As she did in 2012, Mason High School junior Zoe Thatcher brought one of her favorite Pillow Pets with her to the Division I swimming and diving state championships at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton on Saturday. She wouldn’t be needing it, though. Thatcher was too excited to sleep after capturing two more state titles.

Thatcher claimed the 200-yard freestyle championship in 1 minute, 47.43 seconds, touching the wall 1.20 seconds sooner than sophomore runner-up Gracie Long of Upper Arlington. Soon after she repeated as the 500 free champion in 4:47.81, beating St. Ursula senior Kaitlyn Ferrara by 3.93 seconds.

Thatcher also teamed with sophomore Elizabeth Troy, freshman Gabby Marinelli and freshman Jordan Decker to finish third in the 400 free relay. She joined junior Maureen Sullivan, Marinelli and sophomore Julia Volpenhein for fifth in the 200 free relay.

Also for Mason, senior Madeline Sewell finished third in girls D-I diving championships on Thursday and senior Sean Sargent matched that in the boys D-I competition Saturday morning.

As for Thatcher, there was no denying her in the individual 200 free despite trailing early. She was behind by 0.05 seconds after the first 50 yards and 0.11 seconds at the halfway point. But she wowed the crowd by overpowering Long in the second half, leading by 0.07 with 50 yards to go and finally winning by 1.20 seconds. It was a loss in last year’s 200 final that propelled Thatcher on Saturday. She finished second in 2012 by 0.04 seconds.

“Last year … I got caught in that last half,” said Thatcher, who saw a 0.60-second lead disappear in the final 50 yards in 2012. “I wanted to make sure that wouldn’t happen again so I really worked the last half of this race. It worked out for me.”

So did the 500. Thatcher never trailed in a dominating performance. It was also a repeat appearance for her cuddly turtle Pillow Pet.

“Last year me and my friend finished 1-2 in the 500,” Thatcher said referring to Cincinnati Turpin’s Shaylynn Spelman. “We both love Pillow Pets so we brought them back this year.”

After winning the 200, Thatcher appeared on top of the podium with Sulley, a light blue stuffed animal from the Disney movie Monsters, Inc., a tribute to Mason coach Mark Sullivan. She hopes both Sulley and her Pillow Pet can make cameo appearances at state in 2014, too.

“I hope so. I’m excited,” Thatcher said. “We have this curse at Mason where you only win as a sophomore then after that you can’t win anymore. I broke the Mason curse.”