Next Stop: State Meet After Impressive Sectional For Local Swim Teams
HUNTSVILLE- Area schools performed well at the AHSAA North Sectional Swim Meet and were led by the Bob Jones girl’s squad which won the Class 6A-7A Division outdistancing runner-up Grissom, while James Clemens was fourth. In boy’s action, James Clemens was runner-up to Huntsville High as Bob Jones took fourth place in the team standings.
Individually, the top performers for the four programs including Sparkman and Madison Academy, were Lusiana Levan of James Clemens who won both the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard IM races, and Madison Academy’s Katie Pollard who picked up gold medals victories in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM. The Mustangs picked up a first place win in the men’s 1-meter diving competition with Taylor Young doing the honors. James Clemens had one additional first place finisher as Caleb Williams won the men 200 IM. Bob Jones had one first place finish in the women 200 medley relay.
The team standings were- Women: Class 6A-7A- 1. Bob Jones 379.5, 4. James Clemens 287.50, 10. Sparkman 54; Men: Class 6A-7A- 1. Huntsville 524, 2. James Clemens 328, 4. Bob Jones 214, 13. Sparkman 16; Women: Class 1A-5A- 1. Whitesburg Christian 257, 6. Madison Academy 139; Men: Class 1A-5A- 1. Boaz 390, 7. Madison Academy 86.
Individuals and relays placing in the top three in each event automatically qualified for the State Meet scheduled for Nov. 30-Dec. 1 in the Martin Aquatics Center at Auburn University.
For the Bob Jones girls, the team victory was their second consecutive Sectional title and they were led by five seniors, Mia Fries, Sabrina Morgavi, JoAnne Stevens, Grace Palenapa and Elise Rinehart. The Lady Patriots posted a 70-point victory over runner-up Grissom.
“Anytime a team can win back-to-back seasons in a big meet like the Sectionals, you have to be excited and this year it was more about defending our title and we did in a big way,” said Wade Thaxton head coach of Bob Jones. “We head into the State Meet very confident.”
The boys’ program at Bob Jones is young as the squad roster featured no seniors and only one junior and is built around eighth-tenth graders. The squad is looking to finish among the top 10 at the State Meet.
The most dominated race of the event came in the women 200 Individual Medley as Lusiana Levan of James Clemens took first place, but looked over her shoulder where she saw swimmers from Bob Jones who finished second, third and fourth. Those Patriots in the dominate force were Grace Palenapa, Mia Fries and Jessica Nguyen.
The results with top three finishes among the four local programs were:
Sparkman- women 200 freestyle, 2. Jamye Simmer, 1:58.36, women 500 freestyle, 2. Jamye Simmer, 5:19.07;
Madison Academy- women 50 freestyle, 2. Rachel Culbreath, 26.47, women 100 freestyle, 3. Rachel Culbreath, 1:02.69, women 100 breaststroke, 1. Katie Pollard, 1:07.36, women 200 IM, 1. Katie Pollard, 2:13.36, women 200 freestyle relay, 3. 1:53.73, women 200 medley relay, 2. 2:00.17, men 1-meter diving, 1. Taylor Young, 327.50;
Bob Jones- women 100 backstroke, 2. Elise Rinehart, 1:00.87, women 100 breaststroke, 3. Mia Fries, 1:09.55, women 200 IM, 2. Grace Palenapa, 2:15.32, 3. Mia Fries, 2:16.29, women 400 freestyle relay, 3. 3:45.81, women 200 medley relay, 1. 1:51.26, men 200 IM, 2. Jake Palenapa, 2:04.74;
James Clemens- women 100 freestyle, 2. Mackenzie Holtcamp, 53.83, women 200 freestyle, 3. Anna Mead, 2:00.41, women 500 freestyle, 3. Rebecca King, 5:25.29, women 100 butterfly, 1. Lusiana Levan, 59.35, women 200 IM, 1. Lusiana Levan, 2:14.05, women 1-meter diving, 2. Ashley Ahrens, 274.15, women 200 freestyle relay, 3. 1:44.75, women 400 freestyle relay, 2. 3:43.07, men 100 backstroke, 2. Caleb Williams, 55.99, men 100 butterfly, 3. Eric Messer, 55.15, men 200 IM, 1. Caleb Williams, 2:01.96, men 1-meter diving, 3. Alexander Benzek, 287.15, men 200 freestyle relay, 3. 1:34.49, men 400 freestyle relay, 2. 3:28.30, men 200 medley relay, 2. 1:43.82.
