Jacket swimmers eye on Regionals
Special to RRSPIN.com
The Roanoke Rapids Swim Team finished up its regular season with their conference meet on Friday, placing third on both the men's and women's sides. The Jackets had a fantastic meet, capped off with the breaking of several school records, and multiple swimmers hitting automatic cuts for regionals. It was an especially important meet for the Jackets, as they recognized their five stellar graduating seniors: James Evans, Nick Denny, Austin Taylor, Rachel Price, and Chelsea Brown.
The Jackets started off the meet with a bang, as the women's 200 Medley Relay team broke the school record in resounding fashion. Katherine King (backstroke), Addie Nixon (breaststroke), Kristy Price (butterfly), and Rachel Price (freestyle) swam to a blistering 2:09.08, breaking their previous record by almost 3 seconds. The success carried over the 200 Freestyle as Chelsea Brown, Karalee Miller, and Emma Barber swam to lifetime bests. Rachel Price was back in to her peak form as she made an automatic cut in the 50 free and came in 2nd for the conference. Not to be outdone, Kristy Price stepped up big in the 100 fly, knocking almost 3 full seconds off her previous school record and made an automatic cut for regionals as well with a 1:11.74. Katherine King and Amy Fromal captured top 6 honors in the 100 free, with a 1:07.10 and 1:07.43 respectively. Brown continued to rack up the points on senior night, placing 4th in the 500 free, and Miller took down 6th. The 200 Free Relay of King, Fromal, and the Price Sisters took down yet another record, pacing themselves to a 1:55.27 and yet another automatic regional cut. Meghan Shearin swam to a top 6 finish in the 100 back. In the 100 Breast, Addie Nixon and Amy Formal were the top points earners, Fromal pacing to an impressive 1:24.13, while Nixon broke her school record yet again, swimming to a 1:19.13 2nd place. Laura Brown showed great resilience, battling illness all year long to have a great showing with a 9th place finish and lifetime best. The team highlight of the meet was the 400 Free Relay, as the Roanoke Rapids foursome of Rachel Price, Kristy Price, Katherine King, and Amy Fromal dominated the competition en route to a 4:19.83 first place, All Conference earning, and automatic regional qualifying time. The future looks bright for this squad, as freshmen Abbey Acree, Meagan Colston, Lindsay Holt, and sophomore Lexa Carlisle all contributed with lifetime best swims!