Wednesday, December 23, 1998 |
Panthers split with Marietta
The McIntosh Chiefs hosted Chattahoochee and Etowah
on Friday evening at the Kedron Aquatic Center and the
results were record breaking. Seven school records were beaten
and members of 12 events qualified for the state meet. The boys
took first place with an overall score of 132 points while the girls
finished in second place with a score of 107 points. Becky Brokish set
two school records in the 200m freestyle and the 500m
freestyle, with times of 2:06:63 and 5:30:14 respectively. Her brother,
Andy Brokish, set a school record in the 200m individual medley with
a time of 2:07:87. Annya Lee set two new school records in
both the 50m freestyle and the 100m fly with times of 25:79
and 1:00:92. Each of those times was also good enough to qualify
those swimmers for the state meet. Molly McGregor also
qualified for the meet in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m
individual medley.
The 200m medley relay, featuring Kumiko Mase,
Molly McGregor, Annya Lee and Mary Rebok, set a school record
and qualified for the state meet with a time of 2:01:6. The boys
200m medley relay team of Andy Brokish, Keith Hudson,
Chris Jobson and Alex Puig, also qualified for the state meet. Both
the girls and boys 200m free relay qualified for the state meet, as
did the girls 400m free relay. Boys captain, Alex Ruddy, swam
extremely well and qualified for the state meet in the boys 200m
free relay.
The boys finished in first place in all but three events and the
girls swam very strong. They will continue to practice over the
holiday break but Coach Nancy Dements is pleased with her team.
"This team is really dedicated and it's paying off," said Coach
Dements. "We swam well on all levels. I think it is indicative of where
the program is." McIntosh is off until Jan. 9 when they host Callaway.
Starr's Mill hosted a strong Marietta team at the
Kedron Aquatic Center on Saturday and tied them. The boys won
soundly while the girls lost. Marietta had three relay teams of girls
racing and Starr's Mill only had one, allowing Marietta to pick up
24 points against the Panthers. Coach Cathy McMullen is pleased
with the team's progress as all of her swimmers continue to trim
their times down. A lot of the Panthers had been sick the week before,
so Coach McMullen worked them extra hard in preparation for
this meet and they responded. Michael Patrick dropped time in the
500m freestyle while Jenny Keenan who had never raced the 500m
freestyle swam and held her pace with the more experienced swimmers.
Sarah Deluca lost 10 seconds off her time in the 200m
individual medley and Casey Jones dropped five seconds off her
time in the same event. The team is building confidence as they
stand their ground against some of the tougher programs in the
state. Caitlin Mills swam in the 100m freestyle for the first time,
dropped three seconds off of her time and won the race. "She outtouched
the girl from Marietta and was just shocked. She felt real good
about winning," Coach McMullen said.
Each member of the swim team swam in two relays and
three events because it was only a dual meet and there were extra
lanes open. Boys captain Will Hardison swam for his best finish in
the breast stroke event and won it. Jason Buttram, the starting
breaststroke swimmer also dropped time in the event and finished in
second place. Brian Federico dropped five seconds in the 500m
freestyle and took second place. The Marietta swimmer who
defeated Federico qualified for the state meet.
"I was just real impressed with the sportsmanship of the
Marietta team," said Coach McMullen. "After every race, win or
lose, they shook hands with everybody and complimented them on a
good race." Coach McMullen is working to get the Panthers more
versatile at events so that she can have backups available in
certain events and not have to surrender points to other squads. Starr's
Mill will practice several times over the holiday break and will
return to action on Jan. 9 to face Heritage and Jonesboro in
Rockdale County.
|