High School State Championships: South Carolina Boys and Girls

COLUMBIA, South Carolina, October 5. TO start off the 2013-14 high school state championship season, the University of South Carolina was the site of the South Carolina High School League Swimming Championships. South Carolina high schools compete in Division AAA and Division AAAA.

Division 3A
Division 3 competition got underway in the morning session. The Hilton Head Seahawks nabbed the girls team title–its fourth straight–with a 433-point total. Academic Magnet came in second (371.5), followed by Eastside (264.5), River Bluff (264) and James Island (238).

The Seahawks were led by co-captain Elizabeth Felix, who captured the 500 free in 5:04.28, and sophomore Madison Field, who napped the 200 IM in 2:09.32. The duo, along with senior co-captain Amelia Rzeczycki and freshman Victoria Gill, finished off the meet with a winning 3:38.46 in the 400 free relay.

St. Joseph junior Katrina Konopka came within 6-hundredths of the state record in the 50 free with her 23.69. Katy Mosinger posted the mark of 23.75 back in 2006. Konopka swept the sprint freestyle races with her first-place 51.87.

Christ Church’s Sydney Baker also took home two state titles, blazing her way to wins in the 200 free (1:54.26) and 100 breast (1:06.93). She also swam relays on Christ Church’s winning 200 medley relay (1:51.35) with teammates Maddie Baker, Caroline Grant and Cameron Reach.

Elaine Zhou from Academic Magnet touched out Greenville’s Meredith Whisenhunt by just 7-hundredths to claim the 100 fly title (54.07-54.14). Maggie Langdale, swimming for Myrtle Beach, was the 100 back champ (58.55).

James Island’s quartet of Stevie Dupree, Peyton Wilson, Mary Alice Dupree and Hannah Craig took charge in the 200 free relay with their 1:41.34.

The Raptors of Academic Magnet were able to successfully defend last year’s team title with this year’s 482 points. Bishop England’s 310 points gave them second place, with Christ Church third (282), St. Joseph fourth (206) and Socastee fifth (192).

Academic Magnet’s James Koval was a double event champion with his 1:44.73-1:44.92 victory over Palmetto’s Talmadge Davis in the 200 free, and his 4:39.69 clocking in the 500 free. Cooper Pitts also contributed valuable first-place points with his 59.21 in the 100 breast. Carter Brzezinski led off the Raptors’ winning 200 medley relay (1:39.53), followed by Pitts, Koval and Alex Parler.

The quartet of Kurt Stieby, Jack Story, Malek Varner and Matthew Adams swept the freestyle relays for Bishop England. They combined for a 1:27.04 clocking in the 200 free relay and ended the meet with their 3:12.90 in the 400 free relay.

Adams bettered state records in both the 200 IM (1:50.78) and 100 free (45.33). The prior mark in the 200 IM was set by Jordan Berry in 2008 (1:50.94), and Garrett Hillis set the prior standard of 45.88 in the 100 free last year.

Chapin’s Alex Rutkowski won consecutive events in posting a 21.91 in the 50 free and 51.73 in the 100 fly. Bishop England’s Story was a close second in the 100 fly in 51.99.

Mason Bryan of North Myrtle Beach topped the field in the 100 back, posting a 53.36.

Division 4
Last year the Riverside Warriors finished second in the boys race and fourth in the girls competition. This year the team improved vastly, sweeping first place in both races.

The girls scored 478.5 points to claim victory, and the boys tallied 433 points for their win. Second place in the girls division went to J.L. Mann (352), with Fort Mill third (329.5), Wando fourth (311) and North Augusta fifth (222). Spartanburg scored 252 points for second place among the boys, followed by Fort Mill (238.5), Wade Hampton (206.5) and J.L. Mann (187)–two points ahead of Wando’s 185.

State records were set in all three girls relays. J.L. Mann’s quartet of Ali Galyer, Savanna Faulconer, Amanda McNulty and Lillie Anderson lowered the school’s state mark in the 200 medley from 1:49.89 (2001) to 1:45.57. Fort Mill’s squad of Michelle Case, Tori Herron, Madison Coughlen and Madison Little turned in a 1:38.06, erasing Dorman’s 2010 mark of 1:39.00. Riverside ended the girls competition with a state-record setting 3:30.11 in the 400 free relay with the team of Jessi Snover, Ali Snover, Maegan Rudolph and Ariana Schneider. Wando (3:31.68) and J.L. Mann (3:34.93) also went under the previous state record of 3:35.47, set in 2011 by J.L. Mann.

Megan Kingsley, who will join the University of Georgia next year, earned two titles in her final year of competition at Wando. Her 2:01.10 in the 200 IM was just off her state record from last year (2:00.99), and she capped off her individual competition with a 54.67 triumph in the 100 fly.

Galyer claimed the 100 back title in 55.07, just ahead of Ashley Ridge’s Micah Bohon (55.18). Both of their times were lower than the prior state standard of 56.68, set by Kendall Crawford in 2011. Galyer added a victory in the 200 free with her 1:50.35.

A somewhat similar scenario emerged in the final girls individual event, the 100 breast. Clover’s Morgan Rulevich dueled J.L. Mann’s Faulconer to a 1:04.78-1:04.85 finish. Both times cleared the prior record of 1:05.20 from 2009, set by Lauryl Williams. Earlier in the meet, Rulevich topped the field in the 50 free with the only sub-24 second time (23.95).

Kelsey Williams of North Augusta finished a fingernail ahead of Fort Mill’s Case in the 100 free, 52.63-52.66. Williams’ teammate, Nicole Fuller, was first in the 500 free (5:01.16).

Two state records fell on the boys side, both in individual events. Fort Mills’ Jacob Kohloff turned in a 1:41.06 in the 200 free, lowering the state mark from Matthew Adams’ 2012 time of 1:41.27. Northwestern’s Riley League set the new standard of 57.82 in the 100 breast. The former mark was 57.99 by Armin Hornickel from 2007. Both claimed a second victory: Kohloff in the 500 free (4:34.70) and League in the 200 IM (1:52.67).

Two other swimmers also got to see a “1” next to their times in two events. In the 100 fly, Spartanburg’s William Oberg out-touched Dorman’s Jacob Rupp 50.66-50.88; his other victory came in the 100 back with a victorious 51.13. Zach Piedt from Fort Mills was the king of the sprints, putting up times of 21.14 in the 50 free and 46.42 in the 100 free.

Riverside teams claimed both free relay titles. In the 200 free, Andrew Delahunty, Colin Kemp, Marshall Williams and Matthew Hicks combined for a 1:28.08; Jack Frazier and Nathan Delahunty joined Andrew Delahunty and Williams for a 3:13.78 in the 400 free. Spartanburg’s Oberg led off their victorious 200 medley relay with Chandler Brown, Noa Martin and Ealon Mann.

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