High School State Championships: Alabama Boys and Girls

AUBURN, Alabama, December 1. EIGHT state records–five boys, three girls–fell during the Alabama State High School Swimming and Diving Championships. The meet took place Nov. 30 (prelims) and Dec. 1 (finals) at Auburn University.

Boys
McGill Toolen Catholic senior Will Glass had a hand in setting three of the five boys state standards. The future Texas Longhorn lowered the 100 yard back record he set at last year’s championships (49.61) to 48.41, and–for the third straight year, topped the field in the 100 fly.

This year he set a new standard of 48.21, taking out Woody Joye’s 2009 standard of 48.76. Glass also anchored the Yellow Jackets’ 200 medley relay of senior Will Anderson plus sophomores Jackson Algiers and Russell Noletto to a state record 1:35.25. Auburn held the previous mark of 1:37.21 since 2009.

Another of Woody Joye’s records fell in the 200 free to Spain Park junior Will Freeman. His 1:38.22 took down Joye’s 2008 time of 1:38.39. Freeman has claimed the 200 and 500 free titles three straight years, winning this year with a 4:30.34 in the 500.

UMS-Wright senior Martin Brutkiewicz successfully defended his victories in the 100 breast and 200 IM. He posted a 55.51 in the 100 breast to erase Tyler Kaliszak’s 2009 mark of 55.83, and captured the 200 IM in 1:52.46. Brutkiewicz will be swimming for Navy next fall.

Spain Park senior Corey Holmes, who won the 50 free last year, settled for second (21.14) behind Briarwood’s Alex Gray (20.95). Holmes, however, was tops in the 100 free, touching out Benjamin Russell sophomore Robert Howard (45.79-45.87). Hoover’s David Morton was the top diver, scoring 429.00 points.

McGill Toolen’s 400 free relay of Noletto, eighth-grader Patrick Dunne, Anderson and Glass claimed first with their 3:10.45. Huntsville’s 200 free relay squad of junior Trey Wintzinger, senior Karter Smith, sophomore Jared Sutphin and junior John Smith were first in 1:28.62.

That was the only victory–individual or relay–that Huntsville enjoyed. However, they defeated defending champion McGill-Toolen by just 2-1/2 points (239.5-237) to take home the team title. Fairhope claimed third (211 points), followed by Bob Jones (137) and Spain Park (133).

Girls
Two of Leigh Hendry’s 2007 state records were erased during the girls portion of the meet–both by eighth-graders. Baker’s Maria Reed cruised to a 51.33 in the 100 free, taking out Hendry’s 51.62. And in the 200 free, UMS-Wright’s Paige Macklin successfully defended her 200 free title and lowered Hendry’s 1:51.15 standard to 1:50.23. Macklin also triumphed in the 500 free (4:54.96).

Genny Pittman, a junior at Homewood, became a three-time state champion in the 100 back, lowering her 2010 state record of 55.29 to 55.05. Both records were set in prelims; Pittman finaled in 56.37.

Baker junior Ashton Ellzey, who tied for second last year in the 50 free (23.91), improved to first this year with a 23.42. Other individual event champions included Briarwood’s Rachel Cunningham (100 breast, 1:05.80), Spain Park junior Maddie Wohlfarth (100 fly, 57.84) and Athens eighth-grader Mallory Underwood (200 IM, 2:07.17). Fairhope’s Helen Legg earned the diving title with her 340.15 points.

St. Paul’s Episcopal swept the freestyle relays, using the quartet of Cooper Brown, Jessie Everett, Gracie Whiston and Grace Molyneux. They posted times of 1:40.12 in the 200 free and 3:37.88 in the 400 free relay. Auburn’s quartet of Susanna Pudner, Annie Frances Dallas, Isabel Bagger and Hadley Dowdle–all either in seventh or eighth grade–claimed the 200 medley relay victory with their 1:50.91.

McGill-Toolen Catholic put together 174 points for the girls team title, ahead of St. Paul’s Episcopal (162) and Spain Park (156). By just two points, Auburn edged Huntsville for fourth (133-131).

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