Tennessee High School State Championships

By David Rieder

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee, February 14. THE Tennessee High School State Championships took place February 11-12 at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Girls Results
The Baylor School dominated the girls’ championship, crushing the competition in all three relays and four out of eight individual swimming events. Kristen Vredeveld swept the 50 and 100 free, shattering the state records in both. In the 50, she finished in 22.46, lowering Stephanie Napier’s 2005 mark of 22.52. She further lowered the record the next day, when she led off Baylor’s National High School record-setting 200 free relay, clocking 22.45. In the 100 free, she swam a 48.76, lowering her own state record from prelims (49.15), which in turn crushed the 50.08 she set last year.

Baylor swimmers Arden Pitman and Ashley Vance each won an event individually. Pitman took the 100 back (53.89), while Vance won the 100 breast (1:03.69). Ashley Yearwood and Vredeveld joined the pair on the 200 medley relay, which won in 1:41.87. As previously reported, Verdeveld, Yearwood, Emma Michaels, and Pitman set a National Public School Record and also an overall National High School Record in winning the 200 free relay in 1:32.63. Additionally, Kimberlee John-Williams, Hannah Peiffer, Bria Deveaux, and Michaels won the 400 free relay in 3:27.27, clipping Baylor’s state record of 3:27.58 from 2009.

St. Mary’s Lauren Harrington set two state records in winning the 100 fly. First, she swam the preliminaries in 53.90, breaking her state record of 54.11 from 2007. In the finale, she lowered her record to 53.64 for the win. Hardin Valley’s Jenny Darby grabbed first in the 200 free (1:49.16), while Ensworth’s Hannah Runyon-Hass earned the top spot in the 200 IM (2:01.45). Father Ryan’s Sara Menke outdistanced herself from the field in the 500 free (4:54.52), while Bearden’s Lisa Bogosian won the one meter diving with 470.50 points.

Baylor finished with a final total of 484 points, obliterating their competition by almost 300 points. Harpeth Hall ended up edging Bearden for second, 200 to 199.

Boys Results
Bearden’s Evan Pinion put on a show with two event wins. Pinion won the 200 free in 1:39.01, and he later took the 500 free in 4:21.31. Pinion fell just shy of Sean Ryan’s state record of 4:21.14 set last year. Ironically, Ryan won the B-final of the 400 free at Long Course Nationals this summer in a come-from-behind victory over Pinion. Pinion, however, has been faster, as he won Short Course Junior Nationals with a 4:18.18.

In another outstanding individual performance, Montgomery Bell’s Maclin Davis broke a prestigious state record in the 100 fly. His time of 47.14 crushed the 47.93 that Gil Stovall set in 2004. Stovall went on to make the U.S. Olympic Team in the 200 fly in 2008. Davis doubled up with a 50.06 win later on in the 100 back, and he anchored his team to victory in the 400 free relay (3:06.58), along with Nathan Stinson, Tate Ramsden, and Adam Cornett.

Baylor won two relays and three individual events on their way to winning the overall title, just as they won the girls’ title. Christian Carbone won the 200 IM (1:49.20), and Brian Lee got his hand on the wall first to win the 100 free (45.04). Spencer Rowe took first in the 100 breast (55.32). Lee, Rowe, Evante Gibson, and Kevin Thomas won the 200 medley relay in 1:31.60, while Lee, Matthew Chen, Jake Sosna, and Thomas took the 200 free relay in 1:23.19.

McCallie’s Michael Zuppa won the 50 free in 20.95, while Maughon’s Michael Maughon won the one meter diving competition with 562.75 points, breaking Jordan Mauney’s state record of 535.05 from 2009. Baylor won the meet with 363 points, defeating Montgomery Bell (306), while Bearden rounded out the top three (180).

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