Plain Dealer's 2009 Girls Swimming All-Star Team

SWIMMER OF THE YEAR

Breanna McCann, Firestone, senior, 200-yard individual medley

Notable: West Virginia recruit was the Division I state champion in the 200-yard individual medley and placed second in the 100 breaststroke. She won the IM in 2:01.11 and her prelim time of 2:00.04 was the fastest time in Ohio this year and fourth-fastest in meet history. Her 1:02.48 state prelim time in the breaststroke was the fastest by a Northeast Ohioan this year.

OTHER ALL-STARS

Alana Arnold, Hawken, sophomore, 100 butterfly

Notable: Won her second Division II state title in the event (56.96), lopping 1.11 seconds off her 2008 winning time. Also was the 200 IM runner-up and swam on winning medley relay and second-place 200 free relay.

Morgan Cohara, Hawken, freshman, 200 freestyle

Notable: Division II state runner-up in 1:54.39. Also placed third in 100 backstroke and swam on winning 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.

Nikki Craft, Bay, junior, 1-meter diving

Notable: Won her second consecutive Division II state title and set a state-meet record with 475.4 points. Her winning margin was 51.3 points. At the district meet, she scored a state overall record 509.75 points.

Beth DeFauw, Strongsville, junior, 500 freestyle

Notable: Placed eighth in Division I with a time of 4:59.77. Also was seventh in the 200 freestyle and was the fastest Northeast Ohioan in both events.

Katie Haller, Mentor, senior, 100 backstroke

Notable: Division I eighth-place finisher in 57.83 final, and swam 57.48 in prelims, the fastest times in Northeast Ohio. Also placed ninth in 50 free, anchored sixth-place 200 free relay and led off 14th-place 400 free relay.

Gretchen Hestley, Solon, senior, 100 freestyle

Notable: Placed sixth in Division I with a time of 51.96 and closed hard after being eighth at 50 meters. Also swam on fifth-place medley and 400 free relays.

Maddie Kete, Magnificat, senior, 50 freestyle

Notable: Placed sixth in Division I with a time of 23.92 in the final, bettering her eighth-place qualifying time of 23.98.

Brittany Rospierski, Hawken, senior, 100 breaststroke

Notable: State champion lowered her Division II state and state-meet records with a time of 1:03.98 in the final. Also swam on Hawken's first-place medley and 400 free relays and runner-up 200 free relay.

Emily Schwartz, Solon, junior, relays

Notable: Swam on three fifth-place Division I relays. Anchored the 200 medley relay that broke a 21-year-old school record (1:47.98), anchored 200 free relay (1:37.96) and swam second on 400 free relay (3:31.15).

COACH OF THE YEAR

Mike Davidson, Solon

Notable: Comets won the Northeast Ohio Conference and Division I district meets by wide margins and were the highest-placing Division I team from Northern Ohio at the state meet, finishing sixth with 127 points. Produced eight state qualifiers in relays and individual events, seven of whom placed, including all three relays. Went 7-2 in dual meets and 7-0 in the NOC.