By Cort Reynolds

KENTON–The Bluffton Sardines summer swim squad dominated the eight-team West Ohio Aquatic League championship meet with a clean sweep of the three team titles at Kenton Friday and Saturday, July 7-8.

Featuring a meet-high 104 swimmers competing, talented Bluffton easily won the overall, boys and girls team championships. 

Wapakoneta finished a distant second in all three team standings. 

The deep Bluffton boys captured first in seven relay races, while the Sardine girls won two relay events. 

Bluffton’s Jackson Bowlus touched first in two races in the 15-18 age group 50 freestyle.

More than 500 swimmers competed in the 41st annual Elks Invitational meet championships. The meet is for swimmers ages 5-18 who are members of a league team. 

Kenton hosted eight teams from Ada, Bluffton, Findlay, Kenton, Shawnee Country Club, Wapakoneta, Westside and Van Wert.    

Each year the championship meet rotates between the Bluffton, Kenton and Wapakoneta pools.  

Combined Final Team Scores 

1. Bluffton Swim Team 2,832 points

2. Wapakoneta Waves 1970 

3. Westside Wave Swim Team 1821 

4. Findlay YMCA Frogs 1461 

5. Shawnee Country Club 1429.5 

6. Kenton Area Swim Team 1096 

7. Ada Summer Swim Team 1069.5 

8. Van Wert YMCA Marlins 835

CONTINUES

 

Final Scores - Girls

1.Bluffton Swim Team 1,285.5 points

2.Wapakoneta Waves 982 

3.Westside Wave Swim Team 967 

4.Shawnee Country Club 843 

5.Kenton Area Swim Team 735 

6.Findlay YMCA Frogs 710 

7.Ada Summer Swim Team 504.5 

8.Van Wert YMCA Marlins 455

 

Final Scores - Boys

1.Bluffton Swim Team 1,546.5 points

2.Wapakoneta Waves 988 

3.Westside Wave Swim Team 854 

4.Findlay YMCA Frogs 751 

5.Shawnee Country Club 586.5 

6.Ada Summer Swim Team 565 

7.Van Wert YMCA Marlins 380 

8.Kenton Area Swim Team 361

 

Top-3 Bluffton finishers:

Boys 15 & Over 50 SC Meter Backstroke 

1 BLUF-EH 15 Bowlus, Jackson T 28.92 20 

2 BLUF-EH 18 Verb, Riley W 29.04 17 

 

Girls 15 & Over 100 SC Meter Freestyle 

1 Stechschulte, Izzy R 1:04.17 20  

 

Boys 11-12 100 SC Meter Freestyle 

1 BLUF-EH 12 Verb, Camden R 1:10.42 

 

Boys 13-14 50 SC Meter Breaststroke 

1 Shank, Mason D 37.59 20  

 

Boys 15 & Over 50 SC Meter Breaststroke 

1 Verb, Riley W 32.77 20  

 

Boys 15 & Over 50 SC Meter Freestyle 

1 BLUF-EH 15 Bowlus, Jackson 25.77 20  

 

Boys 15 & Over 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay 

Relay Team Finals Time Points

1 A BLUF-EH 1:45.19 40 

Bowlus, Jackson T 152) Stahler, Landon A 16 3) Schaublin, Grady D 174) Verb, Riley W 

 

BBLUF-EH 1:56.33 

1) Diller, Xavier D 16 2) Armstrong, Landon B 18 3) Lehman, Jacob L 174) Wright, Charles A 15 

 

Girls 15 & Over 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay 

ABLUF-EH 2:00.69 40 

1 Stechschulte, Izzy R 172) Diller, Allison C 18 3) Wilson, Macy M 174) Bowers, Avery A 18 

2 BBLUF-EH 2:08.39 

1) Mohr, Makenna P 152) Downey, Jenna M 15 3) Shank, Zoe K 164) Essinger, June B  

 

Boys 9-10 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay 

Relay Team Finals Time Points

1 A BLUF-EH 3:10.72 40 

DeMarco, Noah C 10  2) Honse, Ethan A 9  3) Verb, Calder L 9  4) Shank, Roman P 9 

 

Boys 11-12 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay 

1 A BLUF-EH 2:26.36 40 

Roby, Ethan D 112) Fritsch, Max W 12 3) Stanfield, Aiden J 124) Stechschulte, Logan R 

 B BLUF-EH 2:33.59 

1) Crosser, Bennett A 112) Hixon, Everett J 12 3) Lawrence, Jentzen M 11 

Essinger, Levin D 

 

Girls 15 & Over 200 SC Meter Medley Relay 

Relay Team Finals Time 

1 A BLUF-EH 2:15.01 40 

Stechschulte, Izzy R 17  2) Diller, Allison C 18  3) Wilson, Macy M 17

4) Bowers, Avery 

 

BBLUF-EH3J2:25.67 

Mohr, Makenna P 15 2) Essinger, June B 15 3) Shank, Zoe K 16

4) Brown, Lena J 

 

Boys 15 & Over 200 SC Meter Medley 

1 A BLUF-EH 1:57.37 40 

Bowlus, Jackson T 152) Verb, Riley W 18 3) Schaublin, Grady D 17

4) Stahler, Landon A 16 

 

Boys 11-12 200 SC Meter Medley 

1 A BLUF-EH 2:43.81 40 

Stechschulte, Logan R 12  2) Essinger, Levin D 12  3) Verb, Camden R 12

4) Roby, Ethan D 11 

 

