Sailfish Chase Success at State Championship
Published 7:00 am Saturday, March 19, 2022
Most of the qualifying Sailfish from the tourney. From top to bottom, left to right: Jaxon Meek, Jaylee Hearne, Marissa Thomas, Sophie Lewis, Chloe Johnson, Annie Steger, Kerrigan Moore, Leah Pelfrey, Erin Jirak, Pippa Piper, Claire McConchie, Mollie Grace Tucker, Marshal Wedwick, Patrick Kraft, Owen McCann. (Submitted photo)
Boys 10&Under 200 Yard Medley Relay of Isaiah Hearne (top left), Owen McCann (top right), Wyatt Allen (bottom left) and Patrick Kraft getting hyped before their 5th place finish. (Submitted photo)
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Swimchester Sailfish team dived into the fast lane to capture glory at the recent Kentucky Swimming 12 & Under State Championship.
Meet splashed down between March 11-13 at the Mary T. Meagher Center, Louisville.
Team finished 4th out of 23 teams — scoring 619 points — the highest-ever finish for the Sailfish at a state meet since the team’s formation in 2011. Team’s previous best was 8th in 2017 and 2019 and highest ever points was 387.5 in 2019. Sailfish had 20 individual qualifiers;106 individual races; 2 relay-only swimmers, 9 total relays.
Give these swimmers a high-five because they practice most every day at the College Park Aquatic Center, one of Clark County’s crown jewels for recreation and lap swim.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team,” Sailfish Coach Kevin Ryan said. “Swimming is such a difficult sport with long hours and endless laps in training. We ask our youngsters to train 4-6 times per week doing very difficult things…and they absolutely rose to the occasion.”
Ryan said he’s seen the growth between last season and last weekend’s state meet.
“Between kids who barely qualified for state a year ago to scoring in a lot of events and a large number of kids who’ve never swum year-round before qualifying, they were all great,” he said. “Even better than their racing is the culture on the team. They all get so excited for each other’s races and share in each other’s successes. They aren’t just great athletes, but great kids, as well.”
Individual Points Scorers
*Top 16 finishers in each event score points*
• Wyatt Allen (9yo, Winchester) 110 points,
• Jaylee Hearne (10yo, Clay City) 94 points,
• Leah Pelfrey (10yo, Winchester) 44 points,
• Owen McCann (10yo Mt. Sterling) 35 points,
• Patrick Kraft (10yo, Winchester) 21 points,
• Josiah Fairchild (10yo, Winchester) 20 points
• Kerrigan Moore (10yo, Winchester) 17 points,
• Claire McConchie (10yo, Lexington) 12 points,
• Isaiah Hearne (8yo, Clay City) 11 points,
• Kobe Palmer (9yo, Richmond) 10 points
• Knox Taylor (11yo, Winchester) 7 points,
• Annie Steger (10yo, Mt. Sterling) 3 points,
• Chloe Johnson (10yo, Mt. Sterling) 1 point
• Wyatt Allen was also individual champion in the 10&Under 50 Yard Backstroke.
