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Porter-Gaud swept the girls and boys’ 3A State swimming titles at the South Carolina Independent Schools Association swimming championships Saturday in Augusta, Ga. In the 1A/2A division, Spartanburg Day was the top team in the girls’ competition, and Oakbrook Prep won the boys’ meet.
3A Girls
Led by sisters Elysse and Kaila Pardus, Porter-Gaud rolled through the competition, winning six out of 11 events. Elysse Pardus won comfortably in both the 100 fly and 500 free, setting meetrecords in both. She touched in 55.21 in the 100 fly and 4:58.50 in the 500 free. Younger sister Kaila won the 200 IM (2:12.57) and 100 breast (1:06.85), and both contributed to two first place relays.
Elysse Pardus, Kaila Pardus, Gelsey Jaymes and Annie Chapman won the 200 medley relay in 1:52.54, just short of Porter-Gaud’s state record from last year, and Alexa Johnson, Kaila Pardus, Jaymes and Elysse Pardus finished first in the 400 free relay in 3:55.76.
Heathwood Hall, second in the team competition, also produced some impressive results. Savannah Hillmeyer set meet records in winning both the 100 free (53.47) and 100 back (58.21), and she anchored Heathwood’s 200 free relay to victory in 1:45.08. Teammates Lily Richter, Abby Wilson and Olivia Moran also contributed to that effort.
Ben Lippen’s Lydia Parrish posted a meet record-time of 24.65 in the 50 free, and Cardinal Newman’s Sarah Liebenow captured first place in the 200 free in 2:05.02.
Porter-Gaud ended up with 217 points, well ahead of Heathwood’s final total of 173. Ashley Hall was third with 135.
3A Boys
The Porter-Gaud boys were even more dominant than their girls in the team race, again winning six of 11 events contested as sophomores Willem Goedecke and Daniel Kassis each had huge days.
Goedecke won the 200 free in 1:43.45 and then came back minutes later to set a meet record of 52.82 to win the 100 fly. Kassis dominated the 200 IM with a massive back half, posting a 1:57.63 and a new meet record. He also captured first in the 100 breast in 1:01.42.
Michael Doyle, Kassis, Goedecke and Brian Rieder blasted a 1:43.15 in the 200 medley relay, and the PG boys also won comfortably in the 400 free relay, with Kassis, Alex Hannegan, Doyle and Goedecke posting a 3:24.17. Both efforts were new meet records.
Ben Lippen’s Matthew Fadel grabbed a pair of first place finishes, in the 100 free (47.91) and 500 free (4:53.03). Teammate Alex Brooks won the 100 back in 53.95.
Cardinal Newman’s Emmanuel Cunningham finished first in the 50 free in 22.39, and Pinewood Prep, on its way to a second-place finish in the team race, won the 200 free relay in 1:34.21. Ray Mennetti, Nathan Greenslit, Krish Patel and Connor Campbell contributed to that effort.
Porter-Gaud finished with 249 points, well ahead of Pinewood’s 166. Ben Lippen finished third with 129.
1A/2A Girls
Heritage Academy’s Chloe Corbitt and Spartanburg Day’s Grace Van Brunt each were double winner in the 1A/2A division. Corbitt won both the 200 free (1:55.87) and 100 fly (57.46), while Van Brunt took first in the 200 IM (2:12.44) and 100 back (1:00.80). Jackson.
Hilton Head Christian’s Grace Hilton won the 100 free in 59.59, and she led her team to two relay victories. Hilton, Ashley Weaver, Sterling Burd and Audrey Robinson took first in the 200 medley relay in 2:06.50. Hilton, Robinson, Burd and Weaver later won the 200 free relay in 1:51.13.
Palmetto Christian’s Lauren Pernell won the 50 free in 27.10, and Christian Academy Myrtle Beach’s Braedyn Jackson finished first in the 500 free in 5:49.40. Mead Hall’s Adelle Dennis won the 100 breast in 1:14.96, and she then anchored the squad of Macy Bagwell, Zoe Debordeaux and Reagan Houck to a win in the 400 free relay, clocking 4:13.83.
In an extremely tight finish in the team race, Spartanburg Day edged Hilton Head Christian by just a point and a half, 143 to 141.5. In third was St. Andrews’s at 101 points.
1A/2A Boys
Oakbrook Prep finished first in just one individual events, but that plus two relay wins and great depth were enough for a state championship. Will Patterson won the 500 free in 5:04.01, and he swam the breaststroke leg on Oakbrook’s winning 200 medley relay. He joined teammates Bryce Glenn, Slade Glenn and Greg Thalassenos to finish in 1:46.11, and Slade Glenn, Bryce Glenn, Drew Patterson and Will Patterson closed out the meet with a 400 free relay triumph (3:32.18).
Heritage Academy teammates Noah Corbitt and Clayton North each had outstanding performances on the day. Corbitt finished first in the 200 free and 100 free, both in meet record-time. He clocked times of 1:41.65 in the 200 free and 46.70 in the 100 free. North, meanwhile, won both the 200 IM (2:03.75) and 100 fly (56.14) in dominant efforts.
Spartanburg Day (second in the team race) picked up first in the 200 free relay in 1:39.36 with William Owens, Tommy Leonardi, Ligon Chewning and Geoffrey McVey swimming each of the four legs. McVey also won the 100 breast in 1:06.08, and other event victories came from Mead Hall’s Sam Johnson in the 50 free (23.53) and Palmetto Christian’s Sam Biggerstaff in the 100 back (1:00.49).
Oakbrook won with 185 points, well ahead of Spartanburg Day (143) and Palmetto Christian (113).
