On Wednesday, Great Crossing and Scott County High Schools hosted their first home meet of the season against Montgomery County. Even though the event was spectator free (a Covid 19 Safety precaution), it was hard to tell with all the sounds of excitement and support from the student athletes for their teammates, albeit slightly muffled by masks (another safety precaution.)
Scott County won the Men’s division with 1st place finishes in the 200 IM (Kole Brannock), 100 Fly (Jay Wilson), 100 Free (Chord Coyle), 500 Free (Michael Wilson), 200 Free Relay (Andrew Batten, C. Coyle, J. Wilson, Brannock), 100 Back (Brannock), and the 400 Free Relay (Coyle, Batten, M. Wilson, Brannock). Notable Cardinal male finishes also include 2nd place in the 200 Medley Relay (M. Wilson, J. Wilson, Emory Coyle, Julian Boggess), 2nd in the 200 Free (E. Coyle), 2nd and 3rd place in the 50 Free (C. Coyle, M. Wilson) and 3rd place in 100 Free (Batten).
Not to be out shined, the Scott County Girls had great races as well. Scott County seniors Maddie Zaheri, Katie Helmond, and Allie Viney, along with sophomore, Allie Pickerill finished 2nd in the 200 Medley and 3rd in the 200 Free relays. Zaheri went on the finish 1st in the 200 IM and 2nd in the Backstroke. Helmond took 2nd in the 200 Free and 3rd in the 100 Back. Viney finished 3rd in the 100 Free and achieved a new personal best time in the 100 Breaststroke.
Great Crossing had an impressive meet with several wins and personal bests. Ella Kaak out touched her MC opponent by a quarter of a second to win the women’s 50 Free and took 1st in the 100 Breast. Chloe Wallen finished 3rd in the 50 Freestyle less that 6 tenths of a second behind first place. Wallen also took 2nd in another close race in the 100 Free. Lilly Batten finished in 2nd in the 200 IM, dropping 12 seconds from her previous high school swim time. With less than 3 minutes rest between events, Becca Montgomery finished 2nd in both the 100 Fly and the 500 Free, two of the more grueling events in high school swimming. Kaak, Wallen, Batten, & Montgomery won the 200 Free and finished 2nd in the 400 Free relays. Even more Warhawk swimmers had great races. Abbigail Smith, setting a new personal best time, finished 3rd in the 100 Breast, and Ava Chesney finished 3rd in the 500 Free. Bram Parker finished 1st in the Men’s 200 Free and 2nd in the 100 Breast. Porter Griffith finished 3rd in the 200 Free. Contributing greatly to the team, Great Crossing Divers Lilly Batten and Tyler Bryan both finished second place in their divisions.
The final overall team scores were MC 324, SC 207, GC 173. The Cardinals and Warhawks will compete next against Lexington Catholic on March 3rd.