The Tennessee men’s swimming & diving team won their 25th TISCA Tennessee State Championship, including their 7th in the last 9 years, on Saturday in Knoxville Tennessee, running away with the title by 72 points over runners-up Memphis University School.
On the girls side, Harpeth Hall took their second-straight title, and 10th overall, by a narrower, but still convincing, 250-210 margin over Hardin Valley Academy.
Editor’s Note: The Tennessee High School state meet has a unique format, where the meet is competed up to the dive break on day 1, in a morning-evening prelims-finals format, and then the second-half of the meet is competed on day 2, prelims-finals.
Team Scores – Top 5
Men
- The Baylor School – 273
- Memphis University School – 201
- Bearden High School – 172
- Science Hill High School – 163
- Memphis Home Education Association – 135
Women
- Harpeth Hall – 250
- Hardin Valley Academy – 210
- Girls Preparatory School – 194
- The Baylor School – 153
- St. Mary’s Episcopal School – 147
Men’s Recap
With the top two swimmers in the men’s 50 free, Chatham Dobbs and Christian Selby, not attempting the sprint double at this meet, Bearden High School freshman Caleb Harrington was left to win the men’s 100 free in a hotly-contested battle with a 45.43. The freshman showed some courage by pushing out hard on the first 50, and had just enough to hold off seniors Adam Thomas (45.51) and Jamie Ragland (45.68) for the win.
Harrington is already within a second of Selby’s State Record in the event.
In the next race, Smhea High School’s Walker Higgins won the men’s 500 free in 4:23.18, beating out Hayden Burns (4:24.75). Higgins earned separation with a tough last 50 split of 25.69.
That handed things back off to the 200 free relay, where the overall-dominant Baylor boys got their first win of the day, swimming a 1:23.11. That just missed the program’s own State Record in the event (1:22.72) that was set in 2009.
The relay included Christian Selby (20.58), Chandler Espy (20.95), Matthew Boyer (20.95), and Gershwin Green (20.63): all four swimmers under 21 seconds.
Memphis University School got a 20.33 anchor from Christian Berry, and Montgomery Bell got a 20.05 anchor from Chatham Dobbs, the two fastest splits of the field, but that was still not enough to overcome the overwhelming depth of Baylor. MUS took 2nd in 1:24.48 and MBA took 3rd in 1:25.84.
That result, along with a 3rd-place finish from senior diver Ryan Smith, gave Baylor enough breathing room that they could really attack the meet’s last few events. Smith was 3rd behind champion Jacob Siler of L&N Stem Academy, who won his first state title.
Siler’s win gave way to one in the next event by his teammate James Bretscher in the boys’ 100 back. Bretscher swam a 48.31 with a tempered first 50 and a hammered second 50 to pull away from HVA’s Will Arthur (49.29).
Again, no win from Baylor, as they didn’t take this title on individual victories, but rather on the basis of a full team effort. They were one of only two teams to have multiple scorers in the 100 back, and even without winning the event still picked up 19 points – just one fewer than Stem earned even with the victory.
Franklin High School senior Ethan Browne took the day’s last individual event, the 100 breaststroke, in 54.75, and in the process broke the 7-year old State Record of 54.88 done by Curtis Lovelace in 2008.
The last race of the day on the boys’ side was the 400 free relay, and the result was another Baylor victory, giving them a clean sweep of the meet’s relays. Christian Selby (44.82), Jack Best (46.96), Will Raines (47.17), and Trey Freeman (45.50) combined to swim 3:04.45 to win wire-to-wire over Memphis University School (3:06.78) and Bearden High School (3:06.91).
Girls Recap
The girls’ meet almost mirrored the boys’ on the second day, as the team from Harpeth Hall didn’t win a single individual event but still picked up enough relay points to secure the victory.
That included a 1:35.20 in the 200 free relay with a team of Sophie Pilkinton, Isabel Kennon, Elizabeth Stinson, and Julia Eskew. That’s a veteran group, with the first three swimmers all being seniors, but they handed it out to the freshman Eskew who had their fastest split with a 23.03 anchor – foreshadowing continued success for this program in the future.
The Baylor girls took 2nd in 1:35.38, including a 23.33 second leg from junior Maggie Stovall.
Harpeth Hall didn’t win the 400 free relay, as that title went to Harden Valley’s foursome of Courtney Aycock (51.41), Ashley Darby (51.37), Carissa Armijo (52.11), and Erica Laning (51.08) in a 3:25.97. The come-from-behind anchor by Laning, though, was just a final battle win for Harden Valley, as Harpeth Hall placed safely 2nd in 3:26.27 to lock up the team title.
In the individual swims, HH’s aforementioned freshman Eskew wasn’t the only young swimmer at the top of the heap. She swam a 50.98 to place 2nd behind fellow freshman Riley Gaines of Station Camp, with Gaines’ victory coming in 50.31. That was Gianes’ second victory of the day: she also won the 100 fly in 54.91.
Next up came CPA junior Tatum Wade, who won the girls’ 500 free in 4:44.00 – beating out Harpeth Hall senior Elizabeth Stinson (4:47.89). That was over a three-second improvement upon Wade’s personal best time, and it was the junior’s second-straight state championship. Stinson and Wade combined to win the last four state titles in the event.
MHEA’s Katie Kelsoe was dominant in the women’s 100 backstroke in one of the more lopsided results of the meet. She swam a 54.32 to win, with the runner-up Lauren Mabie touching in 57.08. That’s a lifetime best for the senior Kelsoe.
The last individual event of the day, the 100 breaststroke, went to University School of Nashville’s Elena Escalas in 1:03.12 – sending the senior out with her first state title in what would be her last high school swim.
Susanna LaRochelle took 2nd in 1:03.39, and Alyssa Hale was 3rd in 1:05.09.