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Jayme Cramer St. Xavier High School Class
of 2001
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In the storied history of St. Xavier swimming, Jayme Cramer easily
ranks among the top three swimmers to ever compete for the hallowed
program. Cramer won 10 state swimming titles during his career - five
individual and five as a member of a relay team. During his four-year
career, St. Xavier won three state titles, including the national
title in 2001. His senior season was so remarkable, he was named the
national High School Swimmer of the Year by Swimming World Magazine.
His times in the 100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke, 200 and 400 Medley
Relays ranked No. 1 in the nation that year.
Among the four state titles he won in 2001, his performance in the
100-yard backstroke ranks among the best in national high school
history. Cramer turned in a blistering 47.65 time in the event - which
at the time was only .15 second off the national prep record. His time
still stands as an Ohio state and Canton Natatorium pool record! It
was the third straight year he set state and pool records in that
event.
Jayme also has the distinction of being the lead member of the 2000
200-Yard Medley Relay team which shattered the state mark at 1:31.22 -
and that record still ranks as the Ohio state standard.
He was named High School All-American 22 times during this career. He
was the Ohio Male Swimmer of the Year in both 2000 and 2001 and The
Cincinnati Enquirer's Swimmer of the Year in 2000.
Cramer's collegiate career at Stanford was equally stellar. He won
two NCAA national titles - 200-Meter in 2004 and the 400-Yard Medley
Relay in 2005. As a 20-time NCAA All-American, Cramer set three
Stanford relay records and broke multiple Pac-10 meet and conference
marks. He was the Stanford team captain from 2003-2005.
As an amateur, Cramer won the Gold Medal in the World Championship in
the 800 Free Relay in both 2005 and 2007. He won a Gold and Bronze
Medal in the 2003 Pan Am Games. He competed in the 2000, 2004 and 2008
U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials.
Currently, Cramer and his wife, Kate, live in Baton Rouge, LA, where
he is CFO/COO and head coach of Crawfish Aquatics. They have three
children, Lucy Grace, Molly and Leland.
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Dr. Rodney Geier Cincinnati Country Day
School Class of 1971
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You have to be a pretty special athlete to be a four-year letterman
in three different sports in high school, and Rodney Geier clearly fit
that description during his storied career at Cincinnati Country Day
School.
A star in football, basketball and tennis, Geier was among the city's
best during his career. As a senior, the running back lead the Indians
to their second-straight 9-0 record and a No. 7 ranking in the state
in Class A. Geier led the state in points scored that season, scoring
216 points with 31 touchdowns. In fact, he scored six touchdowns in
one game that year and five touchdowns in two others. He rushed for
1,891 yards in 219 carries for a remarkable 8.6 yards-per-carry.
A first team all-city selection by The Cincinnati Enquirer, Geier was
also featured that season in Sports Illustrated’s "Faces in the
Crowd." His athletic prowess continued in basketball as he was the
city's third-leading scorer as a senior and was 7th in the city as a
junior.
In tennis, he teamed up with Addison Lanier to win the Ohio Class A
state doubles title in 1971. Geier was inducted into the CCD Hall of
Fame as part of the inaugural class in 2002.
Geier continued his football career at Williams College in
Massachusetts, where he was the starting tailback in 1973 and 1974.
He went on to study at the University of Cincinnati's College of
Medicine, and graduated in 1988 from the UC Department of Radiation
Oncology. He has been listed among Cincinnati Magazine's "Top Doctors"
numerous times over the years.
Currently, Dr. Rodney Geier practices medicine as a Radiation
Oncologist with Oncology Hematology Care in Cincinnati. He and his
wife, Vallie Comisar Geier, have three children, Dr. Natalie Geier
(Cohen), Emily Vollmer and Vallie Tapke, and three grandchildren.
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Jared Lorenzen Highlands High School Class
of 1999
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Jared Lorenzen has accomplished something no athlete in the history
of Greater Cincinnati sports has ever done -- win both his high school
state football championship and then go on to win the NFL Super Bowl.
An overpowering presence at quarterback at Highlands then at the
University of Kentucky, Lorenzen was a member of the 2008 New York
Giant Super Bowl team.
Lorenzen led the Bluebirds to Class AAA state titles in both 1996 and
1998 where he posted a 41-2 career record. His senior season was
incredible as he passed for 3,393 yards (168-for-271, 62%), 45
touchdowns on top of rushing for 904 yards and 15 more TDs. He was
named Kentucky's Mr. Football in 1998 and finished his career with
6,822 yards passing with 89 TD passes. He was named Best QB in the
South by the Orlando Sentinel, to the Super 100 by the Atlanta
Constitution and was a three-time All-American (Student Sport
Magazine, Prepstar Magazine and USA TODAY).
Lorenzen continued his dominance in college at UK where, as a
four-year starter, he held six NCAA passing records, four Southeastern
Conference passing records and 11 Wildcat marks. He ranks first in UK
history in total offense with 10,637 yards, passing yards (10,354),
career completions (862) and touchdown passes (78).
He was a semifinalist for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback
Award in 2000 and 2002. Though undrafted in the NFL draft, Lorenzen
signed and played as backup quarterback for three seasons with the New
York Giants.
