Versatile Katz is a special breed

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Last season, Boardman High had three senior swimmers and Brian Katz.
He was also an upperclassman. They didn't think so.
"It'd be 2 o'clock in the morning and we'd be in our hotel room [at the state tournament] and they'd yell, 'Katz, turn off the TV,' " Katz, now a senior, said. "And I'd be like, 'But you have the remote in your hand.' And they'd say, 'Katz, turn off the TV.' "
He smiled and shook his head.
"No matter what I did last year, I was a freshman."
This year is a different story.
Katz, a two-time state qualifier, is the boys captain on a young (and promising) Spartan swim team, which went a surprising 11-3 this season -- their first in the Federal League.
The other three members of last year's relay team -- Grant Brown, Lee Knight and three-time state champion Tyler O'Halloran -- have graduated and been replaced by two sophomores and a freshman.
Team goals
And after swimming two events and two relays his first three years, Katz is skipping one event -- the 200-yard individual medley -- to focus on the 100 butterfly and all three relays in the upcoming sectional meet.
"It's for the good of the team," Katz said. "Last year was a fun ride. It was like everything was set on a plate for me. But this year it's like I had to relearn what swimming is all about."
He also had to sacrifice some of his personal goals for the future of the program.
"Some kids might get upset about something like that, but Brian doesn't," said Boardman coach Terry O'Halloran. "He basically does whatever we ask him to do. He totally buys into what we have to say.
"He's very coachable and he doesn't mind a little criticism. If we see something that he's not doing right in the water, he does what he can to fix it."
That attitude has helped him develop into one of the area's best swimmers, but it also helps him out of the pool. Katz holds a 3.96 grade point average and earned a 1320 on the SAT, which is roughly equivalent to a 30 on the ACT.
Heavily involved
But he's got more than good grades. He's also involved in lots (and lots and lots) of activities.
He's an Eagle Scout -- "I was the highest ranking Eagle Scout in the country for awhile," he said -- and he's heavily involved in theater.
He was captain of the soccer team, president of the band and the kicker on the football team.
"I would take off my pads at halftime, grab my trombone and play, then be back for the kickoff," he said.
He's in orchestra and jazz, key club, math club, he's vice president of National Honor Society and went to Boys Nation last summer -- one of only two Ohio youth to do so.
"Something I think it's too stressful, but he's able to handle it," O'Halloran said. "His whole family is cut out of that mode. He's just following the example set by his mom and dad.
"And they're very supportive of what we do. Appreciative, I should say."
Looking ahead
Katz wants to swim in college and plans to major in pre-med. He's already applied to more than eight colleges, including Harvard and Yale.
In fact, the main reason he didn't die his hair blonde this season was so he could look presentable at his college entrance interviews.
"He does a lot of stuff," O'Halloran said, "and yet he's still able to focus a lot of physical and mental energy on swimming. He's definitely a future leader."
Katz might not make it back to the state meet this season -- the relay teams are probably a year away -- but he's got a chance to qualify in four events at next week's district meet.
And rest assured, once this season is over, he'll still have plenty to do.
"I do what I love," he said, "and I love everything."
scalzo@vindy.com