Brian Howell in the 200 IM and Nathan Butler in the 100 Breaststroke. Epperson was part of all 4 of St. Johns’ state scoring swims, leading them to their best ever team result (10th place).

    Epperson’s 30 national level points about guaranteed him the Gold Star, but Upper Arlington junior, Eric Huffman, was another double-event winner. He took the 50 and 100 Freestyle with times of 20.77 and 45.23, respectively. His 100 Freestyle was ranked 13th in the country. Huffman’s female teammates might have had a historic win, but the boys’ side wasn’t really in the hunt: that was between St. Xavier and St. Charles.

    All year long, it was known that St. Charles posed a serious threat to St. Xavier winning their 10th straight boys’ team title, and the head-to-head battle started immediately. St. Xavier took the 200 Medley Relay, giving senior all-star Jim Barbiere his 3rd straight win in that event, and it was capped with St. Xavier senior Steve Springer anchoring a 19.87 for the title. After that, however, St. Charles slowly took control. Led by all-star senior’s Scott Martin and Marshall Sherman, St. Charles won both freestyle relays, while Martin was 2nd in both the 100 Butterfly and 100 Freestyle, and Sherman was 3rd in both the 50 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke. The meet was almost decided after Martin outswam Springer to clinch that 200 Freestyle Relay. Barbiere still had a final shining moment when he took his 3rd straight state title in the 100 Backstroke, but the meet was already decided before the final event.

    A couple of other swimmers deserve mention, all of whom were top 10 nationally ranked. Tim Collins, senior from New Albany was champion in the 100 Butterfly with a 48.92 swim that was 7th in the nation. Two other seniors, Kyle McNeilis of Dublin Scioto, and Brent Hitchcock of Springfield Catholic Central, both posted the 9th best time in the nation in their best events; the 200 and 500 Freestyle, respectively.

2009

  • Eric Huffman
    Senior
    Upper Arlington
    • Eric Huffman won both of his events this year and was the only Ohio boys’ swimmer with a nationally scoring (Top-16) time, making him an easy pick for the Gold Star. Huffman successfully defended his state titles from 2008 in both the 50 and 100 Freestyle, and dropped a considerable amount of time in each. His 20.31 in the 50 Freestyle made him one of the fastest in state history and that time was ranked 9th in the nation this year. His 100 Freestyle time was even more impressive, a 44.28 mark that made him the 3rd best in Ohio history and tie-6th best in the country. It’s notable that this year saw the full-body tech suits come into play, helping thousands of records get broken across the country, but Huffman’s efforts shouldn’t be discounted as he was still easily the best in Ohio in both of his events.

    It should be noted that this is the year the OHSAA split the boys’ swimming into 2 separate divisions. Because of that, this is a reminder that any stated placing of a swimmer (1st, 5th, 8th…) is a result of their overall place in Ohio this year based on their state finals performance. Therefore, and for example, a swimmer could in theory win both of their events in their division, but only be 3rd and 4th in the state, which means they’d score 31 state points (right on the border usually for all-star consideration).

    Besides Huffman, Sandy Whitaker from Columbus St. Charles was also a double-event winner. 2nd in this year’s Gold Star ranks, Whitaker won the 100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke, and was part of St. Charles’ state title 200 Medley Relay team. With no swimmers other than Huffman scoring on the national level, the only other point of discussion is St. Xavier’s rebound year from their 2008 loss. Led by a contingency of upperclassmen including 2 swimmers mentioned on the all-star list, they were able to come back to their usual level of dominance, taking the combined format meet by over 60 points. Their best swimmers were 500 Freestyle champion Matt Columbus, and Will Lawley who anchored both freestyle Relays to victory.