Verb qualifies for State Tournament in two events
Riley Verb, a junior at Bluffton High School, qualified for the 200 individual medley (IM) and the 100 breaststroke events at the OHSAA Ohio State High School Division II Swimming and Diving Championship. The event will be held Feb. 23-26 in Canton, Ohio at Canton McKinley High School's C.T. Branin Natatorium.
At the district meet in Bowlng Green, Verb finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:00:74 which is a personal record, dropping 2:54 seconds from his seed time. A second-place finish in the event resulted in an automatic ticket for Verb to the state tournament. At the state tournament, he is seeded 12 out of the 24 swimmers who qualified for the 200 IM.
In the 100 breaststroke at districts, Verb finished eighth in the event with a time of 1:01:48, also a PR, dropping .15 of a second from his seed time. After districts, the top 16 by finish times from all districts combined received at-large-invitations securing Verb his second event as a state tournament qualifier. He is seeded 23 out of the 24 swimmers who qualified for the state tournament in the 100 breast.
Riley Verb is the son of Bob and Melissa Verb and lives in Bluffton. The Pirates are coached by head coach, Rachel Diller and assistant coaches Bob Verb and Stephanie McMahon.
Bluffton High School girls team district finishers include:
Ella Armstrong, sophomore, 50 free, finished 32 with a time of :27:49
Allison Diller, junior, 100 breast, finished 8 with a time of 1:11:88 dropping .62 of a second for a PR
June Essinger, freshman, 100 breast, finished 25 with a time of 1:18:31 dropping 1.20 seconds and in the 100 butterfly, finished 14 with a time of 1:06:63 dropping 1.57 seconds for PRs in both events
Izzy Stechschulte, sophomore, 200 free, finished 23 with a time of 2:11:01 dropping 3.38 seconds for a PR
Rory Youngpeter, freshman, 200 IM, finished 27 with a time of 2:37:19 dropping 2.41 for a PR
200 medley relay: Stechschulte, Youngpeter, Armstrong, Diller finished 13 with a time of 2:00:47 dropping .63 of a second for a season best time
200 free relay: Stechschulte, Diller, Essinger and Armstrong finished 13 with a time of 1:46:73 dropping 1.34 seconds for a season best time
400 free relay: Stechschulte, Essinger, Armstrong, Diller finished 15 with a time of 4:08:36
Bluffton High School boys team district finishers include:
Landon Armstrong, junior, 200 IM, finished 28 with a time of 2:15:85 dropping 2.74 seconds for a PR
Xavier Diller, freshman, 500 free, finished 26 with a time of 5:26:50 dropping .16 of a second for a PR
Charles Wright, freshman, 100 butterfly, finished 32 with a time of 1:02:38
200 Medley Relay: Verb, Armstrong, Diller, Wright finished 16 with a time of 1:48:62, dropping .21 of a second for a season best time
400 Free Relay: Armstrong, Tyler Cupples, Diller, Verb finished 18 with a time of 3:37:37, dropping 3.78 seconds for a season best time