Wilmington’s Ricky Dungan appears to be headed to Canton for a third straight appearance in the OHSAA State Swimming & Diving Championships.
Finishing fourth in the 50-yard freestyle, Dungan’s time of 21.99 was almost a half-second better than last year’s state qualifying time.
WHS head coach Mitch Hopf was confident Dungan would make state with that sub-22 second entry. State qualifiers will not be official until Sunday afternoon.
All four districts in the state were contested on Friday but until results are official, nothing is final.
Dungan has qualified for state in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events the previous two years. This year, it appears he’ll add a third event to his resume.
“He’s a sprinter at heart,” Hopf said of Dungan, an accomplished tri-athlete.
Dungan was seventh in the district in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:50.82. Last year, 4:57.21 qualified for state.
Several other Clinton County athletes competed in the Division II Southwest District meet in Oxford.
The top two finishers in each event from each district meet automatically qualify for state. Then the next 16 best times from all districts earn state berths as at-large qualifiers to make 24 in each event in Canton.
Wilmington’s 200-yard medley relay team clocked 1:47.5 and finished 10th overall.
In the 200 individual medley, WHS freshman Jordan Davis was 11th in 2:02.86. In the 100-yard butterfly, Davis was 16th in 55.26. In the 50 free, Wilmington sophomore Josh Andrews swam 23.71 and finished 20th. Andrews then went 68.92 and was 28th in the 100-yard breaststroke.
In the 200 free relay, Wilmington was eighth with a time of 1:33.47.
Clinton-Massie’s Wesley Vert was 18th (1:56.24) and teammate Luke Lentine 29th (2:00.53) in the 200-yard freestyle. Lentine was 29th in 60.54 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly.
Vert went 5:27.93 and was 22th in the 500 free.
The Falcons 400-yard freestyle relay team was 21st in 3:45.95.
