Madison Central, Tupelo Crowned Mississippi High School Class 2 Swimming Champions

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TUPELO – The Madison Central High School girls and Tupelo High School boys brought home the Mississippi High School Class 2 Swimming state titles last Saturday afternoon at Tupelo High School. Five MHSAA records fell in finals, while eight Class 2 records were rewritten.

Madison Central kicked off the meet in record-setting fashion as the foursome of Kalin Tang, Jessica Blanchard, Chandler Carter and Paige Kessler established a new MHSAA and Class 2 record in the 200 medley relay with a 1:49.90. That cut more than a second and a half off the previous record of 1:51.63, set by Tupelo in 2012. Tupelo, represented by Cris Roberts, Chelsie Gray, Mattie Hughes and Meri Hollis West, came in second at 1:54.57, followed by Northwest Rankin’s Rachel Berry, Sarah Katherine Berry, AK Mitchell and Farrah Pitts in 1:55.59.

Lane Evans, Nicholas Sciortino, Alex Miller and Elliott Watt gave the Oak Grove boys their first state title of the day in the boys’ 200 medley relay with a 1:42.38. Tupelo’s quartet of Will Herrington, Hayden Henderson, Harrison Whitaker and Patrick Hastings hung on for second in 1:44.66, while Brandon’s Khameron Glass, Josh Williamson, Conner Sanders and Brad Easterling rounded out the top three in 1:46.53. 

Laken Vickers of Starkville cracked 2:00 in the girls 200 free final en route to a state title in 1:58.49. Northwest Rankin’s AK Mitchell, the top seed after prelims, added two tenths to finish second in 2:00.29, while Madison Central’s Jessica Blanchard posted a 2:01.12 for third. West Harrison’s Sean Dellinger took home the boys’ 200 free title in 1:46.15, topping Tupelo’s Liam Manning (1:47.67) by just over a second and a half. Oak Grove’s Cole Sisson also broke 1:50 with a 1:48.83 for third.

Another MHSAA and Class 2 record fell in the girls’ 200 IM, at the hands of Brandon’s Taylor Ballard. Ballard touched the wall in 2:08.05 to take down Alyssa Walters’ 2006 MHSAA record (2:08.67) and her own Class 2 record (2:11.53) from 2013. Madison Central’s Kalin Tang cut almost eight seconds off her prelim time to take second in 2:13.03, while Sarah Katherine Berry of Northwest Rankin wrapped up third in 2:16.44. Cinton’s Noah Young brought home the boys’ 200 IM win with a 1:57.16, just missing the MHSAA and Class 2 record of 1:56.40. Biloxi’s Ashton Robertson posted a 1:58.55 to finish second, while Brandon’s Josh Williamson rounded out the top three in 2:01.07.

Harrison Central’s Kyjana Webber sprinted her way to a state championship in the girls’ 50 free, dropping over a second from prelims to take first in 24.19. Madison Central’s Paige Kessler, who had come into the final with the top time of 24.88, wound up second in 24.46, while her teammate Maddie Howell finished third in 26.20. Two swimmers broke the Class 2 record in the boys’ 50 free final, but Biloxi’s Ashton Robertson will get credit for the mark with his 21.64. Oak Grove’s Elliott Watt, who had set the previous Class 2 mark of 21.81 in prelims, settled for second in 21.79. Northwest Rankin’s Ralph Moore also broke 22, touching in 21.93 for third.

The third MHSAA record and fourth Class 2 record of the day fell in the girls’ 100 fly as Tupelo’s Cris Roberts flew to a 56.26, erasing Alyce Meador’s MHSAA record of 56.63 from the books. Roberts also broke her own Class 2 record of 57.27 from 2013. Northwest Rankin’s AK Mitchell posted a 58.97 to finish second, while Ocean Springs’ Ashleigh Moore rounded out the top three in 1:00.51. Oak Grove’s Alex Miller edged Northwest Rankin’s Reed Mitchell for the boys’ title, coming from behind on the final 50 to win, 53.73 to 53.97. Jace Hobart of Starkville just snuck into third with a 55.53.

Kyjana Webber of Harrison Central doubled up in the sprint free events, just missing her own Class 2 record of 52.45 with a 52.87. Madison Central’s Paige Kessler turned first at the 50 but wound up second overall in 54.75. Walker Fortenberry of Tupelo swam a 55.77 to finish third. In the boys’ 100 free, Stetson Lamb of Hernando became the first Mississippi high school swimmer to break 47, as his 46.82 lowered Jeffrey Phillips’ MHSAA record (47.12) and Connor Anderson’s Class 2 record (47.59). West Harrison’s Sean Dellinger took second in 48.37, ahead of Tupelo’s Liam Manning (49.07).

