LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — BARBOURVILLE—While no swimmers from North Laurel or South Laurel advanced to the state swim meet, it was still a very successful season for both teams.

“Overall, I am very satisfied with my team’s performance not only at the region meet this past weekend, but for the whole season,” South Laurel coach Sarah Wilder said. “We got a late start this year, and spent about half the time in the pool that these other teams did. Still, we had nine swimmers qualify for the second day.”

In the men’s 400 freestyle relay, the team of Austin Phelps, Justin Phelps, Johnny May and Ruben Soto-Cantalejo qualified for the finals and finished in 15th place overall with a time of 4:47.66. The women’s 400 freestyle relay team of Hayden Combs (swam second day only), Sydney Parker (swam first day only), Julie-Beth Baker and Gracie Scott finished in 14th place with a time of 5:09.68. “Two of those swimmers had never swam before this season,” Wilder said. “We had swimmers who finished in the top half of the region, some higher. Sydney McWhorter, a sixth grader, finished 35th out of 77 in the girls’ 100 freestyle and 26th our of 75 in the girls’ 50 freestyle. Soto-Cantalejo, a junior, finished 38th out of 90 in the boys’ 50 freestyle and 25th out of 60 in the boys’ 100 breaststroke. Other swimmers broke personal best records, by huge amounts, as much as 21 seconds in some instances, and every swimmer went out and swan their fastest times while at the region competition. I would tell them a time for them to beat and they would go out and do it. It’s great to see so much improvement, especially from such a young team. They have the drive, desire and talent to be a very good team in the near future, and I can’t wait to see it unfold.”

South Laurel finished in 23rd in the combined team scores with 10. The Lady Cards finished tired for 19th with North Laurel in the women’s team rankings with 6 points, while the Cards finished in 19th in the men’s team standings with 4 points.

In the boys’ 200 medley relay, North Laurel was disqualified when one of its swimmers had an early take-off. In the girls’ 50 freestyle, Megan Mills finished in 15th place with a time of 27.59. The girls’ 200 freestyle relay saw North Laurel finished in 15th place with a time of 2:06.14. That team consisted of Sydney King, Morgan Bill, Meagen Bryant and Megan Mills. The boys 200 freestyle relay team of Randell James, Samuel Buckles, Jonah Deaton and Brett Walter placed 14th with a time of 1:59.07. The girls’ 400 freestyle relay team did not finish, while in the boys’ 400 freestyle relay, the team of Keller Brown, Randell James, Jonah Deaton and Austin Walter took 13th with a time of 4:18.82.

North coach Amy Stenger could not be reached for comments. See Friday's paper for story on Stenger's thoughts on the meet and season.

Paul Laurence Dunbar took the overall team title with 913 points, with Henry Clay taking second with 507. Dunbar took first in the women’s combined with 408 and first in the men’s combined with 505. Henry Clay took second in the women’s while Tates Creek took second in the men’s.



Combined Team Scores

1. Paul Laurence Dunbar, 913; 2. Henry Clay, 507; 3. Tates Creek, 441; 4. Lafayette, 428; 5. Lexington Catholic, 399; 6. Lexington Christian Academy, 338; 7. Madison Central, 327; 8. Model, 228; 9. Sayre, 216; 10. Bryan Station, 184; 11. Montgomery County, 109; 12. Johnson Central, 65; 13. Paris, 63; 14. Madison Southern, 51; 15. Pulaski County, 37; 16. Barbourville, 35; 17. Berea Community, 34; 17. George Rogers Clark, 34; 19. Rockcastle County, 26; 20. Knox Central, 23; 21. North Laurel, 20; 22. Southwestern, 18; 23. South Laurel, 10.

Women’s Team Rankings

1. Paul Laurence Dunbar, 408; 2. Henry Clay, 317; 3. Lexington Catholic, 299; 4. Madison Central, 251; 5. Lafayette, 230; 6. Lexington Christian Academy, 159; 7. Tates Creek, 122; 8. Sayre, 85; 9. Bryan Station, 73; 10. Model, 67; 11. Paris, 63; 12. Montgomery County, 42; 13. Pulaski County, 36; 14. Rockcastle County, 26; 15. Madison Southern, 24; 16. Knox Central, 23; 17. Berea Community, 16; 18. Johnson Central, 14; 19. North Laurel, 6, 19. South Laurel, 6; 21. Barbourville, 1.

Men’s Team Rankings

1. Paul Laurence Dunbar, 505; 2. Tates Creek, 319; 3. Lafayette, 198; 4. Henry Clay, 190; 5. Lexington Christian Academy, 179; 6. Model, 161; 7. Sayre, 131; 8. Bryan Station, 111; 9. Lexington Catholic, 100; 10. Madison Central, 76; 11. Montgomery County, 67; 12. Johnson Central, 51; 13. Barbourville, 34; 13. George Rogers Clark, 34; 15. Madison Southern, 27; 16. Southwestern, 18; 16. Berea Community, 18; 18. North Laurel, 14; 19. South Laurel, 4.



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