The Huntsville High School Crimson Panthers swept the Alabama High School 6A-7A team titles over the weekend at the state championships in Auburn. Alabama divides their state championship meet into two divisions, 1A-5A (smaller schools) and 6A-7A (larger schools).
Girls meet recap
Top five teams:
- Huntsville High School: 321
- Bob Jones High School: 301
- Auburn High School: 195.5
- St. Paul’s Episcopal: 176.5
- Grissom High School: 162
Huntsville was led by senior sprinter Julia Krichev, who won the 50 free, finished second in the 100 back and played a key role in Huntsville winning 200 medley and 400 free relays. Krichev, who will join the University of Richmond for next fall, dominated the 50 free by posting a new lifetime best 23.52 to win by almost 7 tenths. Later on, she returned to finish second in the 100 back in 56.96. Her teammate, fellow senior Mia McBride, won the 100 back in 56.31. McBride will be heading north to West Virginia in the fall to swim for Marshall University.
Krichev also led off Huntsville’s winning 200 medley in 26.66 and was followed by Claire Quadrini, McBride and Sarah Pauley to take the win in 1:46.37. Krichev, McBride and Pauley were joined by freshman Meghan Pauley to take the win in the 400 free relay thanks to Krichev’s 51.60 anchor leg.
Runner-up Bob Jones High was led by sophomore Samantha Chan, who won both of her individual events on the day. In the 200 IM, Chan won by almost two seconds in 2:06.59, and later returned to win the 100 fly by two and half seconds in 55.00. Both of those swims are lifetime bests for Chan, who also played a key role on Bob Jones’ runner-up 200 medley and 400 free relays.
Bob Jones also won the 200 free relay in 1:38.90, thanks to a pair of 24 low splits on the back half of their relay by Constance Wang and Meli Mbuko.
Other individual event winners:
- 1 meter diving: Blakeslee Elliot (Ums Wright Prep): 357.60
- 200 free: Lena Amare (Fairhope): 1:52.45
- 100 free: Lena Amare (Fairhope): 51.38
- 500 free: Sarah Pauley (Huntsville): 5:03.85
- 100 breast: Sofia Roberts (Grissom): 1:04.94
Boys meet recap
Top five teams:
- Huntsville High School: 399
- Bob Jones High School: 209
- Auburn High School: 198
- Fairhope High School: 183
- Vestavia Hills High School: 167
The Huntsville boys were even more dominant than their girls team, running away with the team state title over Bob Jones by almost 200 points.
The Crimson Panthers were led by uncommitted high school junior Samuel Hardy, who won the 200 and 500 free. In the 200 free, Hardy posted a new lifetime best of 1:43.20 to put himself nearly a second and a half clear of the field. Later on in the 500, Hardy swam another lifetime best of 4:42.67 to win by over four seconds.
His sophomore teammate Bradford Johnson was also impressive on the weekend, winning the 100 fly in 48.07 after posting a lifetime best of 47.97. Johnson also split a 21.51 fly leg on the 200 medley relay, 21.41 on the 200 free relay and led off in 46.80 on the 400 free relay, all of which Huntsville won.
Also impressing for Huntsville was senior Chris Bedsole, who finished fourth in the 50 free in 21.59, second in the 100 free in 46.97 and posted the fastest split on both of Huntsville’s winning free relays. Both of those swims are just off of the Missouri State commit’s lifetime bests of 21.37 and 46.37 from last spring’s NCSA Championships.
Just as in the girls meet, Bob Jones High School in Madison, Alabama was the runner up. Bob Jones was led by sophomore sprinter Michael Tretyakov, who finished third in the 50 free in 21.32 and won the 100 free in 46.88. He also split a 20.98 anchoring Bob Jones’ runner up 200 free relay and anchored in 46.51 on their 2nd place 400 free relay. Both of those times were lifetime bests for the sophomore, who does his club swimming with Madison Swim Association.
Other individual event winners:
- 1 meter diving: Garrett George (Grissom) 428.70
- 200 IM: William Jameson (St. Paul’s Episcopal): 1:52.93
- 50 free: Cade McComb (James Clemens): 20.92
- 100 back: Stephen Conrad (St. Paul’s Episcopal): 49.02
- 100 breast: John Choung (James Clemens): 57.48
Mr. Johnson,
I hope that Auburn can be made into your home pool in a few years! Beautiful 100 fly! Keep up the hard work!
WEA