The girls’ 500 free state title went to Madison Central’s Chloe Tritschler, who stopped the clock in 5:26.77 to outdistance Tupelo’s Mattie Hughes (5:29.31) by about two and a half seconds. Starkville’s Kristen Lacy finished right behind in third at 5:29.73. Tupelo’s Donovan Crossen got past Oak Grove’s Cole Sisson for the boys’ 500 free win, 4:55.02 to 4:56.66. Reed Mitchell of Northwest Rankin swam a 5:02.55 to take third.

Madison Central continued to wreak havoc on the record books as the foursome of Chandler Carter, Jessica Blanchard, Maddie Howell and Paige Kessler crushed the MHSAA and Class 2 record with a 1:40.07. That cut more than two seconds off Tupelo’s MHSAA record (1:42.19) and Madison Central’s Class 2 record (1:42.52). Starkville just missed the old records in finishing second as Laken Vickers, Sarah Byrd, KB Hobart and Kristen Lacy touched in 1:42.70. Tupelo’s Walker Fortenberry, Evans Sanders, Meri Hollis West and Chelsie Gray came in third with a 1:45.74.

Three schools battled it out to the very end for the boys’ 200 free relay state title, and at the wall Tupelo’s Liam Manning, Donovan Crossen, Chris Burpo and Luke Deaton got the better of Starkville’s Andy Li, Jace Hobart, Marshall Adair and Christian Kingery, 1:31.34 to 1:31.40. Oak Grove was also in the hunt for the title but wound up third as Alex Miller, Cole Sisson, Moses Williams and Elliott Watt touched in 1:31.93.

After winning the girls’ 100 fly earlier in the meet, Tupelo’s Cris Roberts picked up her second individual title with a 59.60 in the 100 back, just missing her own Class 2 record of 58.98 in the process. Madison Central’s Kalin Tang flipped first at the 50 but couldn’t hang on down the stretch, posting a 1:00.36 for second. Ocean Springs’ Ashleigh Moore swam a 1:01.58 to take third. Clinton’s Noah Young set a new Class 2 record in the boys’ 100 back final with a 54.31, just under Corey Persons’ 54.57 from last year. Oak Grove’s Lane Evans hit the wall second in 55.85, followed by Brandon’s Khameron Glass (56.39).

In the girls’ 100 breast final, Brandon’s Taylor Ballard just missed setting a new MHSAA and Class 2 record with a 1:05.79, only .07 off Laken Vickers’ 2013 mark. Vickers, who attends Starkville, wound up second in 1:07.06, while Madison Central’s Jessica Blanchard took third in 1:08.63. In the boys’ final, three swimmers broke 1:00 for the first time in Class 2 history, as Oxford’s Jacob Nichols (59.15), Hernando’s Stetson Lamb (59.28) and Brandon’s Josh Williamson (59.79) all swam under the previous Class 2 record of 1:00.26, set by fourth-place finisher Ralph Moore in 2013.

Tupelo claimed the girls’ 400 free relay title in 3:49.30 thanks to strong swims by Cris Roberts, Walker Fortenberry, Mattie Hughes and Evans Sanders. Madison Central capped their championship meet with a second place finish from Maddie Howell, Lillie Entrekin, Ivy Robertson and Kalin Tang (3:50.25). Starkville’s Kristen Lacy, KB Hobart, Olivia Thompson and Laken Vickers finished third in 3:52.36.

Tupelo made it a 400 free relay sweep to close out the meet as Liam Manning, Donovan Crossen, Patrick Hastings and Chris Burpo touched first in 3:22.34. Starkville’s Andy Li, Jace Hobart, Marshall Adair and Christian Kingery swam a 3:25.29 for second, while Cole Sisson, Lane Evans, Moses Williams and Nicholas Sciortino gave Oak Grove a third place finish in 3:26.48.

Madison Central scored 123.5 points to take home the girls’ title ahead of Tupelo (103 points) and Starkville (61.5 points). Northwest Rankin (48 points) and Brandon (35 points) rounded out the top five teams. On the boys’ side, Tupelo recorded 113 points to top Oak Grove (92 points) and Starkville (57 points). Oxford (46 points) and Clinton (40 points) came in fourth and fifth.

Results: Mississippi High School Class 2 Swimming Championships

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