Starr’s Mill, Whitewater and McIntosh swam in Augusta last weekend and two teams left with titles.

The Starr’s Mill Panther swim teams placed first (women) and fourth (men) out of 10 teams at the Evans County Invitational.

The undefeated Lady Panthers won six out of 11 events, including two relays and four individual events. Senior Lauren Cartwright captured the 200 individual medley (2:16.44 state time) and the 100 breastroke (in a state qualifying time of 109.93) and was a member of the relay teams that took first; the 200 Medley relay of Bailey Cartwright, Kristen Bates, Bailey Garrot, and Cartwright, and the 200 Freestyle relay of Cartwright, Bates, Sarah Larson, and Lauren Beatty . Winning the other individual events were Bailey Cartwright 100 Backstroke (107.27), and Kristen Bates in the 50 free (25.71).

Other women finishing in the top eight were, Kiersten Mossburg, fourth in 200, third in 500 free, Megan Copeland, sixth in 200, fifth in 500 free, Sarah Larson, third in 50 free and 100 free, Kristen Schroeder, fifth in 50 free, second in 100 backstroke, Bailey Cartwright, fourth in 50 free, Emily Frey, eighth in 200 free and 100 fly, Bailey Garrot, sixth in 200 IM and eighth in 100 free, Lauren Beatty, seventh in 200 IM, fourth in 100 fly and Kristen Bates, third in 100 breastroke.

On the men’s side, freshman David Wright qualified for state by placing second in the 50 free with a time of 23.37 and fourth in the 100 free (53.77). The men’s relays garnered top five finishes. The men’s 200 Free relay of Scott Houghtaling , Eric Presley, Chris Hall and Alex Ritchie placed second, the 200 Medley Relay of Presley, Austin Ellyson, Matt Boyle and Wright came in third and the 400 Free Relay of Boyle, Hall, Wright, and junior Drew Clasen finished fifth.

Other men with top 10 fishes were; Chris Hall second in the 200 free, Eric Presley, sixth in the 200 IM and 100 breastroke, Alex Ritchie, ninth in the 50 free, Matt Boyle, third in the 100 fly and second in the 100 back, Drew Clasen, eighth in the 100 back, and Nathan Raymond, ninth in the 100 backstroke.

The McIntosh women finished fourth and the men finished fifth at the meet.

Junior Keaton Hannon led the Lady Chiefs with two first-place finishes in the 200-freestyle and the 100-butterfly. The women also claimed top honors in the 400-freestyle relay, with team members Hannon, senior Nicole Roddenbery, senior Rose Tortora and sophomore Sarah Trapaga. Other top performances for the women included Nicole Roddenbery’s third-place finish in the 200-individual medley and Tortora’s fourth-place effort in the 500-freestyle.

For the men, sophomore Adam Otaki took the team’s only first-place ribbon, for the 100-breaststroke, and swam to second in the 100-butterfly. Sophomore Alex Harmon added a second in the 500-freestyle event. The men’s relay team also claimed second in the 400-freestyle relay and fourth in the 200-medley relay with Harmon, Otaki, junior Corbin Heard and freshman Jim Roddenbery.

The Whitewater men placed second and the ladies placed seventh, for an overall finish of fifth out of 10. Only Lakeside High School Men’s team came out in front of Whitewater, who had stellar performances from a number of team members.

Senior David Menchinger took first place in the 500 free and the 200 IM (state qualifying times in both), senior Jared Toro finished third in the 50 free and the 100 free, Sophomore Brandon Mason finished third in the 200 free and seventh in the 100 fly. Freshman Jaron Beckwith finished fifth in the 100 back and sixth in the 100 fly.
The Men’s 400 Free Relay (Toro, Mason, Daniel Harlow and Menchinger) came in first, the 200 Medley Relay (Menchinger, Jeremy Wingate, Toro and Harlow) placed second and the 200 Free Relay (Patrick Loeffler, Wingate, Beckwith and Mason) finished fifth.

Other point earners for the Wildcats include Matt Schreiner, Alex Todd, Chad Lawrence, Kelly Menchinger, Zac Talley, Justin Dickinson and Josh Parker.

The Lady Wildcats’ 400 Free Relay Team (Grace Abshire, Lauren Roberts, Megan Bidelman and Allison Moore) finished in 10th place and 14th (Harden, Coleman, Adam and Mary Groover) and the 200 Free Relay (Morgan Seckinger, Cassandra Heimann, Allison Moore, and Catherine Groover) finished 15th.

Top place finisher Catherine Clark finished ninth in the 500 free. Candace Smith placed10th in the same event and Grace Abshire pulled out 12th in the 100 fly. Morgan Seckinger finished 14th in the 100 back.

Point Earners for the Lady Wildcats included Hailey Harden, Tanya Feilke, Danielle Greico and Teresa Hill .

“This weekend is the county championship meet, which we are hosting at the Steve Lundquist Aquatic Center in Clayton County. If this meet is any indication of what could possibly happen, Whitewater men swimming may very well be on top in the county this year! Not bad for the first graduating class for our school,” said Coach Elizabeth Loewecke.