The Fayette Citizen-Sports Page
Wednesday, December 23, 1998
Chiefs set seven school records,
Panthers split with Marietta


By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Sports Editor

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.

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