Six State Records Fall at Alabama High School Swimming Championships

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AUBURN – The St. Paul’s Episcopal School boys’ and girls’ swim teams swept the Alabama 1A-5A State Swimming team titles, while the Auburn High School girls and Bob Jones High School boys claimed the 6A-7A state titles Saturday afternoon at the Alabama High School Swimming Championships, held at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center at Auburn University. Six AHSAA state records fell during Saturday’s final session.

The Auburn girls started off the meet by setting a new AHSAA state record in the 200 medley relay as the foursome of Susanna Pudner, Annie Frances Dallas, Hadley Dowdle and McAuley Parker posted a time of 1:46.81 to erase their own state record of 1:47.55 from last year from the books. McGill-Toolen Catholic finished second, as Ellis Glass, Alice Carey, Margaret Carey and Anna Rose clocked a 1:48.39. They finished just ahead of Athens’ Kobie Melton, Mallory Underwood, Katelynn Melton and Ellen Haapoja, who finished third in 1:48.63.

The boys’ meet got off to an exciting start as Bob Jones and McGill-Toolen Catholic battled it out for the state title in the 200 medley relay. Neither team could gain an advantage, as Bob Jones’ quartet of Chris Burrows, Andrew Sterns, Andrey Tretyakov and Chris Day tied McGill-Toolen’s Patrick Dunne, Jackson Algiers, Russell Noletto and Sean Collins with matching 1:35.73s. Both schools just missed the AHSAA record of 1:35.28, set by McGill-Toolen in 2012. Westminster Christian Academy’s Isaac DeVaney, Braxton Connors, Seth Couch and Joe Hinely came in third with a 1:37.53.

Athens freshman Kobie Melton started off her high school state meet career with a bang, winning the 200 free and setting a new AHSAA state record. Melton touched in 1:49.97 to lower Paige Madden’s 2012 record of 1:50.23 and become the first Alabama high school girl to break 1:50. Baker’s Maria Reed, who had qualified first in prelims at 1:51.19, dropped two tenths but wound up second in 1:50.99, while Auburn’s Hadley Dowdle took third in 1:51.09.

In the boys’ 200 free final, Bob Jones’ Derek Sander came roaring home over the final two lengths, out-splitting the rest of the field by nearly a second to win in 1:39.10. McGill-Toolen’s Russell Noletto led going into the final 50 but couldn’t hang on, finishing a close second in 1:39.25. St. Paul’s Slater Whiston hung with those two the whole time and touched third in 1:40.77.

Athens made it two wins in a row on the girls’ side as Mallory Underwood raced to a win in the 200 IM. Underwood dropped nearly four seconds from her prelim time to take first in 2:06.87, just over a second in front of McGill-Toolen’s Margaret Carey (2:07.95). Auburn’s McAuley Parker garnered 16 points for her team by finishing third in 2:10.34.

Elmore County’s Foster Ballard chased his own AHSAA state record in the boys’ 200 IM final, and although he came up a second short, Ballard still had plenty of cushion over second place with a 1:51.23. Fairhope’s Jackson Tunks finished a little less than a second back in 1:52.14, followed by McGill-Toolen’s Patrick Dunne in 1:57.98.

Jessie Everett of St. Paul’s got to the wall first in the girls’ 50 free final, stopping the clock at 23.49 for the state title. Vestavia Hills’ Anna Moers touched second in 23.82, while top seed Regan Weakley of Huntsville placed third in 23.85.

Benjamin Russell senior Robert Howard earned a state title in his final high school state meet as he clocked a 21.02 to win the boys’ 50 free. Top seed Zach Reichle of Scottsboro swam a 21.44 to take second ahead of Huntsville’s Cade Overbeek (21.70).

Another AHSAA state record went down in the girls’ 100 fly final at the hands of Randolph’s Sarah Cimino. After tying Paige Madden’s 2013 record of 55.37 in prelims, Cimino busted through in finals for a 55.01 to claim the state title. Northridge’s Jewels Harris swam a 56.06 to take second ahead of Auburn’s Hadley Dowdle (56.11).

Bob Jones’ Andrey Tretyakov put on a show in the boys’ 100 fly final, taking the race out in 22.63 for a final time of 49.30. Although he finished a second ahead of Elmore County’s Foster Ballard (50.39), Tretyakov was still a second off the AHSAA state record of 48.21 set by Will Glass in 2012. Prattville’s Tristan Essary garnered third in 51.44.

UMS-Wright’s Paige Madden put her stamp on the 100 free, setting a new AHSAA state record with a 49.78. She chopped more than a second off Maria Reed’s 2013 record of 51.18. Reed, who swims for Baker High School, finished second in 51.59, .06 ahead of St. Paul’s Jessie Everett and Bob Jones’ Claire Munster, who posted matching 51.65s for third.

