Heading up to Miami University for the district meet, Milford head swimming coach Sarah Kleinfelter thought her team had an advantage over some of the other schools competing because the Eagles had swum at MU for the Fort Ancient Valley Conference meet.

The Eagles were able to prove their coach right, advancing in six events to the state meet at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton on Saturday, Feb. 25.

Milford will be represented by five individuals in Canton, competing in those six events.

Alex Frank, Dave Matulis, Beau Robinson and Cade Williams make up the 200-yard medely relay team that finished fourth at their district, breaking a school record along the way with a time of 1:36.43, more than two seconds faster than the previous record.

“(The 200 medley) had their best time of the season,” Kleinfelter said. “The record they broke was actually set by them last season.”

Robinson was also able to put up his best time of the season, 51.67 seconds, in the 100-yard butterfly to finish sixth in his district and 14th in the state, garnering him an opportunity to swim in the state meet.

The 200-yard freestyle relay was able to sneak into the state meet, coming in at No. 22 in the state with a time of 1:28.35. There are 24 qualifiers for each event made up of two automatic qualifiers from each district (of which there are four) and then the next 16 “at-large” spots are decided by time.

Frank and Matulis were able to grab a spot in individual events as well. Frank swam a 53.65 in the 100-yard backstroke and Matulis qualified for the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.24.

The final event the Eagles qualified for was the 400-yard freestyle relay. That relay finished sixth at the district meet with a time that placed them 19th in the state. The team is made up of Williams, Thomas Prus, Matulis and Robinson.

“I couldn’t have asked for more out of everything they did,” Kleinfelter said. “The times were fantastic, our district meet was fantastic. I think we really held our own, especially with just five guys swimming in seven events.”

While it was a thrill to get as many guys through as possible, Kleinfelter only sees a few possibilities for high finishes at the state meet.

“The medley relay is ranked eighth and if we can get everything in order, we should have a good shot,” she said. “But going up against St. Xavier and St. Francis (De Sales of Toledo), we have to hope we have a good day and they are having an off day.”

The Milford girls’ team was unable to get anyone through from districts to state, but Kleinfelter was pleased with the effort and progress her team made.

“I think the girls had a great season,” she said. “We had a lot of time drops. We broke the 200-yard medley relay record at districts that’s been up since 2000 and quite a few swimmers had lifetime-best times.

“We finished the year strong and it’s a good place to start from next year.”

Aside from Milford, New Richmond was represented at the Division II district meet and although they didn’t have anyone qualify for the state meet, coach Judy Middleler considered the year a success.

“They swam well,” she said. “They didn’t beat their overall goals, but they did well for being in such a big meet. “

Three swimmers notched personal bests at the district meet. Derek Gelter swam his best split in the 200-yard freestyle relay, Kara Burns had her best times in the 100-yard breaststroke and 500-yard freestyle and Alex Ariapad had his best time in his 50-yard leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay and his 50-yard butterfly leg in the 200-yard medley relay.

Middeler said that she was proud of how hard her team worked and the times they posted, mostly because of the fact that most of her team only swims in-season.

“We want to keep improving,” Middeler said. “They worked hard and put forth the effort. I’m hoping some might do some summer swimming and we can build on this year.”