Friday, February 25, 2000
Friday, February 25, 2000 |
| Starr's
Mill and McIntosh make splashes at their state meets By MICHAEL
BOYLAN Starr's Mill High School's boys swim team placed 12th overall at the state swim meets last weekend. Fayette County sent several qualifiers to the meets. The AAAA meet was in Savannah, while the AAA-AA-A meets were at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville. Though the teams did not produce any overall wins, a few individuals and relay teams made a splash. Starr's Mill's placed at the AAA-AA-A meet, thanks to points scored by senior Aaron Wilson. Wilson returned to swimming this year and has had his share of injuries to contend with. He was out for several weeks in December due to injuries sustained in a car accident and then he injured his hand in a PE class in January. Despite the adversity, Wilson has won key events all year and has set a new county record this year (:23.31 in the 50-yard freestyle in the county championship). At Riverside, Wilson placed third in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of :22.45. He finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke, 0.12 of a second away from a second place finish, and led his 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relay teams to 11th place finishes. The 200-yard medley team consists of Wilson, Kenny Jubb, Will Hardison and Brett Stevens, while the 200-yard freestyle team is made up of Hardison, Wilson, Stevens and Brian Pankopp. The Lady Panthers left their mark at the meet as well. Senior Jessica Betts finished ninth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:04.86). The 200-yard medley relay team of Bridget Machovev, Mickey Homerding, Laural Surratt and Betts swam a 2:08.99 in the preliminaries. For McIntosh, junior Molly MacGregor finished in eighth place in the 50-yard freestyle, which is the fastest event in swimming. It was the highest ranking women's finish in school history. MacGregor also scored points in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing 13th. By scoring in the two events, MacGregor set another school and women's countywide first. McIntosh had a few other people place and score points at the meet. Senior Becky Brokish placed 16th in the 500-yard freestyle, while sophomore Annya Lee placed 15th in the 100-yard butterfly. Senior captain Chris Jobson placed 18th in the 100-yard breaststroke and 24th in the individual medley. The high school swimming season may be over, but many of the county's top swimmers swim year round for club teams. The teams should return with strong squads again next year. |
