Butler leads Lady Hornets to third-place finish at State swim/dive championships
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continue posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
Photos courtesy of DeDe Gillespie
LITTLE ROCK — Freshman Lindsey Butler earned all-State honors with her second-place finish in[more] the 200-yard backstroke to help the Bryant Lady Hornets finish third at the State swimming and diving championship meet on Saturday at UALR. Diving was held Friday night.
The Bryant boys, meanwhile, shackled by DQ’s in two relays finished 18th in the 23-team competition.
Bentonville won double titles, topping the 29-team girls field with 409 points. Conway was second at 319.5, followed by Bryant at 176. Fayetteville (149) and Mountain Home (142) completed the top five.
Among the boys teams, Bentonville finished with 372 points with Little Rock Catholic and Little Rock Central tying for second with 271. Conway was fourth at 209 with North Little Rock fifth at 164. The Hornets finished with 28 points with 18 of that coming from the team’s divers.
Butler’s 1:01.51 clocking in the 100 back was second only to Lauren Tininenko of Bentonville, who broke the one-minute mark at 58.68.
“I am extremely proud of the third-place finish for the girls team,” declared Bryant swimming and diving coach Angel Dale. “The girls brought home a medal in every event they swam except the 400 relay. However, the 400 relay team had a personal record, several seconds faster than they have finished all year. Jinson Kang lowered her time a full second in the 200 free.”
Kang was fourth in that event with a time of 2:03.20. She was fifth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:20.44.
Butler added fifth-place points in the 50 free, as well. She finished in 26.24.
Lindsey Butler, Amanda Butler, Kang and Emily Dabbs combined on a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. They turned in a time of 2:06.57. The same quartet (in a different order) took fourth in the 200 freestyle relay as well, clocking in at 1:51.50.
Amanda Butler, Sarah White, Courtney Wells and Dabbs teamed up in the 400 free relay, which set a new best time for the group at 4:36.10 to place ninth.
Like the boys, the girls scored heavily in the dive competition, led by Alise Heavrin’s fourth-place finish with a score of 280.75. Courtney Bulthuis was seventh (232.45), Morganne Gillespie 11th (192.40) and Tiffany Robinson 12th (183.70).
“The boys had a hard day with the two relay DQ’s,” Dale stated. “It is hard to get in the top 10 without all your relays. The divers helped by bringing in quite a few points.”
Justin Combs led the effort in the dive competition, placing seventh with a score of 261.60. Scott Mead was 12th (231.85) and Lucas Reitenger 16th (206.05).
The boys earned points in the 200 medley relay. The foursome of Casey Ball, Dylan Rogers, Hayden Stewart and Jake Tipton turned in a 1:59.69 to finish 12th.
