Reese Reilly '26 Wins Thirds Straight State Championship!

Reese Reilly now a three-time breaststroke state champion

Article written by Brendan Connelly | Cincinnati Enquirer

Featured picture by Geoff Blankenship | Cincinnati Enquirer

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The Roger Bacon senior had been sick for the past two weeks.

The flu didn't stop her from easily claiming sectional and district titles in her signature event, the 100-yard breaststroke, but the state meet was a different challenge.

"I didn't swim for a week and taper has been kind of hard, but I also credit my coaches. They've done such a good job of getting me ready for this meet," Reilly said.

The last two years, she had won by 0.28 seconds and 0.37 seconds and entered this year's state meet with the best seed time by almost two seconds.

When she hit halfway just 0.13 seconds ahead of Jonathan Alder's Lily Schneider, she knew she had to close hard to win a third straight gold medal. Reilly split the second 50 yards in 32.99 seconds and out-touched Schneider at the wall, winning in 1:02.69.

Swimming the final leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay minutes later meant that the final two races of her high school career were also the last two events of the state meet. She didn't have to swim the freestyle relay but wanted to give the rest of her team a lifelong memory.

"It's super important for me, just trying to close out strong for myself, my teammates and the rest of the team. I hold a lot of pride in the anchor position," Reilly said.

By a little bit of choice and a little bit of happenstance, she also took to the starting blocks for the first two events of the meet, helping the Spartans take seventh place in the 200-yard medley relay before claiming fourth place in the 200-yard individual medley.

In the first relay, Reilly switched up from her normal black cap with her name, donning a gold cap with the words "RB State Team" on the side.

"I think it was a fun little surprise, and I was happy about it because we had asked for colored caps and they chose gold. Especially for finals, it's really fun because you're always trying to be your best," Reilly said.

All told, Reilly, who is now bound for Duke University, qualified for the state meet all four years of her career, swimming in 13 total events and earning 10 podium finishes.

"It's meant so much. The people, the school in general, everybody is so sweet and kind. They're my biggest supporters. I love my teammates so much," Reilly said.

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Swim Recap from Roger Bacon Athletics

Roger Bacon Swimming competed in State Division II Championships on Thursday and Friday in Canton, OH. The Spartan Swimmers stepped up and performed at an amazing level. The boys team moved up in team scores from last year to finish in 41st place. The girls team had another top 15 finish at the State Meet. This year the girls finished in 12th place in team points.

On Thursday in prelims 10 swimmers competed for the Spartans. The girls and boys team stepped up to have some great performances in Prelims.

200 Medley Relay Team of Paige Ernst, Reese Reilly, Brenna Huber, and Erin Pare finished in 7th place
200 Freestyle- Junior Matt Schomaker finished in 21st Place
200 IM- Senior Reese Reilly finished in 4th place
200 IM- Sophomore Fritz Russell finished in 18th place
50 Freestyle- Sophomore Brenna Huber finished in 17th place
100 Butterfly- Junior Hellen Russell finished in 22nd place
100 Butterfly- Sophomore Fritz Russell finished in 18th place
500 Freestyle- Junior Matt Schomaker finished in 5th place
200 Freestyle Relay Team- of Brenna Huber, Annie Boyle, Helen Russell, and Erin Pare finished in 21st place
100 Backstroke- Sophomore Paige Ernst moved out of the Alternate Status and moved up to finish in 30th place
100 Breaststroke- Senior Reese Reilly finished in 1st place
400 Freestyle Relay Team- of Paige Ernst, Brenna Huber, Helen Russell, and Reese Reilly finished in 12th place
400 Freestyle Relay Team- of Matt Schomaker, Teddy Borgert, Noble Honkomp, and Fritz Russell finished in 24th place

A special congratulations to the 200 Medley Relay Team of Paige Ernst, Reese Reilly, Brenna Huber, and Erin Pare, Reese Reilly, Matt Schomaker and the 400 Freestyle Relay Team of Paige Ernst, Brenna Huber, Helen Russell, and Reese Reilly who all qualified into Finals with the opportunity to swim for a State Title on Friday evening.
Finally congratulations to all the following girls relay team who broke school records on Thursday Evening.
The 200 Medley Relay lowered their school record to a 1:49.88 that was from last week’s District Meet.

At finals the Spartan swimmers once again rose to the occasion to finish on the medal podium in 4 out of the 5 final events for the evening. Congratulations to the following swimmers who secured top 16 finishes for Roger Bacon.

Top 16 Finishes:
200 Medley Relay Team of Paige Ernst, Reese Reilly, Brenna Huber, and Erin Pare finished in 7th place
200 IM- Senior Reese Reilly finished in 4th place
500 Freestyle- Junior Matt Schomaker finished in 8th place
100 Breaststroke- Senior Reese Reilly was the STATE Champion in this event. This was Reese’s 3rd consecutive State Title in the 100 Breaststroke.
400 Freestyle Relay Team- of Paige Ernst, Brenna Huber, Helen Russell, and Reese Reilly finished in 16th place

A Special Congratulations to the following 6 Swimmers who were named to the All-Ohio Team for Division II Swimming.

Senior Erin Pare in the 200 Medley Relay
Senior Reese Reilly in the 200 Medley Relay, 200 IM, 100 Breaststroke, and 400 Freestyle Relay
Junior Helen Russell in the 400 Freestyle Relay
Junior Matt Schomaker in the 500 Freestyle
Sophomore Paige Ernst in the 200 Medley Relay and 400 Freestyle Relay
Sophomore Brenna Huber in the 200 Medley Relay and 400 Freestyle Relay

Thank you to the Spartan Community for all their Support during this Championship Season!