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Casadie DiBetta put the finishing touches on the most decorated prep swimming career in area history Friday night inside the Branin Natatorium at Canton McKinley High School.
The St. Clairsville senior - for the third time in her career - finished as a Division II state runnerup in the 100 breaststroke at the OHSAA State Swimming Championships held in the shadows of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Ohio University recruit went out in style, posting her personal best time of 1:01.70, which is an all-time Ohio Valley record, which she had already owned from her sophomore season.
On top of her breaststroke, DiBetta finished tied for 10th in the 200 individual medley with a 2:08.10. She also swam on the 200 medley relay team and 400 free relay teams, which swam in the 'B' Final.
All told, DiBetta ends her sparkling prep career as an 11-time All-Ohioan and with seven state medals.
"I am so proud of how everything went," DiBetta said. "I dropped time in both of my individual events from (Thursday) and I finally hit a 1:01 in the breaststroke. I am beyond thrilled with how I raced and so happy I got to see what I could do."
DiBetta, who came into the state meet as the second seed and then entered the breaststroke final in the same spot, touched the wall second to only Jessey Li of Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. She posted a 1:01.02.
One thing that's never changed for DiBetta throughout her entire prep career is that place has never been the major motivator for her. She measures success by the clock, which means she was more than successful on Friday.
"State is such an amazing, fast meet," DiBetta said. "Everyone here is so fast. I just feel happy and blessed that I get to swim with them. Swimming has been such a big part of my life since I can remember.
"I'm just thankful that I found a sport I love so much."
DiBetta did experience her fair share of emotion, but it wasn't necessarily because of her finishes. It was more of the fact that she and teammates Brenna Planey, Olivia Moyer and Kylie McKeegan closed out their careers, which started together as elementary school swimmers in the St. C. Summer Swim program.
The quartet actually got the day rolling by placing 11th in the medley relay with a time of 1:51.11.
They put the finishing touches on their high school careers in the 400 free relay by placing 15th in 3:44.29.
"We have been swimming together for so long and we're all best friends," DiBetta said. "We always lift each other up and support each other even when practices are tough. I'm so excited to see what these girls can do in college, but I am so sad that we'll never swim on the same team together again"
All told, the Red Devils' Fab Four teamed to score 39.5 points, which was good enough for a 19th place finish in the team standings.