Katie Pollard Leads Local Athletes At State Swim & Dive Meet
AUBURN- The 54th Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) State Swimming and Diving Championships are now in the record books and the shining star from the local schools was Katie Pollard of Madison Academy. The senior member of the Mustangs’ four-member representative in the State Meet won the 100 breaststroke and finished second in both the 200 IM and 200 medley relay.
“The 100 breast was my last race ever as a competitive swimmer and it was a great way to finish my swim career,” said Pollard, who will attend Auburn University with an academic scholarship and has chosen not to pursue collegiate swimming.
Pollard’s winning time in the 1-5A 100 breastroke was 1 minute, 5.39 seconds. She took the silver medal in the 200 IM with a finish time of 2:10.72 and was part of the relay squad, which finished third in the 200 medley race with a time of 1:56.36.
Pollard’s teammates Rachel Culbreath, a senior, and eighth grade sensation Hallie Mitchell both showed well at the State Meet held on the campus of Auburn University. Culbreath finished sixth in the 50 freestyle (26.46) while Mitchell was seventh in the 100 backstroke (1:05.52). Culbreath was also on the bronze medal winning relay team in the 200 medley.
Madison Academy finished fourth in the Class 1-5A division with 124 points. The division was won by UMS Wright, which posted 273 points.
In boys Class 6-7A, Bob Jones took seventh (137) and James Clemens tenth (94) to finish behind first place Huntsville (288).
Among the top 10 finishes, in the boys 200 medley relay, James Clemens was fifth (1:40.57) and Bob Jones seventh (1:43.24). In the boys 200 freestyle relay, Bob Jones was eighth (1:33.44) and the Patriots were seventh in the boys 400 freestyle medley (3:23.13). Bean Broussard (Jr.) of James Clemens was runner-up in the 100 backstroke (50.68) and Riley Groves (Fr., Bob Jones) was sixth (52.26) while Groves picked up the silver medal in the 100 butterfly (51.21). Joe Palenapa (Jr.) of Bob Jones was eighth in the 200 freestyle and John Choung (So., James Clemens) was fifth in the 100 breastroke (59.38).
The final team standings in Class 6-7A girls included Westminster Christian on top (290) with James Clemens eighth (143.5), Bob Jones thirteenth (62) and Sparkman at No. 19 (23).
Individual efforts in Class 6-7A included Jayne Simmer, a sophomore, being the lone representative for Sparkman, as she finished eighth in the 200 freestyle (1:58.49) and seventh in the 500 freestyle (5:21.72). Samantha Chan (8, Bob Jones) was fifth in the 100 butterfly (58.87), Sarah Shirley, (Jr., James Clemens) was eighth in the 100 freestyle (55.20), and Anna Meade (Jr., James Clemens) was eighth in the 500 freestyle (5:24.51).
Team relay results had James Clemens seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:42.76) and sixth in the 400 freestyle (3:41.55).
“I always pictured myself swimming as a senior in high school, but never thought I’d be this successful as I took up swim lessons at seven years old,” added Pollard. “It’s the countless hours in the pool along with great coaches in club swim and high school swim that has propelled me to success. I certainly give thanks to God and my strong Christian faith as I couldn’t do what I have accomplished without my faith. I’m glad to see how our swim team at Madison Academy has flourished since I’ve been here.”
In the diving competition, sophomore Ashley Ahrens of James Clemens was fifth in the 1-meter with 271.15 points in girls. In the boys division, junior Alec Benzek of James Clemens was fifth with 311.65 points and Nikolas Barnhart, an eighth grader for Bob Jones, was 16th scoring 210.15 points.
