Region III Champs! (Click to view larger image.)
The Spotswood Trailblazers won their second straight Region III Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship , rolling over the William Byrd Terriers 140.5 – 96 Saturday at JMU’s Savage Natatorium. William Byrd jumped out to an early lead when they won the opening event, the 200 Medley Relay, in meet record time as the Spotswood women took second. But in the second event, the 200 Free, the Blazers depth took over as Spotswood placed four swimmers in the top six spots (Jessie Arnold 1st, Savannah Hepner 2nd, Emily Smith 4th and Stephanie Hertzenberg 6th) to rack up 24 points and move past the Terriers into the lead. From there, the Blazers were never threatened in a dominating performance. The victory also helped earn Spotswood Coach Barbara Palmer her second consecutive Region III Coach of the Year honor.
Region III Swimmer and Coach of the Year, Jessie Arnold and Barbara Palmer. (Click to view larger image.)
Spotswood was led by star freshman Jessie Arnold and senior co-captain Katherine Adkins. Arnold won two events, the 200 Free and 500 Free to earn the award for the meet’s top female swimmer, and Adkins captured the 50 Free.
In total, eleven different swimmers scored for the Blazers in the individual and relay events. Arnold led the way with 24.5 points, followed by Adkins and Olivia Sheffer (20 points each), Angie Kim (19 points), Savannah Hepner (16 points), Emily Smith (13 points), Coral Dean (8 points), Divers Makena Rafferty-Lewis (7points) and Caitlin Syptak (5 points), Stephanie Hertzenberg (5 points) and Sierra Hepner (3 points).
Arnold, Adkins, Dean, Savannah Hepner, Hertzenberg, Kim, Rafferty-Lewis, Sheffer, Smith, and Syptak all advanced to the VHSL State Championship meet next Friday and Saturday in Christiansburg.
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On the Men’s side, Spotswood took fifth place with 64 points, as Turner Ashby won the title with 110 points. The Blazers were led by senior Austin Folsom, who won the 200 Free with a time of 1:51.51. Senior diver Andrew Echard finished second, as did the Blazer’s 400 Free Relay team of Andrew Krauss, Jack Cooper, Clay Sowers and Austin Folsom.
In total, the Blazer’s scoring was led by Folsom (20 points), Jack Cooper (10 points), Andrew Krauss (8 points), Echard (7 points), diver Reid Miner (6 points), Clay Sowers (6 points), diver Adam Hissong (5 points) and Kris Schaeffer (2 points).
Folsom, Cooper, Krauss, Sowers, Echard, Miner and Hissong advance to the State Championship meet next Friday and Saturday in Christiansburg.
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SHS Records Broken:
The following school records were broken at the Region III meet:
Austin Folsom broke his own 200 free record
Jessie Arnold broker her own 200 and 500 free records
Boys 400 free Relay- Folsom, Cooper, Sowers, Krauss
Girls 200 Medley relay- Sheffer, Kim, Adkins, Arnold
Girls 200 Free Relay- Sheffer, Kim, Sa. Hepner, Adkins
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Pics and Info Submitted by SHS Coach Barbara Palmer
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