Alabama High School Champs: Mountain Brook Takes Girls’ Title, Hoover Wins the Boys’

TUSCALOOSA, AL. MOUNTAIN BROOK'S girls and Hoover's boys — two schools which had only a single title between them in the 40-year history of the Alabama state high school swimming and diving championships — added two more at the 2000 version of the meet the first weekend of last November.

The competition was held at the University of Alabama-Bear Bryant Aquatic Center, site of the 1985 NCAA women's Division 1 Championships and also this year's Southeast Conference Championships in late February.

Mountain Brook its innagural girls' title by an 18-point margin over runners-up Huntsville (315-297) with St. Paul's Episcopal (255) taking third.

On the boys' side, Hoover won its second championship in four years by a whopping 388-235 margin over Virgil J. Grissom, with Daphne (206) taking the show spot.

Mountain Brook's sole individual winner was Margot Gathings in the 500 free (5:05.76), and she also scored mucho points with her second-place finish in the 200 IM. Teammate Joanie Carpenter was a prime scorer too with a second in the 50 and third in the 100 free. The foursome of Gathings, Carpenter, Dorothy Culp and Doherty Colgin also set a state record en route to the 400 sprint relay title.

Huntsville senior Margaret Hoetzer was the only double gold medalist, taking firsts in the 200 free and 100 fly. Her time for the latter, 56.98, was a mere .02 off her state record 56.96 set as a freshman in 1998.

Two other state records were broken: Trinity's Amy Wheatley went 1:06.19 to eclipse the 1:06.27 standard in the 100 breast, and Huntsville's 200 medley relay team splashed home in 1:52.85 to better the old mark of 1:53.02.

On the boys' side, led by Ryan Cochran's 100 fly victory plus a win in the 200 medley-400 free relays, Hoover easily splashed to its second team title and first since 1997.

However, the meet's "big gun" was Homewood senior Rainer Kendrick, one of the top age groupers in America and, until this spring, holder of the boys' 15-16 National Age Group record for the 100 fly (48.16).
Kendrick won the 50 free in an easy 20.99, missing the state record by just .04. In the 200 free his 1:40.65 was a state record by four-tenths of a second. Although he opted not to swim the 200 IM, where he's also state record-holder, his pr here is a sterling 1:47.86 from the American Short Course Championshiups in Austin in the spring of 1999.

No other boy was a dual winner although Daphne's Spencer Garthwait was close, taking second in the 50 and winning the 100 free.

— Bill Bell

Alabama State High School Swimming and Diving Championships

University of Alabama/Bear Bryant Memorial Aquatic Center Pool
Tuscaloosa, AL

(25 Yards)

TOP 10 Girls Teams
1. Mountain Brook, 315
2. Huntsville, 297
3. St. Pauls' Episcopal, 255
4. Hoover, 190
5. Grissom, 163
6. McGill-Toolen, 154
7. Randolph School, 135
8. Daphne, 126
9. Altamont School, 86
10. Ums-Wright Prep, 60

TOP 3 INDIVIDUAL-RELAY RESULTS


* State Record

50 YD FREESTYLE
24.77 Samantha Sawzak, Hoover
24.91 Joanie Carpenter, Mountain Brook
25.35 Haleigh Kerns, St. Paul

100 YD FREESTYLE
52.52 Virginia Hanson, Altamont
54.28 Samantha Sawzak, Hoover
54.67 Joanie Carpenter, Mountain Brook

200 YD FREESTYLE
1:54.31 Margaret Hoetzer, Huntsville
1:57.77 Bridgett Belyea, Grissom
1:58.27 S. Hathaway, McGill

500 YD FREESTYLE
5:05.76 Margot Gathings, Mountain Brook
5:09.11 Bridgett Belyea, Grissom
5:10.45 Sara Phelps, Huntsville

