Dover, New Philadelphia swimmers advance to district competition

The postseason opened on a positive note for swimmers from Dover and New Philadelphia, but both programs now face strong competition at the district level.

Dover’s boys team placed sixth out of 14 teams at the sectional and advanced five athletes to the Division I district meet at Cleveland State.

Top sectional finishers included Thomas Perkowski, third in the 100-yard freestyle and fourth in the 50 freestyle; sophomore Tanis Handerhan, fifth in the 200 freestyle and sixth in the 100 freestyle; and junior Evan Dorenkott, sixth in the 100 backstroke and eighth in the 200 individual medley.

Handerhan, Dorenkott, Perkowski and junior Danny Peltz placed fourth in the 400 freestyle relay to qualify for districts. The Tornadoes also advanced in the 200 freestyle relay, where Handerhan, Dorenkott, Perkowski and junior Kelvin Flores-Martinez placed seventh.

Perkowski qualified for districts in the 100 freestyle and is seeded fourth. Handerhan qualified in the 100 freestyle as the 10th seed and in the 200 freestyle as the eighth seed. Dorenkott advanced in the 100 backstroke and is seeded 16th.

The Dover girls placed 11th out of 12 teams. Freshman Ruth Cotlet led the Tornadoes, finishing 14th in the 100 breaststroke and 16th in the 100 butterfly. Cotlet qualified for districts in the breaststroke.

New Philadelphia’s boys team finished 12th out of 14 teams at the sectional. The 200 medley relay team of juniors Jacob Haren, Teagan Zimmerman and Ben Haren, along with senior Kasen Jones, placed sixth to qualify for districts. Junior Carter Jackson joined Zimmerman and the Haren brothers on the 200 freestyle relay team, which placed ninth.

Ben Haren placed 10th in the 200 freestyle and 17th in the 100 freestyle. Jacob Haren finished 10th in the 100 backstroke to qualify for districts. Zimmerman placed 14th in the 100 breaststroke.

In Division I districts at Cleveland State, the top two finishers in each event, including relays, earn automatic berths to the state meet. Additional qualifiers are selected at large based on times statewide. In Division II, three individuals and two relay teams from each event advance, with remaining spots filled at large.

New Philadelphia’s girls competed in the Division II sectional at Steubenville High School and placed 11th out of 24 teams, despite having only three athletes.

Junior Makenna Cole led the Quakers, placing third in the 200 freestyle and fourth in the 500 freestyle. Freshman Bailey Tidrick finished sixth in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events. Senior Adalia VanArsdalen placed fifth in the 50 freestyle and seventh in the 100 backstroke.

Cole qualified for districts in the 200 and 500 freestyle and is seeded 13th in the 200 and 10th in the 500. VanArsdalen qualified in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke, and Tidrick advanced in the 500 freestyle.

The Division II district meet will be held Feb. 20 at Ohio University.