Lorenzen was also an accomplished basketball player for Highlands as
well. He was a member of the Bluebirds' 1997 Sweet Sixteen runner-up
team. He was twice named to the Kentucky All-State Tournament team. He
was a first team all-state selection by both the Louisville
Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald in 1999.
Currently, Jared Lorenzen lives in Lexington where he is a Strategic
Account Manager for ProSource. He has two children, Taylar and Tayden.
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Emily Hunter Taylor Indian Hill High School
Class of 2003
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Only the third athlete in the history of Southwestern Ohio high
school sports to win four straight individual state championships,
former LaRosa's Female MVP of the Year Emily Hunter Taylor joins
Andrea Farley (tennis) and Willie Wineberg (wrestling) in the LaRosa's
Hall of Fame.
Emily captured her first Ohio Division II state diving title with a
record-setting performance of 395.15 points. She would go on to
re-write her own record three more times before setting her ultimate
mark of 463.75 points as a senior. It was the first time in Ohio
history that any diver had won four straight state titles. Equally as
remarkable as her undefeated string at the state tournament, Emily was
also undefeated throughout her high school career. She won every meet
she ever competed in for Indian Hill. She was a four-time High School
All-American and was also named the High School Sportswoman of the
Year by the Greater Cincinnati Women's Sports Foundation.
Hunter continued her diving career at the University of Georgia where
she was a key member of the Bulldogs' women's NCAA Division I
championship team in 2004-05. She placed second in the Southeastern
Conference 10-meter platform event in 2003-04, then finished third in
the 10-meter and 4th in the 3-meter in 2004-05. She still holds the
UGA women's platform diving record with 264.20 set in 2007.
As an amateur, Emily twice competed in the Junior Olympic Nationals,
the Senior Nationals and placed 13th in the 10-meter platform at the
2004 U.S. Olympic trials.
Currently, Emily Hunter Taylor and her husband, Andrew, live in New
York City where she is Senior Merchant at J.Crew Corporate.
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Mel Thomas Mount Notre Dame High School
Class of 2004
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Regarded by many observers as the finest female basketball player
ever in Greater Cincinnati, Mel Thomas collected nearly every major
honor possible during her career at Mount Notre Dame.
A prized recruit, Thomas signed with perennial national power and
then-defending NCAA national champion, University of Connecticut. The
guard led Mount Notre Dame to a perfect 28-0 record and the Ohio
Division I state title in 2004. Thomas average 20.4 points, 4 rebounds
and 5.4 assists as a senior. So highly-regarded were the Cougars -
especially because of Mel's presence - that they were named the
mythical national champion in 2004 by U.S. Student Sports Magazine and
were ranked No. 2 by USA TODAY. MND was 76-24 during her four seasons.
Thomas was named Ohio's Miss Basketball, was a McDonald's
All-American, Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-American, was
second team All-America by Parade Magazine and third-team All-America
by USA TODAY.
Thomas finished her career with MND as the school's all-time scoring
leader with 2,037 points. She was first team All-Ohio, was Co-Ohio
Division I Player of the Year by the Associated Press and was The
Cincinnati Enquirer's Player of the Year.
Thomas went to play at the University of Connecticut where she scored
1,098 points in her career. While at UConn, she was a member of the
USA Gold Medal-winning team at the 2007 Pan-Am Games - the first gold
medal for Team USA since 1987. She was Husky team captain from
2006-2008.
Her senior season was cut short with a torn ACL and Mel subsequently
wrote a daily diary which she later published as a book entitled The
Heart of a Husky. She played professionally in Europe for two seasons.
Currently, Mel Thomas lives in South Florida where she is the
Marketing/Digital Marketing Coordinator for CONRIC PR.
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Coach Jim Brower St. Xavier High School
1988-94, 1998-2015
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No coach in any sport in the history of Ohio high school sports has
accomplished in their career what St. Xavier swimming coach Jim Brower
has done. In 23 years as the Aquabombers head coach, Brower won an
amazing 21 state championships. The swimming dynasty of St. Xavier has
been long established, yet Brower's contribution has been clearly
undeniable. St. Xavier has won 36 overall state swimming titles -
Brower's 21 crowns account for more than 58%. He has enjoyed winning
streaks of five, seven and nine straight titles. When he retired in
June of 2015, the Aquabombers had won 15 of the last 16 state swimming
championships.
Coach Brower was named the National High School Coaches Association's
Coach of the Year in 2004. He has been named Ohio Coach of the Year
seven times and has been accorded the same honor by The Cincinnati
Enquirer, Cincinnati Post, the Southwest District and the Greater
Cincinnati League multiple times.
During Brower's career, his swim team has been acknowledged by
Swimming World Magazine as the national champions in both 1992 and
2001. In both cases, the Aquabombers featured perhaps their two
greatest swimmers in LaRosa's Hall of Fame inductees Joey Hudepohl
(1992) and Jayme Cramer (2001). Hudepohl went on to win an Olympic
Gold Medal, while Cramer won two NCAA Championships.
Brower was a state champion in his own right as well, having won the
100-yard breaststroke at the Ohio state meet in 1982 as a member of
the Canton Glenoak team. He went on to swim at the University of
Cincinnati.
Currently, Jim Brower still teaches in the math department at St.
Xavier High School, where he has worked for more than 25 years.
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