GEORGETOWN
Breaking three school records — and recording 22 of 24 personal records — the Seymour girls swimming and diving team ended their season in style at the Floyd Central sectional on Saturday.
The Owls tallied 307 points for third place of 15 teams at Highland Hills Middle School’s pool.
Floyd Central won the meet with 483 points and Jeffersonville finished as runners-up at 472.
In the first race on the day, the 200 medley relay team of Katie Turner, Sarah Montgomery, Alexis Anders and Kenzie Persinger timed 1:53.92 to set a new SHS record.
The relay’s time placed second to Floyd Central, who clocked 1:51.51.
Another record broke in the 200 freestyle relay, as Turner, Montgomery, Persinger and Nastya Yakovleyva combined for a second place time of 1:40.84.
“It all just came together,” Owls coach Dave Boggs said. “They pumped each other up. We knew it would be a great meet competing with Floyd Central and Jeffersonville. We wanted to throw a monkey wrench into the works, and I think we did that. They did a great job today.”
Turner capped a stellar meet by setting the new Owls record in the 100 backstroke at 1:00.13.
“(Turner) just missed it by a fingernail last year,” Boggs said. “This year she got it by almost a full second. She’s very happy with her time.”.
Turner also finished fourth in the 50 freestyle (25.62).
Floyd’s Lauren Thompson placed first in the backstroke at 59.49.
Other Owls in the backstroke included Montgomery (third, 1:01.69) and Lou Anne Horaru (eighth, 1:07.84).
For the 100 freestyle, Persinger finished third (54.46) and Alexa McKinney was 16th in 1:40.06.
Persinger also placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke, hitting the final pad at 1:09.17.
Mary Kate Pritchett was eighth in the 100 breaststroke (1:12.28) and Anders placed 10th (1:14.73)
The 200 freestyle saw Yakovleyva finish sixth (2:03.79), Libby Rohr get 10th (2:08.00) and Molly Hayes place 13th (2:13.40).
Yakovleyva was seventh in the 500 freestyle, Rohr was 10th and Hayes placed 13th.
The 100 butterfly, which had four racers finish under one minute, saw the Owls’ Montgomery place fourth (59.79), Pritchett claim 10th (1:05.86) and Anders finish 15th (1:12.14).
In the diving well, sophomore Joey Cole was seventh with 262.10 points.
The 200 individual medley had Horaru place ninth (2:29.07), Cherish Bryant get 12th (2:44.07) and Arielle Skinner grab 14th (2:46.30).
While the Owls won’t send anyone to state, Boggs said that he couldn’t have been happier with the way his team performed.
“Today, we went at it with everything we had,” Boggs said. “We were 22 for 24 with three school records — it was a phenomenal day. “We thought we would get about third. Our goal was to get 300 points today and we got more than that. We had a lot of fun.
“We thought we would get about third. Our goal was to get 300 points today and we got more than that. I’m really proud of how we performed today.”
Anders, a senior, and Horaru (foreign exchange) will leave the Owls’ program.
“Alexis is a solid leader,” Boggs said. “She brings it to the pool every day. You always hate to see them go, but she’s off to bigger and better things. Her presence will be missed.”
“(Horaru) came out of nowhere from France. She is a great kid. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know her this year.”