Back-to-back SC swim titles for Fort Mill boys
For the second straight season, the Fort Mill High boys swim team has captured the state swimming championship, but this time in a more dominant fashion.
Last season came down to the final race and was a nail-bitter, as Fort Mill beat Academic Magnet. This year, there was no drama as the Yellow Jackets blew Academic Magnet out of the water by 176.5 points.
Head coach Lindsey Hawkins was a little shocked.
"I am very surprised because we won last year by only one point," Hawkins said. "The kids really came here and swam their hearts out. I'm proud of them."
The win also put Hawkins in elite company among Fort Mill coaches as only the second - behind boys tennis coach Willie Ware - to win back-to-back championships. She is the first female coach to do so.
"It's a high honor," she said. "I feel fortunate to have a wonderful group of kids."
The Yellow Jackets were the favorites entering the meet with 27 swimmers.
For the second straight season, the Yellow Jacket boys have finished the season undefeated.
Fort Mill won five of the six relay events as the boys squads won all three.
In the boy's 200-individual medley, Fort Mill swept the top three spots with freshman Zach Piedt winning, followed by seniors Sam Van Buskirk and Jeffrey Case.
"Everybody pulled together to do what we had to do to win," said Fort Mill senior Jeffrey Case.
"Everybody has been swimming fast all year," added senior Sam Van Buskirk.
The Fort Mill girls team finished second, falling to Hilton Head and losing just its second meet all year. They trailed Hilton Head by just 74.5 points.
Nation Ford didn't come home empty-handed, as sophomore Brandon Sweezer won the 200-yard freestyle by pulling away from Bishop England's Matthew Adams.
"I went really fast," Sweezer said. "I guess it was because I had someone to race with."
Sweezer also won the 500-yard freestyle, missing the state record by 4.3 seconds.
South Pointe finished 13th in the girls standings and also had its first individual winner in school history, as sophomore Izzi Woodard won the 100-yard breaststroke, beating Fort Mill's Madison Little by nearly two seconds.
York's highest finisher was senior Joe Nedham in the 50-yard freestyle with a 12th place finish and eighth-grader Jessica Myers, who finished 15th in the girls 100-yard freestyle.
3A State Championship
Key: AC Flora (ACF), Bishop England (BE), Christ Church (CC), Hilton Head (HH), Fort Mill (FM), Nation Ford (NF), York (Y), South Pointe (SP), St. Joseph's (SJ), Socastee (Soc.)
Girls top five and local results:
Hilton Head 429, 2) Fort Mill 354.5, 3) Academic Magnet 296.5, 4) Greenville 274, 5) Christ Church 244, 13) South Pointe 99, 21) Nation Ford 25.5, 24) York 10.
Winners and local results:
200-yard medley relay - 1) Christ Church 1:53.30, 6) Fort Mill 1:59.75, 15) South Pointe 2:07.46, 19) Nation Ford 2:09.18
200-yard freestyle - 1) Josephine Cuda (HH) 1:54.92, 5) Claire Holliday (SP) 1:59.24, 10) Madison Coughlen (FM) 2:00.96, 12) Tori Herron (FM) 2:02.95, 17) Dae Bigach (Y), 2:09.63, 21) Julia Herron (FM) 2:13.01, 25) Murphy Cannon (SP) 2:14.40, 26) Bailey Fallon (SP) 2:14.68
200-yard individual medley - 1) Kendall Crawford (CC) 2:07.88, 3) Meg Wiggins (FM) 2:14.07, 12) Allie Barilla (FM) 2:24.11, 21) Jenna Pehowski (FM) 2:30.04, 22) Brielle Michaeli (FM) 2:30.63
