NORTH ROBINSON, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW) — In what has come to be almost a tradition at Colonel Crawford, some Eagle swimmers will be taking on the pool tonight, and hopefully tomorrow, at the State swim meet in Canton.
The swimmers, Aiden Shull, Landon Sutter, Andrew Heinle, Parker Keller, Ian Gonzalez, Meadow Foust, Riley Finnan, Evy Grau, Ashtyn Rickel, and Ava Finnan, are led by head coach Sarah Bruner, and assistant coaches Alan Young, Nate Parsons, and Eric Bohach.
Thursday night will see both the girls’ 200 and 400 free relays, consisting of senior Ashtyn Rickel, junior Ava Finnan, and sophomores Riley Finnan and Meadow Foust, compete for a spot in the finals tomorrow evening. Sophomore Evy Grau is the alternate.
The boys’ 200 free relay consists of senior Landon Sutter, juniors Andrew Heinle and Ian Gonzalez, and sophomore Parker Keller. Senior Aiden Shull is the alternate.
Landon Sutter will be competing individually in the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke; junior Ava Finnan will be competing individually in the 200 free and 500 free; and senior Ashtyn Rickel is competing individually in the 50 free and 100 free.
Bruner, in her second year as head coach, recently earned the 2025 Northwest District Coach of the Year.
Though the hope is to always have swimmers finish as All-Ohioans, Bruner said the goal is to at the very least get the kids to advance to swim Friday in the finals. And with the chemistry and talent this team has, Bruner has faith in her swimmers.
“The boys, if you would have told me at the beginning of the year they’d have a shot, I would have laughed in your face, and I think it was around conference time that they kind of just gelled, and they all make each other better, and they all fight for each other, and that makes it extra special. Ashtyn is a leader, losing her will be huge. Hopefully, she makes All-Ohio individually. I use Ian as an example, he barely broke 26 last year, and he went 23.5 in the relay. So they do better together, and they bring out the best in each other. And I think the boys make it more fun for the girls, and they stop taking everything so seriously, which is always kind of nice,” Bruner said. “It was nice having Alan come in and help because I think he is the one who kind of got them excited because I think sometimes when you’re not in the midst of the whole thing, he helped out here and there, and this year he was like, ‘You know, I really think they have a shot,’ and everything has kind of gelled, and they’ve progressed and gotten better and better. I think if they got All-Ohio, it would be freaking amazing, but even if they don’t, they’ve had a magical season.”
The kids? In the words of Ian Gonzalez, are hyped. And looking to stay exactly that way with little room for nerves when it comes to preparation. Just “Going to bed. Eating good food. And staying hyped.”
Of the boys, Landon Sutter is the only one who has been to the State meet before and is making his third appearance, but he isn’t letting the pressure get to him.
“It’s not really different, I think I had all my excitement my sophomore year for my first year. I am pretty excited to go with these guys, but nothing beats your first time. We all help each get each other mentally prepared pretty well,” Sutter said.
On the girls’ side, Ashtyn Rickel and Ava Finnan are the oldest two returning to state and looking to lead the younger three.
“I think us being there before gives them a better confidence, and they believe in our ability because we have made it to state before, we’ve podiumed, and made it to finals, and we are ready to do it again,” Rickel said.
“All of us have swam at Canton before so it’s not like it’s a different experience, we all know the pool pretty well. So I think that also gives a boost of confidence, knowing that, ‘Hey, we’ve swam here before, I know the pool like the back of my hand, it’s not something that we are scared going into.’”
Meadow Foust stated that she’s excited to go to the State meet for the first time, is echoing the confidence they all exude, and said she’s excited to see her relay make finals on Friday.
The kids, despite their undeniable talent and hard work, thanked their coaches, Sarah, Nate, Eric, and Alan, for their support throughout the season, stating that having good coaches can make all the difference.
“I’d really like Sarah because whenever I am struggling, she will notice, and she will help me just kind of push through it, and she’ll give me a little pep talk, and it is like a nice little boost of confidence. It helps me want to swim more and work hard,” Riley Finnan said.
Ashtyn thanked Nate, who was her first-ever swim coach, and Sarah, who has been her coach every year of her swimming career.
“I want to thank Sarah, Nate, and Alan because they are like my favorite coaches of all time, and I feel like no matter what there is, Sarah is always there to help me, Nate’s always there to boost my confidence. Sarah is too, but they’re there for the fun of it too, not there for like constant work, and there is fun involved in it. And Alan and his threats of, ‘You will do flutter kicks if you don’t do this right, or if you say ‘I can’t,’ so that gave me a lot of motivation to not say ‘I can’t,’” Ava Finnan said.
“I want to thank Jake Bruner, he’s picked up at home and helped out a lot, and I swear that swim season is sometimes longer than football season. And definitely the parents, Kristin Rickel, she’s stepped in and done all of the things, the busy work, so I don’t have to. And my assistants, Nate, Alan, and Eric. It’s hard to balance my job and coaching, because coaching is a hobby. So it definitely takes a village to keep it moving because it is a long season,” Bruner said. “A lot of these kids did doubles all year and that is a lot of hours. It would be crazy if I actually tallied up how many hours they’ve spent, or I’ve spent, in the pool. I think we have a great swimming community around here, and I hope the younger kids watch and see this and continue to grow. I always tell kids I want them to swim faster, but the ultimate goal is to become employable adults and responsible, and I think all of these kids have grown and become more responsible and faster along the way, so that’s a win.”