At the District 10 Class 3A championships at the SPIRE Institute, Beyer raced to a time of 1:57.57 in the 200 freestyle, breaking Katie Hunter’s school record that had been held since 1996.

She was more than five seconds clear of second-place.

“Her reaction, you could see the smile and the surprise at her time,” said her father, coach Russ Beyer. “It was fun to watch her accomplishment.”

Beyer also added a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle.

Warren’s Max Harrison, Graham Carr (top), Connor Fehlman and Derek Hahn (bottom) finished third in the 200 medley relay at the District 10 championships.

“She was in second and didn’t have a good third turn, and the girl from McDowell did and she couldn’t catch up,” coach Beyer said. “It would have taken a perfect race to beat her. In those close races, you have to be mistake-free. Just wasn’t Katie’s race.”

Ellie Hahn finished seventh in the 100 free with a personal best time.

“Ellie’s dedicated, a hard worker,” coach Beyer said. “It’s all about the team with her.”

Max Harrison finished third in the 200 IM, narrowly missing out on gold in what was a tight race with McDowell’s Erich Fuhrman and Meadville’s Braden Bosco. All three were less than a second apart, with Fuhrman notching the winning time at 2:06.32.

“All three were battling for first,” Beyer said. “It was gut-wrenching for Max, he gave it all he had, it was just a matter of who was going to touch first. He wasn’t the true No. 1 IMer going into the season, he’s more of a freestyler, but I told him he had a good chance of going to states in the IM. He gave it a good run.”

Warren’s Katie Beyer, Paige Johnson, Kirsten Johnson and Ellie Hahn finished third in the 200 medley relay at the District 10 Class 3A swimming championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio on Friday and Saturday. Beyer is going to states in the 200 free.

Overall, it was a good meet for the Dragons.

“We had a lot of personal bests,” coach Beyer noted. “A lot of very close races.”

Included in that was Paige and Kirsten Johnson battling it out in the 200 IM for fourth and fifth, with Paige edging Kirsten by .04 seconds.

Ellie Hahn was fifth in the 50 free and Derek Hahn third in the 100 fly.

“Derek was trying for a school record,” noted coach Beyer. “He got his personal best, but not quite enough for the school record. But he’ll get there next year.”

The girls 200 free relay team of Sophie Olson, Grace Pennucci, Seebe Proper and Natalie Valentine all notched personal bests times, as did the boys 200 free relay team of Harrison, Ethan Monroe, Jarod Peterson and Graham Carr.

“They were really excited,” Beyer said. “As a coach, when you see a kid get there best time, it’s really exciting. This is a close group in and out of the pool.”

Harrison added a fourth in the 100 free, with the second, third and fourth place finishers all within a second of each other.

In the 500 free, Olson had her best time and Connor Fehlman blistered his previous best time.

“It’s a natural event for him,” Beyer said. “To have only done it three or four times and to drop 35 seconds over the course of the year … he’s got a lot of room for improvement too. He was extremely pleased.”

Kirsten Johnson finished third in the 100 backstroke with a personal best, and Paige Johnson finished fourth with a personal best in the breaststroke.

“Overall, the kids did a very good job,” coach Beyer said. “They were satisfied with their times. In swimming, you enjoy your accomplishments, but you have to get back to work and continue to improve.”

Beyer will compete at Bucknell University on March 11.

– – –

GIRLS

200 Medley Relay: 1. McDowell 1:51.70; 2. Meadville 1:54.16; 3. Warren (Kirsten Johnson, Paige Johnson, Katie Beyer, Gabby Hahn) 1:59.74

200 Freestyle: 1. Beyer (W) 1:57.57; 2. Ellsworth (E) 2:02.59; 3. Myers (MC) 2:05.21

200 IM: 1. Pierce (MC) 2:12.59; 2. Thieman (E) 2:17.21; 3. Kyla Kramer (MC) 2:20.60

50 Freestyle: 1. Philbrick (ME) 24.92; 2. Houck (ME) 25.54; 3. Danylko (MC) 25.63

100 Butterfly: 1. Nuzback (MC) 56.85; 2. Geib (MC) 1:03.48; 3. McGarry (MC) 1:04.20

100 Freestyle: 1. Nuzback (MC) 53.16; 2. Beyer (W) 54.57; 3. DeVore (MC) 56.45

500 Freestyle: 1. Ellsworth (E) 5:24.89; 2. Myers (MC) 5:27.63; 3. Gollmer (MC) 5:34.01

200 Freestyle Relay: 1. McDowell 1:41.23; 2. Meadville 1:41.90; 3. Erie 1:46.0

100 Backstroke: 1. Philbrick (ME) 56.97; 2. Vieira (MC) 1:04.45; 3. Beilharz (MC) 1:04.67

100 Breaststroke: 1. Pierce (MC) 1:05.95; 2. Thieman (E) 1:07.61; 3. Kramer (MC) 1:09.90

400 Freestyle Relay: 1. McDowell 3:43.89; 2. Erie 3:51.94; 3. Warren (Hahn, Olson, Beyer, Johnson) 3:53.91

BOYS

200 Medley Relay: 1. Meadville 1:40.25; 2. McDowell 1:41.90; 3. Warren (Max Harrison, Connor Fehlman, Derek Hahn, Graham Carr) 1:51.65

200 Freestyle: 1. Lee (MC) 1:50.32; 2. Su (MC) 1:50.60; 3. Pierce (MC) 1:51.48

200 IM: 1. Fuhrman (MC) 2:06.32; 2. Bosco (ME) 2:06.65; 3. Harrison (W) 2:07.15

50 Freestyle: 1. Fickenworth (MC) 21.52; 2. Cummings (ME) 22.52; 3. Swick (E) 22.68

100 Butterfly: 1. Merchbaker (ME) 50.65; 2. Lee (MC) 55.02; 3. Hahn (W) 57.06

100 Freestyle: 1. Fickenworth (MC) 47.95; 2. Swick (E) 50.72; 3. Cummings (ME) 51.06

500 Freestyle: 1. Fuhrman (MC) 5:02.07; 2. Button (ME) 5:21.48; 3. Fehlman (W) 5:22.60

200 Freestyle Relay: 1. McDowell 1:32.74; 2. Erie 1:36.14; 3. Meadville 1:42.53

100 Backstroke: 1. Merchbaker (ME) 52.71; 2. Pierce (MC) 56.01; 3. Cameron (E) 56.03

100 Breaststroke: 1. Bosco (ME) 1:01.97; 2. Zhou (MC) 1:02.23; 3. Su (MC) 1:03.65

400 Free Relay: 1. McDowell 3:19.35; 2. Meadville 3:22.78; 3. Erie 3:35.86

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