It was a Brie-ez: Triple-winner Trumpower shares spotlight with freshmen

BOWLING GREEN – Ontario’s Brie Trumpower knows exactly how freshmen Emma Montgomery of Shelby and Ashtyn Rickel of Colonel Crawford must be feeling.

It was in this same pool, two years ago as a ninth-grader, that Trumpower trumpeted her arrival as a state-caliber swimmer. And, now, because of her performance in Friday’s Division II district meet at BGSU, she’s headed back to Canton in four events for the third straight year.

So it’s not easy at this point to steal Trumpower’s thunder.

And, yet, that didn’t stop Montgomery or Rickel from at least grabbing a sliver of her spotlight.

Rickel, despite being seeded only sixth, won the 200 IM, while Montgomery, who didn’t start swimming the 500 freestyle until recently, took runner-up honors in that marathon race as both earned berths in next week’s state meet.

To say they both arrived at the party a little early might be an understatement.

“I was just going for a good time, a personal best,” said Rickel, who not only set a PR but broke the school record with her time of 2:15.14. “I was shocked. I was in a better mindset this week. I knew I was ready because I was fully tapered and I had my fast suit on.”

Rickel beat Shelby’s top-seeded Reyna Hoffman, who finished third in 2:15.51.

“(Rickel) struggled a little bit last week at sectionals,” Crawford coach Shelli Ashley said. “Mentally, I think she was a bit overwhelmed because of the expectations she put on herself. She’s such a hard worker.

“We worked a lot on the mental piece this week. We went through why we do this, why we swim, and focused on that.”

Montgomery swam the 500 for the first time at the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference meet to score points for the Whippets. So her ascent to district runner-up, with a state-qualifying time of 5:23.69, has been meteoric.

“It’s just been crazy because I didn’t think I’d be swimming the 500 at the start of the season,” said Montgomery, who also finished fifth in the IM. “But we looked at it and thought it would be my best opportunity (to make it to Canton).

“I started swimming a lot more yardage and pacing a lot more 50s to work on it.”

Her background in cross country obviously helped with developing the stamina needed for the 500.

“I’ve been swimming since I was 5,” she said, “so it comes easier to me than running.”

Hoffman was one of Montgormery’s teammates on the Shelby cross cross team that finished 15h at last year’s state meet. Hoffman qualified for state with a runner-up finish in the 100 backstroke (1:00.43) and should be headed back to Canton in both of her individual races with her third-place showing in the IM.

Montgomery and Hoffman also collaborated with Riley Lewis and Elli Mayer to earn a spot at state in the 400 free relay with a second-place finish (3:43.18).

“I wanted to be faster in the IM, but I didn’t swim a bad race, so I can’t complain about that,” Hoffman said. “I felt a lot more confident after the back. The whole field was super close. I could see everything. It’s so nice competing with such good swimmers like this.”

Just a few weeks ago, Galion senior Troie Grubbs was dealing with shoulder inflammation. But a couple of weeks of rest obviously did her a world of good because she broke her own school records in the 50 free (23.96) and 100 free (52.63) to grab the second state berth in each.

“Honestly, I was just shooting for top two,” she said of her record showing. “For me, it’s not about time, it’s about touching the wall first, but it was nice to get both (marks).”

After two weeks of being reduced to working on her kicks because of shoulder inflammation, Grubbs jumped back in the pool the week before sectionals.

“I was kicking for, literally, five hours a day, so it definitely helped my upper body, but I could definitely tell (the time out of the pool) affected my conditioning,” she said. “It didn’t slow me down, but I could tell I was out of shape from not using my upper body. But, at this point, I just gave it all I had and hoped for the best.”

The best is what Ontario usually gets from Trumpower, and Friday was no different. She was a triple champion, winning the 100 free (52.26) and 200 free (1:55.66) and joining Ava Ruhe, Tiffany Whittaker and Shelby Keever to finish first in the 400 free relay (3:41.40).

That same crew was second in the 200 free relay (1:38.88) and stayed alive for next week.

“I don’t really know if there’s a formula for getting to state, because it fluctuates every year, but we’ve been putting in the work since September and October,” Trumpower said. “It’s really about hard work and a good attitude.

“I was in a much better place today than I was last year at this meet or even last week. I think it’s just the positive attitude of the whole team, encouraging one another. If you’re off mentally, it’s hard to have a good day, so all the positivity helped along with swimming as hard as we can.”

For all the Ontario swim program has accomplished over the years, Ruhe became the first female from the school to make it to state four times.

“In all honesty, this wouldn’t be possible without all the girls I’ve swam with the last four years,” she said. “They’re all amazing. I consider everyone on all of my relays to be a role model. I’ve learned everything I know from them.”

On Wednesday, Lex swimmer Anna Parr earned a repeat trip to state with a sixth-place finish in 1 meter diving.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Brie Trumpower, freshmen shine at Division II district swim meet