Oxford Swimming and Diving Team members gave a strong account of themselves at this year’s Butler County Swim League championships as the swimmers captured the championship for the second year in a row and the divers placed fourth while building toward what the coach sees as a promising future.

Two Oxford divers took third-place finishes while nine swimmers earned top-six finishes in all four events in which they competed.

Diving coach Lisa Werwinski noted that the divers finished in third place a year ago but she sees the fourth-place finish as a positive with an increase in interest this year which nearly doubled the size of the her team.

“I could not be happier,” Werwinski said. “Not one kid had a terrible meet. About half of them never dove before (this year). I see this as a developmental year with the increase in interest.”

The best Oxford finishes were a pair of thirds earned by Camille Flaspohlar in the 11-12 age group and Sam Hool at 9-10.

“Camille wrote before the season that one of her goals was to be in the top three and she did that,” the coach said.

First-year diver Noah Clemens made it to the evening finals but did not finish well after sitting in third place after prelims.

“He did not feel well all day,” Werwinski said. “He’s a first-year diver and super talented. I can’t wait to see what he can do.”

Deidre Payne made it to the finals in the 9-10 age group, which the coach called a nice accomplishment since it is the biggest age group. Also with a strong showing was Lilia Hool in the 8-and-under group.

Three boys in the 11-12 age group also made the finals, giving Werwinski a solid base for next year. Divers in the group earning spots in the finals were Sam Robinson, Josh Huddleston and Anthony Dowers. Also in that age group was Jonah Jones, who was an alternate and was not able to actually compete, giving the team four divers qualifying.

The coach praised the work of Benji Robinson in the 13-14 group.

“He got fourth place and that was with a failed dive,” she said, noting that Robinson will be at Talawanda High School next year.

In the 15-18 group, Ethan Coffin took fourth place while Bryan Fenimore finished sixth.

“It was his last meet. He’ll be going to college next year,” she said of Fenimore.

The Oxford swimmers captured their league championship but coach Steve Pasquale called it “anticlimactic” since they did not get to swim on the second night of the event.

“We swam Wednesday and brought the top 12 back Thursday,” he said. “There was a lot of thunder and lightning so we did not swim at all on Thursday. They took the swimming from Wednesday and the places and we were the winners. It was disappointing that we did not get to swim, but we won for the second year in a row.”

The Oxford team claimed the title with nine swimmers finishing in the top six in all four of their events, Pasquale said, but the highlight for them was Mercy Patterson, 8, who took three firsts and a second in her four swims.

“I doubt that anybody of any age did that,” the coach said. “I consider her the top swimmer of the meet.”

The other swimmers taking top-six finishes in all four of their events were Allie Marks, in the 13-14 girls; Kyra Reisenfeld, in the 15-18 girls; Benj Crowder and Quinn Flaspohler, both in the 9-10 boys; Adam Mandrell, 13-14 boys; and Evan Bader, Scott Richmond and Josh Crowder, all in the 15-18 boys.

“They swam very, very well. I’m pleased with everyone’s performances,” Pasquale said. “The team had 139 best times. The goal is always to end the season with your best times and they did that.”