Iron Horse girls’ swim team cap top ten finish at state
The Philip Simmons High School girls’ swimming team celebrated its best finish ever at the state championships, which were contested Oct. 8-11 at the Carolina Natatorium in Columbia.
The Iron Horses finished in sixth place out of the 22 teams that competed in Class AAA. St. Joseph’s of Greenville captured f irst place with 583 points.
Academic Magnet was second with 360.5, and Christ Church, third with 290.
The Iron Horse girls finished in the top 10 in nine events, including a bronze medal in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
The Iron Horses were strong in the freestyle events. Anna Dyson placed fifth in the 200 free, while Nora Ross was ninth. Ronnel St. Germain placed ninth in the 50 free. Dyson was fourth in the 500 free, and Ross claimed seventh place.
The 200 freestyle relay team placed sixth, while Ella Teschke swam well, placing fifth in both the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke.
“I have been coaching for about 15 years and have had the privilege of seeing athletes come into their own and blossom,” said coach Kevin Mongan. “Most of our athletes this season were middle school students from Philip Simmons Middle and Daniel Island School and never let their age hold them back. Their competitive nature and team spirit shined throughout the season and were exemplified at the state championships. They came together, raced hard, and succeeded! We could not be more proud of them and cannot wait to see what the future has in store!”
The Iron Horse boys also performed well with a 10th-place finish in the team standings; Academic Magnet posted a 512.5-426 victory over St. Joseph. Greer Middle College finished third with 423.
Eighth-grader Colton Salta had a big day for the Iron Horses with a sixth-place finish in the 100 backstroke. Salta was a member of the 200 medley relay team that finished eighth and the 200 freestyle relay that was seventh.
XC COACHES CLASSIC
Both Philip Simmons and Bishop England had strong performances at the Oct. 10 Bob Jones Coaches Classic, a major cross-country meet on the path to the state championships, which will be held next month.
The Iron Horse boys placed third in the International Division, a 5K race that featured 260 runners.
Greer Middle College was first with 102, J.L. Mann was second with 183, and PSHS was third with 207. Bishop England claimed 13th place.
The Iron Horse girls placed fourth in a race that included 250 runners. Fort Mill was crowned champ with 91 points.
Mauldin was second with 148 and Bluffton third with 185. Bishop England finished in 12th.
The 5K race was held at Newberry College, and the Iron Horses and Bishops tuned up for the rest of the regular season, and then it’s on to region championships.
Avah Mallek led the Iron Horse girls with a time of 19 minutes and 5.68 seconds, which was good for 13th place. Laura Perry was 15th, Keziah Varner 34th, Flynn Taylor 68th, and Stella Winiger was 98th.
Nora Brahim led the BE girls with a 12th-place finish with a time of 19:03.72. Siena D’Agostino was 53rd, Addison Wood finished in 66th place, Katie Cheverie was 86th, and Katie McKinnon placed 134th.
Matthew Perry covered the 5K course in 16:24.00 to lead the Iron Horses boys. Trent Manning was 33rd, Grady Castiglia was 47th, Brian Stambaugh was 54th, and Griffin Tollison was 58th.
Jackson Muller led the BE boys with a 45th-place time of 16:55.00. Gabe Hislop was 67th, Ben Huntington 70th, Logan Schallenberger was 109th, and Jude Asmer was 128th.