Liberty Union freshman Lawhorn wins state title

CANTON — Liberty Union freshman Logan Lawhorn wasn’t overwhelmed by the situation of being at the state swim meet for the first time. If anything, she was confident in her abilities, and it showed.

Lawhorn actually was dominant in winning the state title in the 100 backstroke (1:03.39) on Friday at the Division II state meet at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton. She won by almost two seconds.

“I had a lot of pressure being the No. 1 seed, but I knew I had the potential to win,” Lawhorn said. “I was a little nervous, but I had more confidence than nerves.

“It was just an exciting feeling to be able to go against people that were older and more experienced than me and to still be able to be a state champion as a freshman. The key for me all season was drop time and become a better swimmer.”

Lancaster junior Olivia Schmelzer was one of the favorites in two events entering Saturday’s Division I state meet after she finished state runner-up in 2016 in the 50 and 100 freestyle.

Schmelzer finished third in the 100 freestyle (51.03) and fourth in the 50 freestyle (23.44).

“Coming in her nerves were a little higher and you could see that with how things played out in the swimming,” Lancaster coach Theresa Hoyt said. “She looked fantastic in the 50 but in the turn, she had a little stick and the 50 is an event where you have to have perfection.

“She did a great job of picking herself up and finishing third in her next event. She is so competitive and coming in, anything below finishing as a champion was going to be a disappointment for her, but she still had a great year and this will motivate her even more.”

Schemlzer said the whole season has been tough, but she was still pleased with the way things played out.

“There is definitely pressure, especially when you know there are going to be girls that are going to be after you,” Schmelzer said. “Coming back after the success I had last year, there is going to be pressure. This year as a whole, there has been a lot of stress.”

“I felt really good and felt confident coming in and I feel like there was still more in me, but I just couldn’t find a way to get it out. It was hard not winning, but I also have to think that I wasn’t the only one pushing myself and working hard in practices. There were other girls also pushing themselves in their practices. I’m still proud of what I accomplished.”

It marked the third consecutive year that Schmelzer has reached the podium. She finished sixth in the 50 freestyle as a freshman.

Lancaster’s Alec Gilmore made it to the consolation finals and finished 15th in the 100 backstroke (52.96), and the Golden Gales’ 200 medley relay team consisting of Gilmore, Mike Lewis, Evan Hendrickson and Ben Neff placed 15th (1:37.22) in the consolation finals. Neff also qualified in the 500 and 100 freestyle, but failed to qualify for the consolation finals.

Liberty Union’s 200 medley relay team, consisting of Taci Miller, Lawhorn, Kylee Arnold and Devan Lewellan, made it to the consolation finals and finished 14th (1:53.07).

Miller qualified for the consolation finals and finished 13th in the 500 freestyle (5:11.26) and 200 freestyle (1:56.62). Lawhorn finished 16th in the 200 IM (2:13.39, and Arnold failed to qualify for the consolation finals in the 100 butterfly.

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