BHS swimmers, divers finish regular season, prep for District

CONWAY — In a final tune-up before the South District championship meet on Friday, Feb. 12, and the State competition on Feb. 26-27, the Bryant High School swimming and diving teams finished third among women’s teams and fourth among men’s at the Conway Invitational held at the University of Central Arkansas on Thursday.

Cabot won the girls competition with 402 points. Conway was second with 368 with Bryant at 332. Pulaski Academy was fourth at 282 followed by Mount St. Mary Academy (192), Magnolia (130), Russellville (107), Benton (102) and Scranton (31).

For the boys, Conway won with 468.5 points to Cabot’s 375. Magnolia finished third with 344.5 points with Bryant finishing with 308 points. Russellville was fifth with 120 followed by Benton (110), Maumelle (59) and Pulaski Academy (19).

The Lady Hornets were second in four events including the 400-yard relay in which Katie Higgs, Lara Kockaya, Taylor Wilson and Jessica Butler turned in a 4:10.91 clocking. Cabot’s quartet of Jessie Baldwin, Melanie Abbott, Abigail Breedlove and Caytee Wright won in 3:54.11.

Butler accounted for second-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. Wilson added a second in the 500 free.

In the 50, Butler clocked in at 26.49, just short of the winning time of Allison Taylor of Pulaski Academy at 25.14. Libby Thompson was eighth in 28.16 and Reagan Smith 12^th in 29.52.

In the 100, Butler turned in a 58.41, finishing behind only Russellville’s Andrea Bond at 55.01. Smith was 11^th in 1:08.55.

In the 500, Wilson’s 6:02.48 was second to Wright of Cabot who turned in a 5:26.64 to far out-pace the field. Bryant’s Helen Woodham was ninth in 6:49.77 with Jamie Hammers 10^th in 7:14.96 and Elizabeth Milam 14^th in 8:25.64.

The Hornets’ top finishes were third-place efforts in three events including the 400 free relay with Ray Weldon, Chandler Reep, Kyle Henry and Michael Higgs combining on a 3:48.00.

Henry added a third in the 200 free, clocking in at 2:06.98, and Michael Higgs had the other in the 200 individual medley in 2:13.90.

Henry was joined by scoring efforts from Alex Ball (sixth, 2:16.90) and Jacob Rhode (eighth, 2:18.87). Along with Higgs, Tristan Hoerschelmann was 10^th in the 200 IM.

The Lady Hornets had two third-place finishes. In the 200 medley relay, Katie Higgs, Kockaya, Butler and Wilson combined on a 2:04.26. Higgs was third in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:10.86. Woodham was eighth in 1:19.32.

Kockaya turned in a fourth-place finish in the 200 IM, finishing in 2:38.27. Erin Vaughn was ninth (2:49.71), Hailey Addison 10^th (2:54.44) and Taylor Vaughn 16^th (3:11.00) to add to the Lady Hornets’ point total.

Paris Works was fourth in the one-meter dive for the Lady Hornets and Caivon Crosby was fourth for the Hornets in the event.

Henry turned in a fourth-place finish in the 500 free (5:42.13) with Jacob Rhode eighth (6:32.93) and Zachary Milam 13^th (7:24.46). Henry also contributed a leg to the fourth-place 200 medley relay team, joining Weldon, Reep and Michael Higgs on a 1:50.13.

Weldon finished fifth in the 100 backstroke and the 100 breast stroke. His backstroke time was 1:04.67 with Trevor Ball 12^th in 1:14.26. Weldon’s breast stroke time was 1:11.70 with Fonzee Bittle seventh (1:15.20), Zachary Milam 12^th (1:23.08) and Dylan Althen 15^th (1:30.09).

Reep was fifth in the 50 free, turning in a 24.36. Bittle was eighth in 25.73 with Trevor Ball 16^th in 28.59.

Alex Ball, Althen, Hoerschelmann and Bittle combined on a 1:51.79 clocking in the 200 free relay to earn fifth-place points.

Althen added a seventh in the 100 butterfly (1:13.72) while Hoerschelmann (12^th, 1:01.16) and Alex Ball (14^th, 1:02.48) added points in the 100 free.

The Lady Hornets’ quartet of Addison, Woodham, Thompson and Smith turned in a 2:01.46 to finished fifth in the girls 200 free relay. In the 100 butterfly, Katie Higgs was fifth in 1:09.45 followed by Erin Vaughn (ninth, 1:16.66) and Addison (12^th, 1:26.18).

Thompson picked up sixth-place points in the 100 breast stroke, clocking in at 1:21.27. Kockaya was eighth in 1:22.41 with Hammers 11^th in 1:03.83 and Elizabeth Milam 15^th in 1:34.63.

Taylor Wilson was seventh in the 200 free for Bryant’s girls. She touched in 2:19.08.