By MICHAEL BOYLAN

Sports Editor

The Southern Crescent Aquatic Team (SCAT) sent 15 members of their team to the state meet recently and, for lack of a better pun, made a heck of a splash. The meet had a field of 35 teams and most of those teams were made up of 100 members or more. SCAT sent 15 swimmers, many of whom swim for the local high school teams. Josh Williams was a big winner as he won the championship in the Men's 18-and -Under 100 yard freestyle. His time of 47.01 earned him a berth at the Junior National Meet this summer in St. Louis.

In other events at the state meet , Williams took second in the 200 yard Individual Medley, third in the 200 yard breasttroke and sixth place in the 400 yard Individual Medley as well as in the 100 yard butterfly.

" Josh will now go to the senior regions in six events and hopefully make two other cuts for the Junior Nationals," said SCAT Head Coach Caren Betts.

Ross Bittner also swam well for the team. He placed in the top three in six events and no lower than fifth in the two other events that he competed in. Bittner broke team records in six events and scored 48 points for the team. He was integral to SCAT's 13th place finish.

Brittany Stevens swam in her first state meet ever, competing in the Women's 12-and-under division. She placed in four out of five events, including a third place finish in the 100 yard butterfly. Kirsten Cartoski set a new record for SCAT in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:11. The time earned Kirsten a berth in the regionals. Matt Edging improved a number of his times, dropping 15 seconds in the 1,000 yard freestyle and 10 seconds off his time in the 400 yard Individual Medley. His time in the 400 IM was good enough to qualify him for the regionals.

McIntosh's Becky Brokish and Fayette County's Calle Fielden placed ninth and 10th respectively in the 1000-yard freestyle and 17th and 19th in the 500 yard freestyle. In their final event, Brokish finished eighth in the mile while Fielden finished 10th. In other events,

McIntosh's Andy Brokish finished 15th in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03. Kelly Ireland and Jessica Betts swam well but missed the consolations in their events. Betts finished 17th in both the 100 and 200 yard backstroke. Ireland placed in the top 25 in the 500 yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke and 200 yard butterfly.

Coach Caren Betts was proud of her team's performance at the state meet. "We are proud of all our swimmers- and of those that qualified as well."

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