Westminster Boys, Girls Dominate to Defend Georgia 1-3A State Championship Titles

Photo Courtesy: David Rieder

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The 2019 Georgia 1-3A State Championships took place on Saturday, Feb. 9 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga.

Both the Westminster boys and girls successfully defended their team titles this year in dominant fashion, marking their 48th and 49th championship crowns, respectively, in program history.

Click here for full results.

Boys Meet

Top 5 Team Scores:

Westminster – 572
Calhoun – 215
Wesleyan – 205.5
Greater Atlanta Christian – 179
Atlanta International – 176

The meet began as Westminster’s Miles Clayton (24.16), Savaan Shah (26.26), Daniel Barra (22.86) and Cole Hinkes (21.02) won the opening 4×50 medley relay in 1:34.30 – over five seconds ahead of runner-up Atlanta International (1:39.45).

Mt. Paran Christian’s Mitchell Norton cruised to first in the 200 free, stopping the clock in a final time of 1:41.24 to win by 2.5 seconds. Norton later claimed second in the 100 free in 45.75 behind Pace Academy’s Charlie Kaye who won in 45.33. Kaye later won the 100 back in 49.35 as the only swimmer in the field to break 50 seconds.

Jefferson’s Jackson Harvin, a Georgia Tech commit, powered home to first in the 200 IM in 1:52.62. He held off a charging Michael Jeschke of Aquinas who finished second in a close 1:52.91.

Atlanta International’s Nicholas Goudie sprinted to the wall in a quick 20.40 as the only swimmer under the 21-second mark in the 50 free. Soon after, he was back in the pool to earn another gold in the 100 fly after getting his hands to the wall in 49.61 to crack 50 seconds.

Holy Innoncents’ Spencer Pearson dove to first on the 1-meter board, posting a final score of 559.20 for the win. Benedictine’s Taylor Bland led the entire A-final under one minute in the 100 breast, getting his hands to the wall the fastest in 57.15.

It was a three-way race for the 500 free state title, in which Daniel Clark of North Cobb Christian ultimately took the top spot with 4:40.99. He was closely followed by Charlie Stout (4:41.15) of George Walton Academy and Aiden Hintz (4:41.65) of Savannah Arts Academy.

Westminster’s Connor Hinkes (21.22), Donovan Mitchell (21.71), Cole Hinks (21.31) and Grayson Harralson (20.46) won their second relay of the day, this time claiming the 4×50 free relay by five seconds in 1:24.70.

Westminster went three-for-three on relays: the 4×100 free relay squad of Harralson (46.62), Peter Bernot (47.68), Dylan Vroon (46.80) and Connor Hinkes (46.85) concluded the meet in 3:07.95 for a 10-second victory.

Girls Meet

Top 5 Team Scores:

Westminster – 445
Greater Atlanta Christian – 273
Jefferson – 232
Wesleyan – 227
Calhoun – 196

Greater Atlanta Christian’s Savannah Mitchell (27.10), Thien-An Maynard (28.82), Caroline Khan (26.40) and Mitsue Ostapiuk (24.32) began the girls’ meet as champions in the 4×50 medley relay with a combined time of 1:46.64.

Holy Innocents’ Abby Pilkenton powered home to the gold medal in the 200 free as the only swimmer in the race under the 1:50-mark, doing so in 1:47.06. Her second victory of the day came in the 100 free where she won by nearly a full second in 50.14.

Westminster freshman Gigi Johnson posted an impressive time of 1:59.87 in the 200 IM, besting the field by six seconds as the only swimmer to break two minutes. She then went on to win the 100 breast in 1:03.09.

Aquinas’ Anna Summers splashed-and-dashed her way to a win in the 50 free in a quick 23.92. Mitchell cruised to first in the 500 free as the only athlete under the five-minute mark with a new lifetime best of 4:56.67. Wesleyan’s Hannah Wasmuth took gold in the 100 back in 56.49.

Pace Academy’s Elizabeth Kaye dove to first on the 1-meter board with a total score of 611.45 – nearly 100 points ahead of the runner-up. Savannah Arts Academy’s Victoria Rucker out-touched Lovett’s Avery Bargeron for the 100 fly gold medal, getting her hands to the wall first in 55.69 to Bargeron’s 55.71.

Westminster’s Johnson (23.42), Samantha Bertschi (24.24), Annie Jardina (23.47) and Eliza Normark (23.76) won the 4×50 free relay in 1:34.89, and concluded the meet by also taking the top spot in the 4×100 free relay in a time of 3:26.85.

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Stephanie Harvin

5 years ago

Jackson Harvin

Glen Hummer

5 years ago

And Abby Pilkenton’s times in both 100 and 200 Free wins were best in the State, across all classifications from 1 to 7A! And both All-American times as well.