Record-breaking efforts of Butler, Kang highlight Bryant’s performance at State
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 Jamie Hester and Julia Combs
LITTLE ROCK — Sophomore Lindsey Butler and junior Minki Kang of Bryant each smashed[more] State records while earning all-State honors at the 2013 Arkansas High School championship swimming and diving meet at the UALR Aquatic Center on Saturday.
It’s the second year in a row for Butler to be all-State. She led the Bryant Lady Hornets to a sixth-place finish in the 31-team meet behind only Conway, Bentonville, Cabot, Mountain Home and Jonesboro.
Kang, a junior, led the Hornets to an 11th-place finish in a 26-team field, falling just 5 points short of tying Mountain Home for 10th place.
Butler’s record came in the 100 yard backstroke. Her time of 58.23 beat the previous State record of 58.30 set in 2010 by Lauren Tininenko of Bentonville and Shelby Cox of Pulaski Academy.
Kang’s new standard was set in the 500 yard freestyle, which he finished in 4:32.52. The previous mark was 4:35.34, set by Conway’s Chris Jacobsen in 2009.
Butler also finished third in the 50 free with a time of 24.69 and joined two
Bryant relay squads, which won medals. (The top six finishers in each event earned medals.)
In the 200 medley relay, Butler, Libby Thompson, Katie Higgs and Kalee Jackson finished fourth with a time of 2:03.10. In the 200 free relay, Higgs, Reagan Smith, Jackson and Butler took fifth in a time of 1:50.02.
Kang earned all-State honors in the 200 free as well as the 500. He won the 200 in a time of 1:42.34.
Justin Combs also earned a medal. He finished fourth in the one-meter dive with a score of 319.40.
Higgs scored for the Lady Hornets in the 100 yard backstroke, finishing in a time of 1:07.01. She was 13th in the 100 yard butterfly clocking in at 1:08.02.
In the diving competition, Bryant’s Kaitlin Howey picked up points with a 13th place finish. She earned a score of 137.95.
In addition, the 400 yard relay quartet of Sarah White, Smith, Julianna Shelton and Jackson picked up 13th-place points with a time of 4:27.53.
Adding to the Hornets’ scoring was Lucas Reitenger, who was 10th in the dive competition, earning a score of 201.65.
Each of the Hornets’ relays also produced points, topped by the 200 free relay team of Casey Ball, Andrew Ball, Ray Weldon and Kang. They placed ninth with a time of 1:39.65.
In the 200 medley relay, the same foursome finished 10th in 1:53.05, while in the 400 free, Casey Ball, Jim Dellorto, Nick Hoffpauir and Trace Rhode teamed up on a 3:58.59 to take 16th.
Bryant head coach Angel Dale expressed her pride in her team and extended special thanks to her assistant, Lisa Mundy, for her help this season.