100 YD BACKSTROKE
0:59.99 Elizabeth-Claire Moore, Huntsville
1:00.17 Ashley Kracke, Vestavia Hills
1:00.69 Jawne Bethune, Buckhorn

100 YD BREASTSTROKE
1:06.19* Amy Wheatley, Trinity
1:09.29 Allison Randall, Huntsville
1:09.34 Laura Hofto, St. Paul

100 YD BUTTERFLY
56.98 Margaret Hoetzer, Huntsville
57.19 Jawne Bethune, Buckhorn
59.18 Doherty Colgin, Mountain Brook

200 YD IND. MEDLEY
2:09.06 Virginia Hanson, Altamont
2:11.14 Margot Gathings, Mountain Brook
2:11.28 Amy Wheetley, Trinity

200 YD MEDLEY RELAY
1:52.85* Huntsville
Elizabeth-Claire Moore, Alison Randall,
Margaret Hoetzer, Katie Eisenhand)
1:54.13 Mountain Brook
1:55.67 St. Paul's Episcopal

200 YD FREESTYE RELAY
1:46.41 Daphne
1:46.70 Mountain Brook
1:46.81 McGill-Tooten

400 YD FREESTYLE RELAY
3:39.08* Mountain Brook
(Margot Gathings, Martha Culp,
Doherty Colgin, Joanie Carpenter)
3:41.94 Huntsville
3:48.25 St. Paul's Episcopal

1 METER DIVING

422.10 Amy Sutton, Hoover
370.85 Kristen Houston, Hoover
289.50 Carolyn Neill, Huntsville

BOYS

TOP 10 Teams
1. Hoover, 388
2. Grissom, 235
3. Daphne, 206
4. Bob Jones, 191
5. St. Paul's Episcopal, 190
6. McGill-Toolen, 117
7. Gulf Shores, 109
8. Murphy, 89
9. Montgomery Academy, 86
10. Huntsville, 78

TOP 3 INDIVIDUAL-RELAY RESULTS
50 YD FREESTYLE

20.99 Rainer Kendrick, Homewood
21.20 Spencer Garthwait, Daphne
21.50 Ryan Riebesell, Hoover

100 YD FREESTYLE
46.66 Spencer Garthwait, Daphne
48.42 Ryan Riebesell, Hoover
48.93 Rusty Corley, Opelika

200 YD FREESTYLE
1:40.65* Rainer Kendrick, Homewood
1:46.03 Matthew Figh, Montgomery
1:50.65 Michael Bottchen, Pelham

500 YD FREESTYLE
4:45.50 David Moulder, Bob Jones
5:00.27 Ryan Dvorak, Hoover
5:03.47 Francis Gilmore, Daphne

100 YD BACKSTROKE
53.71 Ryan Rhoades, Bob Jones
53.90 Matthew Figh, Montgomery
57.74 Parker Bostick, St. Paul's

100 YD BREASTSTROKE
1:00.85 Matt Molnar, Auburn
1:03.53 Jonathan Hupp, St. Paul's
1:05.78 Britton Latham, Central

100 YD BUTTERFLY
53.13 Ryan Cochran, Hoover
53.74 Parker Bostick, St. Paul's
54.99 John Scott, Montgomery

200 YD IND. MEDLEY
1:59.05 John Scott, Montgomery
1:59.26 David Moulder, Bob Jones
2:02.23 Jonathan Hupp, St. Paul's

200 YD MEDLEY RELAY
1:41.59 Hoover
1:43.25 Daphne
1:45.00 Bob Jones

200 YD FREESTYLE RELAY
1:34.21 Gulf Shores
1:34.82 Hoover
1:37.52 St. Paul's

400 YD FREESTYLE RELAY
3:20.28 Hoover
3:23.48 Daphne
3:29.00 Bob Jones

1 METER DIVING
466.55 Alan Harris, West Blocton
409.10 Cullen Byington, Hoover
392.10 Will Montalban, W. P. Davidson

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