Nine State Records Fall at Mississippi Class 2 Championships

Photo Courtesy: Randy Williams

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The Mississippi Class 2 State Championships took place on Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Tupelo Aquatic Center. Madison Central girls dominated the meet with six new State records to defend their team title, winning all events but one. On the boys’ side, Tupelo earned their 12th-straight team crown.

Click here for full Class 2 final results.

Click here for Class 2 final team scores.

Girls Meet

Top 5 Team Scores:

1. Madison Central – 156
2. Ocean Springs – 67
2. Tupelo – 66
4. Oxford – 62
5. Northwest Rankin – 53

Madison Central’s Cassie Howell, Mallory Dickey, Maddie Howell and Kimberly McCaffrey began their winning ways with a nine-second win in the 4×50 medley relay (1:45.56), crushing their own Mississippi State record of 1:49.32 set in 2016.

M. Howell, Ella Gibbs, Olivia Smith and McCaffrey also won the 4×50 free relay (1:40.03). C. Howell, Gibbs, Smith and Dickey combined to win the 4×100 free relay (3:38.04) as well, breaking their own State record set at this meet two years ago.

M. Howell soon after touched first in the 50 free, sprinting her way to her second-straight title in 23.62 to eclipse the previous State record of 23.76 set back in 2012. Not too long after that, she was back in the water to claim the gold in the 100 fly (57.64).

Like her sister, C. Howell also won a pair of individual State titles. She grabbed the top spot in the 100 free in 51.49 for the second year in a row in addition to etching her name in the State record book. She also dropped seven seconds from her prelims time to win the 100 back in 55.88 in State record-setting fashion.

Madison Central’s Ella Gibbs was the only swimmer to crack the two-minute barrier in the 200 free, doing so in 1:56.20. She also successfully defended her 500 free title, finishing 24 seconds ahead of the competition in 5:02.60 to best her own State record she set last year by exactly two seconds.

Ocean Springs’ Gabrielle Ivey won a close 200 IM battle, out-touching Dickey’s 2:06.80 with a winning time of 2:06.46. Both swimmers were well under the previous State record of 2:08.05, but the official honor now belongs to Ivey. Dickey then went on to win the 100 breast, stopping the clock in 1:06.36.

Boys Meet

Top 5 Team Scores:

1. Tupelo – 101
2. Madison Central – 90
3. Biloxi – 50
4. Oxford – 42
5. Hernando – 35

Madison Central’s Max Brooks, Tristan Welch, Ryan Garrett and Miller Phillips won a close 4×50 medley relay, taking the event in 1:44.19 to Biloxi’s 1:44.24.

Madison Central’s Blake Peeples dropped nearly seven seconds from his prelims swim to win the 200 free title in 1:41.97. He then went on to shave 21 seconds from his morning time to win the 500 free for the second-consecutive year by 13 seconds in 4:34.30.

Cleveland Central’s Taylor Williams set a new Mississippi State record in the 200 IM, turning in a time of 1:53.06 to break the old mark of 1:54.24 set in 2015. Williams also earned gold in the 100 breast (57.24) as the only swimmer under the one-minute barrier. He successfully defended his State titles in both events.

Hernando’s Nic Thornton won the 50 free by three-tenths, stopping the clock in 21.47 ahead of Pearl’s Michael Robinson (21.77). Thornton’s second victory of the meet came in the 100 free where he won in 48.16.

Oak Grove’s Alex Miller won the 100 fly again in State record-setting style; he got his hands to the wall in 49.32 to break the old mark of 50.04 he set one year ago. Miller also won the 100 back in 53.29.

Tupelo’s Cooper King, Christian Sampson, Anders Caldwell and Taylor Chapman combined to win the 4×50 free relay in 1:32.24. Biloxi’s Dyogo Penafiel, Charles Crocker, Jordan Abrahams and Hunter Swingle concluded the meet with a 4×100 free relay victory (3:23.95), slightly ahead of Madison Central’s 3:23.99.

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