Bryant wins boys title behind Kang, Combs, Rhode and relays
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Turning in 21 top five finishes, the Bryant Hornets repeated as South District champions on[more] Friday at the Bishop Park Aquatic Center.
The dominating performance included first-place finishes (and all-District) honors for the 200 yard freestyle relay team of Casey Ball, Andrew Ball, Ray Weldon and Minki Kang and, individually, for Kang in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 200 individual medley.
The Hornets finished with 418 points to pace the field of nine teams. Magnolia was second with 260 followed by Benton (246), El Dorado (196), Arkadelphia (151), Arkansas Baptist (149), Camden Fairview (32), Hot Springs Lakeside (24) and Lake Hamilton (22).
The winning time for the 200 free relay quartet was 1:38.21. Kang’s time in the 200 was 1:53.29 and the IM, 1:59.42.
The Hornets placed second in two races as well as the one-meter dive. Leading a pack of four top-five finishers for the Hornets, Trace Rhode was second in the 500 free in a time of 5:55.31 with Nick Hoffpauir third (6:21.57), Ryan West fourth (7:05.38) and Spencer Qualls fifth (7:09.45).
In addition, Casey Ball, Weldon, Kang and Andrew Ball turned in a 1:53.20 to earn second in the 200 medley relay.
In the diving competition, Justin Combs was second with a score of 294.65 with Lucas Reitenger third with a 223.55 rating.
Joining Kang in the 200 free, West was third in the 200 free (2:26.69) while, in the 200 IM, Jim Dellorto finished third behind Kang with a time of 2:36.88 with Andrew Ball fourth in 2:38.90.
Weldon earned a third in the 100 breast stroke, finishing in 1:14.89 with Andrew Ball fourth in 1:16.98. Qualls was seventh in 1:28.79.
West, Hoffpauir, Rhode and Dellorto combined for the 400 free relay. Their 4:09.22 clocking was good for fourth place.
The Hornets picked up a bevy of points in the 100 butterfly. Dellorto was fifth (1:11.75), Rhode sixth (1:13.84) and Hoffpauir seveth (1:17.03).
Weldon was fifth in the 100 free (58.16) and Casey Ball produced a pair of fifth-place times. In the 100 back stroke, he clocked in at 1:06.93 and, in the 50 free, he finished in 24.79 with Reitender adding a 12th (27.93) and Combs adding 14th-place points (28.49).
The Hornets will compete in the Class 7A State meet on Feb. 22-23, with the diving on the first day and the swimming on the second. The meet will be held at UALR.
