Lex finishes 2nd at state, Prykhodko wins individual title
CANTON — The gold medal hanging around his neck didn’t matter as much to Ivan Prykhodko as the silver trophy he and his Lexington teammates hoisted over their heads.
Prykhodko became Lexington’s first-ever individual boys state champion , leading the Minutemen to a runner-up finish in the team standings during the final day of the Division II state meet.
Lex finished with 131 points, behind only Division II powerhouse University School (274). The second-place finish topped 2019’s third-place effort for the best team result in program history.
A senior, Prykhodko joined former Lex great Hannah Stevens as the program’s only individual state champs when he won the 100 yard breaststroke in 56.81 seconds. Junior teammate Trey Nickoli finished third in 57.82.
“What we (are most proud of) at Lexington is the fact that we are a team. There might be some outstanding guys … but it’s collectively the whole team,” said Prykhodko, who was a sophomore member of Lexington’s state-championship 200 medley relay team two years ago.
“I guess it is a humbling experience but I’m more for the team that has nurtured me.”
The win in the 100 breaststroke capped a sensational weekend for Prykhodko. He finished 14th in the 200 individual medley in 2:01.20 and helped the 200 medley relay team and 200 freestyle relay unit to fourth-place finishes.
The medley relay team of Joe Hathaway, Prykhodko, Nickoli and Oden Bell finished in 1:37.74. The 200 free quartet of Prykhodko, Bell, Isaac McFadden and Cooper Watters hit the wall in 1:28.26.
“When we saw the projections coming in this week we knew we had a chance,” Lexington coach Brock Spurling said. “A lot of this was built (Thursday) night. In order to set the tone for finals, you’ve got to earn those swims in prelims.
“I’m just so proud of these young men.”
Like Prykhodko, Watters was a four-time All-Ohioan. He finished 12th in the 200 freestyle (1:46.22) and 11th in the 500 free (4:50.26) and teamed with McFadden, Bell and Nickoli to place 11th in the 400 freestyle relay (3:18.70).
Ontario’s Grantham Trumpower was also a four-time All-Ohioan. He finished 12th in the 50 freestyle (22.05) and 13th in the 100 free (48.68). Trumpower teamed with Logan Bernat, Owen Walter and Evan Ruhe to place sixth in the 200 free relay (1:29.17) and eighth in the 400 free relay (3:19.29).
On the girls side, Ontario freshman Mirielle Trumpower placed third in the 100 butterfly in 56.24 and finished seventh in the 100 backstroke in 58.18.
“It was a blessing to be able to come here and swim,” Trumpower said. “It was surreal.”
Colonel Crawford’s 200 freestyle relay team of Ashtyn Rickel, Brynn Bruner, Riley Finnan and Ava Finnan finished eighth in 1:40.97. The same quartet was 10th in the 400 free relay in 3:41.58.
The Lexington 400 relay team of Kayla Caldwell, Emily Woods, Julia Wyant and Emma Caldwell finished 16th in 3:48.29.
