Five swimmers will combine to compete in 10 events at Saturday’s KHSAA State First Round Swim Meet at Bowling Green High School.
Region champion Emma Tagg is the fifth seed in the 50-yard freestyle – the fastest event in the pool. The Lady Maroon senior swam a 26.38 at the region meet and sits 1.13 seconds behind the top seed Morgan Johnson of Muhlenberg County.
Audrey Tate is the 14th seed in the 50-yard freestyle with a region time of 27.95. Tate is also the 14th seed in the 100-yard freestyle. Her region time of 1:01.97 is just over six seconds behind the top seed.
Seventh grader Ellen Eveland is the ninth seed in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:18.56 which is about 10 seconds off the top seed’s time.
10 seed in the 100-yard butterfly. Her time is about nine seconds behind the top seed Savannah Grimm of North Hardin.
Addison Howard is the eighth seed in the 100-yard backstroke. Her region time of 1:08.05 is just over six seconds off the top seed’s time.
Adison Melton is the ninth seed in the 200-yard freestyle. Her region time of 2:14.82 is 12 seconds behind the top seed, Bowling Green’s Riley Crowe.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Addison Howard, Audrey Tate, Emma Tagg, and Adison Melton is the third seed in what should be a tightly contested race at the state first round. Madisonville’s region time of 1:48.63 is slightly behind Daviess County’s 1:47.11 and Greenwood’s 1:47.52.
The relay team qualified for the state championships last year and finished in 22nd place.
The same group is also the third seed in the 400-yard freestyle relay which should be another close race. Their region time of 3:39.69 is just under four seconds off the top seed’s time.
The 200-yard medley relay swam a 2:02.61 at the region meet, giving them an eighth seed this weekend. They are five seconds behind top seed Central Hardin.
There are nine swim regions in the state with the state first round consisting of Regions 1-3, 4-6, and 6-9.
Regions 1-3 are comprised of schools in western Kentucky, the Bowling Green area, and the Elizabethtown area.
The top three swimmers and relay teams in each event automatically qualify for the state championship round in Lexington. The next best 15 times from the three other state first round sites will also qualify.
The Girls’ State First Round will begin Saturday morning at 10:30 at Bowling Green High School.
The Girls State Championship sponsored by UK HealthCare will be Friday, February 21 at the Lancaster Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Kentucky.
Below is a gallery of shots from the Region I Swim Meet at Hopkinsville High School.
