Science Hill High School’s swimming and diving team extended its regional and conference winning streak to 11 years by capturing the boys, girls, and combined titles in the swimming portion of the meet Monday night at the Kingsport Aquatic Center. The diving portion will be held on Wednesday at Tennessee High School, but the results will not change the final standings.
The Hilltopper boys won every swimming event and went 1-2 in six of the eight individual events to score 617 points to runner-up Dobyns-Bennett’s 354 points. Tennessee High was third with 235 points.
The Lady Toppers won six out of eight individual events and all three relays, beating the Lady Indians, 596-342. Morristown West took third with a 177 score.
Individual event winners for Science Hill were: Jessica Green (200 freestyle and 100 butterfly), Lexi Gay (200 individual medley and 500 freestyle), Heather Kudialis (50 and 100 freestyles), Owen Devine (200 and 50 freestyles), Daniel Chang (200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke), Lucas Mills (100 butterfly), Will Wireman (100 freestyle), and Peyton Wilson (500 freestyle and 100 backstroke). Claire Gerlock from Johnson City, swimming as a home school athlete, was the regional champion in the 100 backstroke.
The Toppers set seven new regional records at the meet: Owen Devine in the 200 freestyle, Daniel Chang in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, Heather Kudialis in the 100 freestyle, the girls 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays of Kudialis, Gay, Green, and Katlyn Ayers, and the boys 200 freestyle relay of Chang, Devine, Wireman, and Mills. The boys relay record was also a Hilltopper team record.
“I am extremely proud of all our swimmers this evening,” Head Coach Chris Coraggio said. “After the distractions and interruptions caused by the weather last week, having the meet postponed, and needing the meet format to change from a prelims-finals competition to a timed finals event, our swimmers stayed focused, took the risk to be great, supported each other, and took care of business. Now we can reset our goals and get back to work for the state championship.”
The state championship meet will be held in Nashville on February 12-13.