Bob Jones’ Derek Sander topped the boys’ 100 free final in 45.63 after coming home in a solid 23.50. Robert Howard of Benjamin Russell led at the halfway point but slipped to second in 46.01. Oneonta’s Noah Cheak touched in 47.20 for third.

Shortly after setting a new AHSAA record in the 100 fly, Randolph’s Sarah Cimino returned to the pool to pick up a second state title, this time in the 500 free. Cimino stopped the clock at 4:59.23 to demolish the rest of the championship final. Huntsville teammates Ryan Barlow (5:06.92) and Marybeth Monk (5:10.52) wrapped up second and third.

McGill-Toolen’s Russell Noletto was equally dominant in the boys’ 500 free final, winning by six-plus seconds in 4:30.23. St. Paul’s Asher Oldenburg followed in 4:36.66, with Northridge’s Thompson Schille in third at 4:38.56.

Auburn picked up a second relay victory on the girls’ side as Peyton Dowdle, Susanna Pudner, Annie Frances Dallas and Anna Kate McGinty topped the 200 free relay in 1:38.58, only .08 off Athens’ 2013 state record of 1:38.50. No other teams finished under 1:40, as Prattville’s Madison Brown, Ryder Langley, Taite Langley and Mackenzie Brown finished second in 1:40.57 and Bob Jones’ JoAnne Stevens, Anna Grace Pell, Claire Munster and Devin Campbell touched third in 1:41.10.

Andrew Sterns, Chris Gunner, Andrey Tretyakov and Derek Sander gave Bob Jones a win in the boys’ 200 free relay, as they put together a 1:27.19 in finals. Huntsville came in second, with Cade Overbeek, Spencer Baldwin, Austin Smith and Jared Sutphin touching in 1:28.51. Tony Pereira, Kyle Vosen, Mark Richard and Zach Reichle gave Scottsboro a third place finish with their 1:29.13.

UMS-Wright’s Paige Madden lowered her second AHSAA record of the day in the 100 back, slicing .14 off Genny Pittman’s 2012 record with a swift 54.91. Madden cruised in prelims, posting a 58.55 before dropping almost four seconds in finals. Vestavia Hills’ Anna Moers claimed second in 56.31, followed by top seed Kobie Melton of Athens (56.51).

St. Paul’s Slater Whiston equaled his prelim time in the 100 back to win the state title in 50.14. Fairhope’s Jackson Tunks (51.24) and St. Paul’s James Courtney (51.61) also finished on the podium with sub-52 efforts.

Auburn freshman Annie Frances Dallas posted the fastest second 50 of the field en route to her first state title in the 100 breast. Dallas’ final 50 of 35.03 propelled her to a final time of 1:06.43, fast enough to top Madison Academy’s Katie Pollard (1:07.21) and Auburn’s McAuley Parker (1:07.39). McGill-Toolen’s Alice Carey actually had the second-best time of the day as she posted a 1:07.04 to win the consolation final.

Andrey Tretyakov of Bob Jones doubled up in the 100 fly and 100 breast, picking up a win in the final individual race of the meet with a 56.65. Oneonta’s Noah Cheak moved up from fifth to second thanks to a 58.21, while Westminster senior Braxton Conners finished on the podium in his final high school race with a 58.49.

The Auburn girls swept the relays at the meet, putting an exclamation point on their team title with a new AHSAA record in the 400 free relay. Hadley Dowdle, Anna Kate McGinty, Audrey Phillpott and McAuley Parker swam a 3:32.85 to crush Hoover’s 2011 mark of 3:35.08. Grissom’s Maddie Woody, Mary Northcutt, Alison Hu and Chloe Hui also finished under the previous record with a 3:34.41. Huntsville finished third, with Ryan Barlow, Elise Maurel, Marybeth Monk and Regan Weakley touching in 3:38.15.

McGill-Toolen claimed the final event of the meet as Patrick Dunne, Nicolas Larriviere, Jackson Algiers and Russell Noletto topped the boys’ 400 free relay in 3:11.84. They finished comfortably ahead of Bob Jones’ Chris Burrows, Byron He, Chris Day and Derek Sander, who out-touched Auburn’s Daniel Padgett, Brady Stabler, Kyrylo Kobzyev and Connor Duggan for second, 3:14.09 to 3:14.28.

St. Paul’s Episcopal scored 102.5 points to win the girls’ 1A-5A team title ahead of UMS-Wright (81) and Randolph (64). The St. Paul’s Episcopal boys scored 158 points to beat Westminster Christian Academy (137) and Faith Academy (56) for the 1A-5A title.

In 6A-7A, the Auburn girls posted 278 points to finish first ahead of McGill-Toolen (234) and Huntsville (211). The Bob Jones High School boys scored 290 points to win the team title over McGill-Toolen (264.5) and Auburn (173.5).

Results: Alabama High School Swimming Championships

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