2 B BLUF-EH 3:06.76 

1) Crosser, Bennett A 11  2) McGuire, Colton T 12  3) Stanfield, Aiden J 12

4) Fritsch, Max W 12 

 

Boys 9-10 200 SC Meter Medley Relay 

1 A BLUF-EH 3:34.15 40 

Ungashick, Adrian T 9 2) Oberly, Grayson L 9  3) Verb, Calder L 9 

4) Shank, Roman P 9 

 

Boys 15 & Over 100 SC Meter IM 

2 Verb, Riley W 1:04.73 17  

 

Boys 13-14 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay 

2 A BLUF-EH 2:00.59 34 

Eley, Caleb A 132) Ungashick, Aaron T 14 3) Schaublin, Grant R 144) Shank, Mason D 

 

Girls 8 & Under 100 SC Meter Freestyle 

RelayTeamFinals Time 

2 A BLUF 1:45.02 34 

Sterrett, Kendyl G 72) Northrup, Pippa K 7 3) Byers, Ellery B 84) Sutton, Beau L  

 

Boys 8 & Under 100 SC Meter Freestyle Relay 

2 A BLUF-EH 1:35.77 34 

1) LaPoint, Max A 82) Hare, Tucker L 7 3) Roby, Parker E 84) Yarnell, Brady J 8 ASHA

 

Girls 11-12 50 SC Meter Breaststroke 

2  BLUF-EH 12 Sterrett, Madelyn N 44.72 17  

 

Girls 13-14 100 SC Meter Freestyle 

2 BLUF-EH 13 Diller, Kari E 1:06.71 17  

 

Girls 15 & Over 50 SC Meter Freestyle 

2 BLUF-EH 17 Stechschulte, Izzy  28.87 17  

 

Girls 15 & Over 50 SC Meter Backstroke 

2 BLUF-EH 15Downey, Jenna M 35.26 17 

3 BLUF-EH 17Wilson, Macy M 35.49 16

 

Girls 13-14 50 SC Meter Breaststroke 

2 BLUF-EH 14 Geiser, Karden F 41.31 17  

 

Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Butterfly 

2 BLUF-EH 12 Verb, Camden 37.99 17 

3 BLUF-EH 11 Roby, Ethan  40.18 16  

 

Boys 15 & Over 50 SC Meter Butterfly 

2 BLUF-EH 16 Stahler, Landon  28.06 17 

3 BLUF-EH 17 Schaublin, Grady  28.57 16 

 

Girls 13-14 200 SC Meter Medley Relay 

2 A BLUF-EH 2:29.27 38 

1) Schneck, Lyla A 142) Geiser, Karden F 14 3) Diller, Kari E 134) Stechschulte, Ally M 14  

 

Boys 13-14 200 SC Meter Medley Relay Meet 

2 A BLUF-EH 2:17.61 34 

Eley, Caleb A 13  2) Shank, Mason D 14   3) Schaublin, Grant R 14

4) Ungashick, Aaron T 14 

 

Girls 8 & Under 100 SC Meter Medley 

Relay Team Finals Time 

2 A BLUF-EH 2:02.77 34 

1) Sutton, Beau L 72) Crosser, Carys H 7  3) Sterrett, Kendyl G 7  4) Byers, Ellery B 8 

3 B BLUF-EH 2:10.12 

1) Northrup, Tessa M 7 2) Hull, Carly M 7 3) Northrup, Pippa K 7 4) Lowry, Arya R 8  

 

Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Breaststroke 

3 BLUF-EH 12 Essinger, Levin D 44.06 16 

 

Boys 9-10 100 SC Meter Freestyle 

3 BLUF-EH 9 Verb, Calder L 1:38.36 16  

 

Girls 6 & Under 25 SC Meter Backstroke 

3 BLUF-EH 6 Sutton, Weylyn M 35.94 16  

 

Girls 8 & Under 25 SC Meter Breaststroke 

3 BLUF-EH 7 Crosser, Carys H 30.23  

 

Boys 11-12 100 SC Meter IM 

3 BLUF-EH 12 Verb, Camden R 1:22.24 17  

 

Boys 13-14 50 SC Meter Butterfly 

3 BLUF-EH 14 Shank, Mason D  31.60 16  

 

Girls 8 & Under 25 SC Meter Butterfly 

3 BLUF-EH 7 Crosser, Carys  25.32 16  

 

Boys 11-12 50 SC Meter Freestyle 

3 BLUF-EH 11 Roby, Ethan D 34.69 16 

4 BLUF-EH 12 Stechschulte, Logan R 35.17 15 

5 BLUF-EH 12 Essinger, Levin D 35.69 14  

 

Girls 13-14 50 SC Meter Freestyle 

3 BLUF-EH 13 Diller, Kari E 30.50 16  

 

Boys 13-14 50 SC Meter Freestyle 

3 BLUF-EH 14 Shank, Mason D 28.07 17  

 

Boys 9-10 50 SC Meter Backstroke 

3 Shank, Roman P 49.80 16  

 

Girls 13-14 50 SC Meter Backstroke 

3 Diller, Kari E 34.42 16  

 

Girls 15 & Over 50 SC Meter Breaststroke 

BLUF-EH 18 Diller, Allison C 38.28 16 

BLUF-EH 15 Essinger, June B 39.42 15

 

Girls 9-10 200 SC Meter Freestyle Relay 

3 ABLUF-EH 3:19.11 32 

1) Lawrence, Kanynn P 10  2) Mathewson, Rebecca M 10  3) Geiser, Kenlee G 9 4) Agner, Madelyn P 9