Hoggard swimming sweeps Mideastern Conference Championship

January 23, 2021, 6:31 pm | by Tim Hower

***Click here to view a gallery of 88 photos from the action***

The Mideastern Conference Swimming Championship looked a little different this year, but the outcome was a familiar one.

Hoggard continued its dominance by sweeping the meet for the 20th time in the past 22 years. The girls won six events to finish with 162 points, while the boys were victorious in five events en route to 161 points.

The Hoggard girls claimed another MEC title. [Tim Hower/Coastal Preps]

Due to COVID-19, the number of participants that could compete in the event was significantly trimmed and the boys and girls meets were held separately. Instead of competing in front of a loud crowd at UNCW, the swimmers took their laps in front of no fans at Brunswick Community College.

“It’s hard not having everyone here to celebrate, but every single member of our team was behind everybody who swam today,” Hoggard coach Tammy Pruden said. “We had a lot of swimmers on both sides knock down their times, and they knew they had to do it because they are only taking the top 12 fastest to regionals.”

The girls meet was held first and featured some amazing performances.

Laney finished second with 110 points and they were followed by: Ashley (74), New Hanover (65), Topsail (40) and West Brunswick and South Brunswick (35).

The main event was the 50 freestyle, which featured two of the best swimmers in the state. Laney’s Jenna Grill (23.93) built an early lead and held off a late charge from Hoggard’s Callie Parkes (23.96).

“We’re really competitive at practice, but we know it’s just a race and once it’s over we’re really good friends,” Grill said. “To have a good 50, everything has to be perfect. It’s really all about the technical stuff.”

Laney’s Jenna Grill won three events on Saturday. [Tim Hower/Coastal Preps]

Grill had a much more convincing win in the 100 butterfly. She was the only swimmer to break the one minute mark, finishing in 57.92. She was also joined by Madi Joy, Liza McQueen and Austin Gerock on the victorious 200 freestyle relay team that had a time of 1:40.51. Their previous season best was 1:45.41.

Hoggard got three victories from senior Emma Johnson. She touched the wall first in the 200 IM (2:20.64) and 100 breaststroke (1:08.12). Johnson also swam the breaststroke leg on the 200 medley relay, which opened the meet with a victory in 1:53.53. Joining her on the relay was Sarah Pierson, Tabitha Lac and Parkes.

The Vikings’ other individual wins came from Parkes (100 freestyle in 53.88) and Keener Witmer (200 freestyle in 2:04.01). Witmer, Lac, Emily Cox and Paige Phillips concluded the meet with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay (3:55.98).

Joy earned a three-second victory in the 100 backstroke after touching the wall in 1:00.42. Fellow freshman Abby Forbes of New Hanover continued her season dominance in the 500 freestyle with a convincing win in 5:36.95.

In the boys meet, Hoggard senior Will Parker was the lone participant to secure two individual victories. He won a sprint to the wall in the 50 freestyle, finishing with a season-best time of 21.66. Ashley’s Patrick Furbay was close behind in 21.90.

Parker also won the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.64.

Hoggard senior Will Parker won the 50 and 100 freestyle. [Tim Hower/Coastal Preps]

“I thought it was a pretty solid meet, but I definitely think there is room for improvement for regionals and states,” he said. “I was inspired by my sister. She finished third in the state in cross country (on Friday), so I had to step up.”

The Vikings also picked up victories from Ryan Langtry (200 IM in 2:03.01), Will Sterrett (100 butterfly in 53.67) and Jackson Hughes (500 freestyle in 5:11.83).

Topsail finished second with 113 points. They were followed by: Ashley (94), Laney (67), New Hanover (42), South Brunswick (29) and West Brunswick (3).

The Pirates got a win in the 200 freestyle from Chase Davis, who completed the event in 1:48.45 for a victory of more than 12 seconds. Davis also anchored the winning 400 freestyle relay (3:29.19), which featured Forrest Hoover, Bailey MacVaugh and Liam McBride.

Ashley had a good meet, as Furbay and Logan Butner each had an individual and two relay wins. Furbay claimed the 100 backstroke in 52.64, while Butner was victorious in the 200 breaststroke (59.75).

Both were joined by freshmen Cian Post and Sean Setzer on the 200 medley (1:38.32) and 200 freestyle (1:29.63) relays.