50-yard freestyle - 1) Katrina Konopka (SJ) 24.44, 4) Michelle Case (FM) 25.25, 14) Lauren Wood (FM) 26.66, 18) Jamie Huffman (FM) 26.88, 34) Mary Kellett (SP) 27.78, 36) Caroline Crowder (SP) 28.10
100-yard butterfly - 1) Kate Kelly (SJ) 58.16, 7) Michelle Case (FM) 1:03.26, 14) Kelsey Holloway (FM) 1:05.11
100-yard freestyle - 1) Katrina Konopka (SJ) 52.95, 2) Madison Little (FM) 53.75, 15) Jessica Myers (Y) 58.75, 22) Rebekah Peterson (NF) 1:00.32
500-yard freestyle - 1) Catherine Felix (HH) 5:07.85, 5) Madison Coughlen (FM) 5:21.37, 7) Tori Herron (FM) 5:24.13, 13) Veronica Mobbs (FM) 5:35.88, 20) Sabrina Riehl (NF) 5:48.91, 21) Jessica Myers (Y) 5:49.62, 24) Julia Herron (FM) 5:54.38
200-yard free relay - 1) Fort Mill 1:40.26, 15) South Pointe 1:56.59
100-yard backstroke - 1) Kendall Crawford (CC) 56.68, 6) Claire Holliday (SP) 1:02.33, 7) Meg Wiggins (FM) 1:02.46, 14) Rebekah Peterson (NF) 1:05.21, 14) Lauren Wood (FM) 1:05.21, 21) Murphy Cannon (SP) 1:08.09, 22) Kelsey Holloway (FM) 1:08.13, 27) Lauren Ivey (NF) 1:09.13, 31) Bailey Fallon (SP) 1:09.77
100-yard breaststroke -1) Izzi Woodard (SP) 1:07.39, 2) Madison Little (FM) 1:09.08, 13) Veronica Mobbs (FM) 1:14.68, 15) Allie Barilla (FM) 1:15.06, 20) Jamie Huffman (FM) 1:16.63, 27) Dae Bigach (Y) 1:19.63
400-yard free relay - 1) Fort Mill 3:37.32, 13) South Pointe 4:03.66, 14) Nation Ford 4:10.57
Boys top five and local results:
Fort Mill 460.5, 2) Academic Magnet 284, 3) Bishop England 244, 4) Wade Hampton 242.5, 5) Bluffton 232, 11) Nation Ford 141, 23) York 33.
Winners and local results:
200-yard medley relay - 1) Fort Mill 1:41.62, 12) Nation Ford 1:52.49
200-yard freestyle - 1) Brandon Sweezer (NF) 1:43.77, 4) Jacob Kohlhoff (FM) 1:47.21, 6) David Sweezer (NF) 1:49.67, 12) Cameron Crosby (FM) 1:59.45, 16) Mason Cope (FM) 2:02.63
200-yard individual medley - 1) Zach Piedt (FM) 2:00.58, 2) Sam Van Buskirk (FM) 2:01.20, 3) Jeffrey Case (FM) 2:01.59, 12) Jacob Martin (NF) 2:12.76
50-yard freestyle - 1) Andy Campbell (ACF) 22.32, 2) Al Lim (FM) 22.65, 6) Franklin Westerkamp (FM) 23.15, 13) Joe Nedham (Y) 23.87
100-yard butterfly - 1) Justin Mehl (SJ) 53.25, 19) Jacob Martin (NF) 1:02.16
100-yard freestyle - 1) Andy Campbell (ACF) 49.38, 3) Zach Piedt (FM) 49.60, 5) Jeffrey Case (FM) 50.36, 13) Mason Strohl (FM) 52.65, 17) Joe Nedham (Y) 54.08
500-yard freestyle - 1) Brandon Sweezer (NF) 4:37.40, 5) Jacob Kohlhoff (FM) 4:48.12, 6) David Sweezer (NF) 4:55.22, 11) Harrison Mobbs (FM) 5:18.86, 14) Lucas Fairbanks (FM) 5:22.24, 22) Cameron Crosby (FM) 5:32.97
200-yard free relay - 1) Fort Mill 1:30.00, 14) York 1:44.94
100-yard backstroke - 1) Matthew Adams (BE) 54.01, 2) Al Lim (FM) 55.08, 7) Mason Strohl (FM) 59.26, 25) David Trotter (FM) 1:05.82
100-yard breaststroke - 1) Walker Harwell (Soc) 1:00.84 2) Sam Van Buskirk (FM) 1:01.08, 5) Kyle Brooks (FM) 1:04.76, 9) Lucas Fairbanks (FM) 1:08.10, 12) Franklin Westerkamp (FM) 1:08.74, 31) Cas Johnson (Y) 1:17.84
400-yard free relay - 1) Fort Mill 3:18.91, 8) Nation Ford 3:35.34, 17) York 3:57.70
This story was originally published October 9, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Back-to-back SC swim titles for Fort Mill boys."