High School Swimming | Marlington girls primed for postseason
After making a splash at the Division II girls state tournament meet with their 10th-place finish last season, the Marlington Dukes return several veterans and a new coach ready to make more waves during the 2022 postseason, which starts with the Akron sectional Friday.
"We've had a great [regular season]," Marlington coach Jake Rehfus said. "The girls have worked hard and are ready for the postseason."
Rehfus, 26, who succeeded Bruce Maher, was an assistant at Canton McKinley last season but is no stranger to the Marlington girls program. He also graduated from McKinley, where he was a member of the boys swim team and later earned a degree in Sports Management from Malone University in Canton.
"I've coached a lot of the [Marlington] girls on the club team last spring," Rehfus said. "I liked coaching them and when I found out the head coaching position was open, I applied for the job, because I knew they all had the proper work ethic and were [dedicated] swimmers."
The Marlington team Rehfus inherited is headed by senior Baila Bugara, junior Claire Cox and sophomore Leah Guess, three standouts who competed in two individual events and two relays at last winter's state meet in the Canton C.T. Branin Natatorium.
Baila Bugara, Claire Cox, Leah Guess and Savannah Richards have state meet experience for Marlington girls swim team
Bugara finished 18th in the 200 freestyle and 19th in the 500 freestyle. Cox placed 19th in the 100 breaststroke and 22nd in the 200 individual medley. In her first year of competition at the high school level, Guess recorded the highest individual finish of any Marlington swimmer, placing 13th in the 100 butterfly. She also finished 18th in the 100 backstroke. The trio also formed three-fourths of the 200 medley team which finished seventh and the 400 freestyle team which placed eighth.
Senior Savanah Richards also returns with state meet experience, placing 21st in the 500 freestyle last season. Joining the veterans are freshman Caitlyn Cox, Claire Cox's younger sister, as another distance swimmer. She competes in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, where she has already has made an impression.
"[Caitlyn Cox] has already set a new school record in the 500 and is ranked ninth in the state in that event," Rehfus said. "Her addition makes us stronger in both individual events and relays."
Starting with the Akron sectional which is scheduled for Friday, Caitlyn Cox has been pegged to swim those two individual events along with joining her older sister Claire, Guess and Bugara (the anchor) on the 400 freestyle relay, and Richards, junior Megan Montgomery and senior Kylie Tolerton on the 200 freestyle. Forming the 200 medley relay are Guess (backstroke), Claire Cox (breaststroke), Bugara (butterfly) and Tolerton (freestyle).
"We have several goals for the girls, and the first is to place as high as we can in each event and qualify as many girls as we can to district," Rehfus said.
OHSAA sectional and district swim meets return to familiar venues for Marlington girls
The sectional returns to the University of Akron after being relocated to Wooster High School last year due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
"There are some differences between the pools, but we swam a dual meet at Akron earlier this year, so our girls are familiar with it," Rehfus said.
Following the sectional meet, the district qualifiers will head to Cleveland State, which had hosted that level of postseason competition for several years, until last year when it was shifted to SPIRE Institute in Geneva.
"Our girls are also familiar [with Cleveland State]," Rehfus said. "They swam there for our club team last spring."
With a strong nucleus, comprised of veterans and newcomers, Marlington has the possibility of enjoying another outstanding postseason run, which concluded with the swimmers accruing 57 team points and a top-10 finish in the meet captured by Gates Mills Hawken. The Dukes were close to finishing higher. Ontario placed ninth with 57½ points, one-half of a point higher. Marlington, however, managed to shade Columbus Academy, Gilmour Academy and Kettering Alter for tenth.
"We've had obstacles like COVID, but we haven't missed much training time and that was caused by snow days," Rehfus said. "But the girls have been focused everyday during practice, doing the little things like correct breathing and making the proper flip turns. They understand every [tenth of a second is] important."
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Marlington girls swim team finished 10th in OHSAA finals in 2021
