Swimming Tigers shine at Region championship
Boys', combined team finish 6th
The USN HS swim team took 26 swimmers to the MTHSSA Region championship meet last Friday, in search of lifetime bests and new state qualifying times.
With over 80 teams competing, the boys’ and combined teams each finished 6th overall, while our girls finished 15th. The 6th place combined finish was big improvement from our 12th place finish in 2017.
The day began with the 200 medley relays, which helped to set the tone for the entire meet. Our girls’ “A” and “B” relays all had outstanding splits; our girls’ “B” relay (Katie Watke, Somya Singh, Gracie Li, Ashleigh Grindon) improved on their seed time by six seconds, and our “A” relay dropped five seconds finish 10th, after being seeded 20th. Notably, Abby Liff posted the second fastest 50 breaststroke split in school history.
The 200 freestyles were highlighted by senior Katie Watke, who swam a lifetime best by over two seconds in a nearly even split race.
Lauren French and Gracie Li both swam lifetime bests in the 200 IM, and Gracie dropped over six seconds in the process.
In the 50 freestyle, six of our seven girls entered posted season best times. The biggest time drop of the day came from Tatiana Barbic, who dropped nearly two seconds from her prior season best.
In the girls’ 100 fly, Abby Liff and Gracie Li both posted big drops; Gracie cut over 4 seconds, and Abby swam a lifetime best by 2 seconds to score in the top 16.
All five of our girls’ 100 freestylers swam lifetime bests, and many of them won their heats in the process. Jordan Billups posted the biggest improvement of the event, swimming a lifetime best by two seconds.
Annie French was our only entry in the 500, and she dropped 10 seconds to crush the state qualifying time and earn her first individual spot on the USN all-time Top 10 list.
The girls’ depth was particularly evident in the 200 freestyle relay, when we had a host of strong swimmers to choose from in the moment. Abby, Betsy Nolan, Lauren French, and Isabella Lutes swam a season best time by over 4 seconds. Notably, all four girls were faster on this relay than they were in their individual 50’s earlier, which was great to see. Our “B” relay also got into the act, with Jessica Mei, Jordan Billups, Tatiana Barbic, and Lucy Mauries all posting great splits.
In the girls’ 100 backstroke, Katie Watke swam an aggressive race to post a season best by over two seconds.
In the girls’ 100 breaststroke, the final individual race of the day, all four of our girls had significant drops – Somya Singh dropped over three seconds, Jessica Mei and Ashleigh Grindon each swam lifetime bests by over a second, and Abby Liff dropped over two seconds to place 11th.
In the 400 freestyle relay, our “A” team of Mia Pretorius, Annie French, Gracie LI, and Margaret Luffman improved their season best by ten seconds, finishing 13th overall. Our “B” team won their heat going away, led by Bets Nolan’s lifetime best split.
In the boys’ pool, we were swimming a little shorthanded, but all ten members of the boys’ Region team made their swims count, allowing us to improve to 6th from our 10th place finish last year.
Our medley relay – Stefan Pretorius, Elliott Clark, Sage Sasaki, and Ian Brash – finished 7th. Notably, Stefan’s backstroke split and Elliott’s breaststroke split earned them a place on the USN top 10 list.
In the 200 free, Graham Shockley dropped two seconds and was within a second of the state cut. Sage Sasaki’s 200 IM wasn’t quite his best, but he still scored points by finishing 13th overall.
In the boy’s 50 free, Kabir Bagai posted the biggest improvement of the day, dropping from 27.0 to 25.5. Jack Dano also posted a strong improvement, finishing a half second faster than his previous lifetime best. Josh Twillie swam his season best by half a second and finished sixth, our highest individual finish of the day.
In the boys’ 100 free, Elliott Clark posted the biggest drop of the day, going from 59.4 to 55.3. Josh Twillie’s season best also earned him 9th place, giving us valuable points.
Graham Shockley was our only entry in the boys’ 500, and he swam a lifetime best by 2 seconds, despite being not fully rested, to finish 13th overall.
The boys’ 200 free relay – Henry Standard, Ian Brash, Jack Dano, Josh Twillie – finished 6th, led by Ian and Josh’s pair of 22-second splits. On our “B” relay, Graham showed some impressive speed coming out of the 500, swimming a personal best by over a second.
In the 100 backstroke, both our entries were freshmen. James Frein dropped nearly three seconds off his lifetime best, and Stefan Pretorius improved over his state cut swim last week, scoring in the top 16 in the process.
None of our boy breaststrokers were quite at their lifetime bests, but Ian Brash still cracked the top 16, and Elliott Clark’s swim was a season best by over a second.
In the 400 freestyle relay, our team of Sage, Ian, Stefan, and Josh cracked the top 8. The most impressive split, however, belonged to Jack Dano on the “B” relay, who improved from 58.0 to 55.4 in his fourth event of the day
Whew – what a Region meet! 62 lifetime bests, a whole host of heat winners, and major improvement in our team places over 2017…that’s nearly all we could ask for out of our first championship meet of the season.
Of course, we’re particularly proud of our seniors who competed in their final meets – Jessica Mei, Betsy Nolan, and Katie Watke each had outstanding performances in their capstone HS meets.
Of course, we’re particularly proud of our seniors who competed in their final meets – Jessica Mei, Betsy Nolan, and Katie Watke each had outstanding performances in their capstone HS meets.
Moving forward, the team will take 14 swimmers to the State meet next week in Knoxville next week.
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Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
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2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
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University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.