Bentonville Sweeps Third Consecutive Arkansas High School State Championship

By Brian Savard

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas, March 18. BENTONVILLE High School continued its monopolization of Arkansas swimming, stretching its current streak to three years atop the men's and women's high school state competition.

The Bentonville men beat out the field with a final team score of 398.5. Little Rock Central High School took second place with 290 points and Conway High School placed third with 253 points.

Bentonville placed first in both shorter-distance relays and claimed a state record in one of the two. The Bentonville 200 medley relay quartet of Michael Haefner, Chris Hyatt, Dale Bracy and David Spencer annihilated the other competing teams with a 1:40.87 time. Haefner, Hyatt, Richard Schacht and Bracy combined their sprinting abilities to set a state record in the 200 freestyle relay (1:30.64). Fort Smith Southside held the former mark of 1:31.60, which its relay team set back in 1992.

Haefner paced the 200 freestyle competition with a winning time of 1:45.98. He also captured a state title in the 100 freestyle where he swam a 47.79 time. Siloam Springs freshman Ellis Miller made his mark on the Arkansas swimming scene by posting top times in the 200 I.M. (2:00.14) and the 100 backstroke (53.61).

Bryan Adair of Siloam Springs placed first in the field of divers with a 321.50 score. Dusty Welch of Arkadelphia edged out Siloam Springs's Ethan Roby 314.10-313.90 for second place. Roby's 313.90 points earned him a third-place finish.

No one came close to the Bentonville women as the team ran away with the state title. Bentonville posted a remarkable 401 points throughout the meet. Little Rock Central High School placed second with 214.5 points while Fayetteville took third with 209 points.

The Bentonville women came out of the gate full throttle. The 200 medley relay of Nicole Cindric, Sarah Edwards, Brittany Potter and Alyssa Potter swam a level above their competition, winning in a state-record time of 1:50.27. Bentonville's relay reset the mark it set at last year's state meet (1:50.72).

Bentonville continued its assault on the competition by downing the 200 freestyle relay record. The foursome of Hailey Campbell, Cindric, Katie Brown and Edwards swam to a first-place time of 1:41.21. Little Rock Central held the former mark of 1:41.41 set in 2000.

Bentonville's 400 freestyle relay team of Campbell, Brittany Potter, Cindric and Alyssa Potter completed the trifecta with a winning time of 3:40.59. Little Rock Central set the former 3:42.60 standard in 2000.

Edwards paced the field in both the 200 I.M. (2:08.19) and the 100 breaststroke (1:07.30). Edwards's time in the 200 I.M. eclipsed the oldest record in the Arkansas record books. Karen Height of Little Rock Hall set the former standard of 2:09.50 in 1977.

Brittany Potter swam to victories in both the 100 butterfly (58.71) as well as the 500 freestyle (5:12.43). Campbell bested the competition in both of her events as well. She easily out-swam the 200 freestyle competition with a 1:55.07 time. Campbell came back shortly after the 200 freestyle and took the 50 freestyle title in 24.45.

Jessica Wilde of Mt. St. Mary Academy scored the only first-place points from someone not hailing from Bentonville. Wilde's 338.55 score outdid the second and third place finishers, Brooke Morrow of Har-Ber (297.25) and Carolyn Adams of Fayetteville (292.40).

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