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Swimmers join runners in push for state glory

Many area athletes excel in regionals, qualify for state finals.

High school football gets a lot of attention, but we're also getting deep into the postseason for prep cross country and swimming.

Several area teams and individual athletes are competing for state honors.

CLASS 3A, REGION 2

BOYS

With two individual championships and contributing to two relays, senior Corey Swanson helped the Sickles boys record one of their best regional performances in school history.

Swanson won the 50-yard freestyle race with a time of 21.81 seconds and the 100 butterfly in 52.28 seconds.

He joined his freshman brother Conor on the 200 medley relay, along with Jonathan Pitocco and Chris Findley, to place fourth. Kevin Frey replaced Pitocco on the quartet to qualify for the state meet in the 400 freestyle relay, with a fifth-place finish.

Frey teamed up with Brad Bernstein, Greg Davis and Greg Cook for an eighth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.

Conor Swanson placed sixth in the 100 backstroke and eighth in the 200 individual medley.

Chris Olinger led the Wildcats' effort with second-place finishes in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events.

Greg Stevens helped Wharton with a fourth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke.

Armando Acosta, Paolo Dimare and Stevens joined Olinger to record a sixth in the 200 medley relay. Olinger helped Dimare, Stevens and Josh Anderson take a seventh in the 200 freestyle relay.

William Shugart placed seventh in the 50 freestyle in 23.07 seconds.

GIRLS

The Gryphons placed third in the 200 freestyle relay and fourth in the 400 freestyle.

Carrie Foster, Veronica Case, Megan Cook and Britny Went made up the 200 freestyle relay. Erin Hotchkiss replaced Case on the quartet for the 400 freestyle relay.

In individual competition, Went placed fourth in the 100-yard freestyle event, Foster was seventh in the 50 freestyle and Brittany McCauley was eighth in the 100 backstroke.

Marjorie Chamberlin was second in the 100 butterfly, third in the 200 freestyle and helped the 200 medley relay team and the 400 freestyle relay team both place fourth.

Kelly Boyd, Casie Latimer and Macey Bronson helped Chamberlin in both relays. Latimer placed sixth in the 100 backstroke and Boyd finished seventh in the 100 freestyle.

CLASS 4A, REGION 2

GIRLS

Amanda Quick's Class 4A, Region 2 individual championship helped Gaither place sixth and qualify for the state meet Saturday as a team.

Gaither scored 163 points and the scoring runners averaged 21 minutes, 6 seconds.

Also running for the Cowboys, by place, and going to state: Katie Quick, seventh; Emily Seymore, 33rd; Shannon Fisher, 64th; Jennifer Zambrana, 65th; and Alexandra King, 71st.

Angela Hegge's sixth-place finish led the Gryphons to a team finish of fourth, in 4A, 2.

Also going to state with Sickles and their finish: Shannon Kelly, 12th; Jennifer Snyder, 23rd; Megan Vaglia, 30th; Marissa Hatcher, 39th; Nicia Mejia, 45th; Kaia Tershowski, 70th.

Sickles won the 4A, 2 regional championship and should do well at the state meet Saturday. The Gryphons scored 90 points with an average of 17:19 per scoring runner.

Runners by finish included Derek Wehunt, fourth; Daniel Wehunt, 12th; Ciprian Mejia, 14th; Tracy Wein, 22nd; Sean Jansen, 39th; Kyle Kraft, 40th; and Bryon Gollins. 73rd.

Sickles has a young team with a big future. The top two runners, the Wehunt brothers, are both freshmen and there are no seniors among the first six in the lineup.

CLASS 3A, REGION 2

Behind the fifth-place individual finish of senior Jessica Forrester, the Wildcats won the regional meet and will send the entire team to compete for a state title Saturday.

The other Wharton runners by name, place and finish included Katrina Skinner, seventh; Kristin Galbraith, ninth; Kathia Skinner, 10th; Tiffanie Saxton, 11th; Lauren Galbraith, 15th; and Jessica Wooden, 39th.

BOYS

Evander Jones finished second in the individual race and will compete in the state tournament, representing the Dragons as an individual.

With a score of 83, the Wildcats finished second in the team competition to qualify for the state meet Saturday.

Ryan Courtoy led the team with a third-place finish. His teammates in order of their finish: Baker Burchfield, fifth; Pedro Carela, 15th; Corey Murray, 35th; Sadat Kahin, 37th; John Grellner, 40th; and Daniel Layton, 49th.