NORTH CHARLESTON – The Fort Mill boys’ swim team finished fifth in the state at the 5A boys swim championships Monday.
The boys’ team didn’t prevail as well as the girls’ team Saturday at the North Charleston Aquatic Center with a second-place finish, but still was able to have several swimmers place in the top 10 in events. Fort Mill scored 213 points, just two points behind Chapin with 215 points who finished in fourth place. JL Mann edged Wando by four points 314-310 to win the 5A state title. Nation Ford finished 23rd in the 5A meet.
Fort Mill’s best finish in the meet came in the 400-yard freestyle relay where they were second behind JL Mann by three seconds. The 400-yard freestyle relay for the Jackets consisted of Jack Dollyhigh, Owen Fey, Zachary Nelson and Max Reichert.
The Jackets had several top 10 finishes in the event for individual swimmers. Dollyhigh had four top 10s including the second in the 400-yard free relay, as well as two eighth place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard free relay and a ninth in the 500-yard freestyle. Fey had three top 10s with a ninth in the 200-yard freestyle, eighth in the 200-yard free relay and was part of the 400-yard free relay as well. Nelson had four top 10s with a ninth in the 200-yard medley relay, eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke, sixth in the 100-yard freestyle and was part of the 400-yard free relay. Reichert had four top 10s with a ninth in the 50-yard freestyle, two eighth place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard free relay and a second as part of the 400-yard free relay.
In the 4A boys state swim championship earlier in the day Monday, Catawba Ridge finished ninth in the state with 151 points. Eastside won the 4A title.
The Copperheads were led by Alexander Ritz, Ethan Curtis and Jake Root. Root had two top 10 finishes with an eighth place in the 200-yard medley relay and a sixth in the 200-yard free relay. Curtis had three top 10s with an eighth in the 200-yard medley relay, a sixth in the 200-yard free relay and 10th in the 100-yard butterfly. Ritz scored the most points for Catawba Ridge and had four top 10s. He was part of the 200-yard medley relay finishing eighth and the 200-yard free relay finishing sixth, as well as two fifth place finishes individually in the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
