Boys swimming
Year, Athlete, School, Event, Time
1956, Frank Anzinger, Catholic Central, 100 breast, 1:05.61
1989, Tom Carey, Catholic Central, 100 butterfly, 50.36
1989, Matt Brunsman, Yellow Springs, 200 IM, 1:53.47
1990, Matt Brunsman, Yellow Springs, 200 IM, 1:49.47
1990, Matt Brunsman, Yellow Springs, 100 breast, 56.29
1994, Justin Thornton, Graham, 200 IM, 1:51.70
1994, Justin Thornton, Graham, 100 back, 49.42
1995, Justin Thornton, Graham, 200 IM, 1:50.72
1995, Justin Thornton, Graham, 100 back, 49.3
1996, Justin Thornton ,Graham, 200 IM, 1:49.82
1996, Justin Thornton, Graham, 100 back, 48.67
2003, John Kevin Koehler, Catholic Central, 500 free, 4:26.79
2004, John Kevin Koehler, Catholic Central, 200 free, 1:37.84
2004, John Kevin Koehler, Catholic Central, 500 free, 4:24.11
2008, Brent Hitchcock, Catholic Central, 500 free, 4:28.42
2009, Patrick McHugh, Catholic Central, 100 back, 51.14*
* McHugh’s title came in the first year the state meet was split into two divisions for boys. He won in Division II.
Girls swimming
Year, Athlete, School, Event, Time
1982, Paige Halley, North, 100 butterfly, 56.65
1987, Maggie West Epps, Catholic Central, 200 IM, 2:06.33
1988, Maggie West Epps, Catholic Central, 100 breast, 1:05.10
1989, Maggie West Epps, Catholic Central, 200 IM, 2:04.43
1989, Maggie West Epps, Catholic Central, 100 breast, 1:04.94
“I knew going into my race that I wasn’t going to let anybody beat me.”
— Maggie West Epps, after winning the fourth state swimming championship of her career in 1989.
SPRINGFIELD — Maggie West Epps remembers the early mornings: awake at 4 a.m., out the door at 4:15, on the pool deck for the Dayton Raiders Swim Club at 4:45.
She remembers the long days that stretched from 4 a.m., past the practice that began before sunrise, through the school day at Catholic Central and then the rush home at 3 for a bite to eat, before the second practice at 4 and the drive home from the pool at Wright State at 7. Somewhere around 10, following dinner and homework, Epps fell asleep, knowing the cycle would repeat two days later.
“Some nights — this is awful — I would sleep in my bathing suit,” Epps said.
Epps’ story proves there are no shortcuts to winning a state championship.
In her last three years at Catholic Central, Epps won four state championships in swimming: the 200-yard individual medley in 1987, the 100 breaststroke in 1988 and the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke in 1989. She and fellow Catholic Central graduate John Kevin Koehler are the only Clark County swimmers to win multiple state titles. Epps is the last female swimmer from the area to have won at the state meet.
Paige (Halley) Stout, who passed away in 2008, was the first Clark County girl to win a state championship. She won the 100 butterfly for North in 1982.
Today, Epps lives in Durham, N.C., with husband Scott. They have two children: Natalie, 9, and William, 5. Epps works at the office of marketing and creative services at the Duke University Medical Center.
Epps no longer swims competitively, but she does enjoy teaching kids how to swim. Her daughter is on the swim team, but is not yet interested in the competitive part of the sport.
Recently, Natalie asked her mom, “Can I just do meets and not practice?”
“I’m sorry,” Epps said. “That’s not how it works.”
“I don’t want to do flip turns,” Natalie said.
“I’ll help you,” Epps told her.
Epps had the advantage of seeing her older sister, Elizabeth, swim first. Elizabeth, two years older than Maggie, got her start at Northwood Hills Country Club. Epps had to wait until she was 4 or 5 to swim there. Eventually, she joined the Springfield YMCA team and then the Dayton Raiders. Among her early teachers was her neighbor, Dee Dee (Diederichs) D’Arrigo, a state swimming qualifier at North.
From the age of 8, Epps knew she was fast.
“I remember thinking, ‘I can get to the end of the pool so fast,’ ” she said. “I remember wanting to be fast. I was very lucky that I had a lot of good instructors. I was also real high energy. I always had to be doing something. I couldn’t sit still.”
After winning the 200 IM in 2 minutes, 6.33 seconds in 1987 and then the 100 breast in 1:05.10 a year later, Epps capped her career by winning both events as a senior in 1989. She swam the 200 IM in 2:04.43, just .31 seconds off the state record, and the 100 breast in 1:04.94.
“I was hoping this year to have a double sweep in my events,” Epps told the News-Sun after her final race. “I’m glad it’s over, though. I’m ready to move on to different things. After four years, I’m ready for college.”
Epps swam two seasons at the University of Georgia before deciding to turn in her scholarship. Swimming had become a job and was no longer fun. She has no regrets.
Epps and her husband have lived in Durham for 13 years. They attend a couple of Duke basketball games every season, and Epps can’t help but compare the Cameron Crazies to the atmosphere at the state swimming meet. Every day she benefits from what she learned.
“It’s about goal-setting and working hard and learning that things just don’t come to you,” she said. “You have to work for it. I think there’s a lot of that mentality these days, that things are going to fall into your lap. People who have experienced the juggling of a heavy academic schedule and a heavy athletic schedule, I think that serves them well throughout the rest of their life. They become good at priority setting and time management. When you have so little time to get things done, you learn how to get a lot done.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or djablonski@coxohio.com.
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