COLUMBIA – The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets girls’ swim team cruised to a second consecutive 5A state title Saturday at the University of South Carolina natatorium.
Fort Mill scored 368.5 points with the help of a strong performance from senior Olivia Corbi, who set two school records in the meet. Second place finisher Chapin had 282 points.
“I was a little nervous,” Corbi said. “I used it to motivate me. We won by a lot and that was surprising. It was super fun this year.”
The Jackets book ended the meet winning the first and last events.
Fort Mill wasted no time in showing their strength as they won the opening event in the 200-yard medley relay featuring Ava Corbi, Lila Hadley, Josie Chandler, and Olivia Corbi.
At the end of the meet in the last event, Fort Mill won the 400-yard freestyle with Ava Corbi, Mia Pogorzelski, Hadley, and Olivia Corbi securing the title for the Jackets.
Olivia Corbi then turned right around after the first event and finished second in the second event, the 200-yard freestyle, in 1:51, being edged by just 1.47 seconds.
The Jackets had the lead at the first awards intermission and continued to push the pace in the pool.
Olivia Corbi would then finish second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:00, just four seconds behind the winner. Corbi broke school records for Fort Mill in both the 200 and 500-freestyle that had been held for the past decade.
Corbi’s performance was enough to keep the Jackets in the lead as both Chapin and JL Mann started closing the gap in the team standings.
Fort Mill got a scoring boost near the end of the event with a second-place finish from Hadley in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06. She also was fifth in the 200-yard individual medley.
Fort Milll head coach Cindy Van Buskirk was named 5A state girls swim coach of the year at the meet. Van Buskirk joins a small group of Fort Mill High coaches as the fourth coach ever to win multiple state championships for the Jackets and the fourth to win back-to-back titles at the school as well.
“Being a returning champion is always hard,” Van Buskirk said. “We worked very hard to repeat. This was tough. The seniors on this team and the captains did a phenomenal job encouraging the new girls.”
Van Buskirk had high praise for senior Olivia Corbi after the meet.
“I have enjoyed having her,” Van Buskirk said. “It has been a privilege. I respect how she stepped up. Tonight, her swims were for the team.”
Other Fort Mill swimmers getting top finishes included Ava Corbi also finished seventh in the 100-yard backstroke and 50-yard freestyle. Pogorzelski had two top 10s finishing sixth in the 200-yard freestyle and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle. Mac Spurrier was fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke for the Jackets.
The state title for Fort Mill was the 31st team state athletic championship for the school.
Nation Ford finished tied for fourth with Wando in the meet with 237 points. Their highest finisher was Sophie Bujoreanu. She had two individual top 10s including a second in the 100-yard backstroke and a sixth in the 100-yard butterfly. She scored 38 points for the Falcons.
The Falcons 200-yard medley relay finished third and the 200-yard free relay finished fourth. Avery Martin finished sixth in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle. Belle Kolatis finished seventh in the 100-yard butterfly. Kenna Zimmerly finished ninth in the 100-yard backstroke.
“I feel like we did well,” said Falcons head coach Alyssa McAlister. “The girls dropped times.”
In the 4A meet held before the 5A nightcap, Catawba Ridge finished sixth overall for the girl’s team, an improvement from last year’s 13th place finish.
“The team did amazing,” said Copperheads head coach Claire Stein. “They put in a lot of dedication and time.”
Eastside won the girl’s title with 583.5 points. Catawba Ridge had 158 points and was led by Amelia Meehan, who scored 22 points for them. Meehan had the individual best finish with an eighth in the 100-yard backstroke. She was also part of a fifth place 400-yard relay team along with AG Marino, Payton Roelandts and Maria Isabella Meehan. Maria Isabella Meehan was seventh in the 100-yard butterfly.
The 4A and 5A boys state meet is Monday, Oct. 16 back on the South Carolina campus.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
