Frederica Academy hosted a swim meet on January 8, at the YMCA in Brunswick. We were nervous due to several of our key swimmers being out for various reasons, but our Middle and Upper School teams came through.
The Varsity Girls Medley Relay pulled a second-place finish with Ashley Prokop swimming backstroke, Gillian Sullivan swimming breaststroke, Cammie Pope swimming butterfly, and Caroline McGregor finishing with freestyle. The Varsity Girls Freestyle Relay also took second with Caroline Mcgregor, Cammie Pope, Ava Layne Hennessy, and Ashley Prokop swimming. In the individual events, Ashley Prokop took first in the 100 Freestyle, with Caroline McGregor taking second, and Ava Layne Hennessy taking third. Caroline McGregor took second in the 200-yard Freestyle. Gillian Sullivan took third in the 500 Freestyle and fourth in the 100 Breaststroke. The 50 Freestyle event is the most popular at any meet. Finishing in the top ten were Ashley Prokop in fourth, Caroline McGregor in sixth, Ava Layne Hennessy in seventh, Cammie Pope in eighth, Gillian Sullivan in ninth, and Holly Lewis in tenth. Newcomer, Julie Evans, shaved an amazing 1.19 seconds off her 50 free this meet.
Spencer Sullivan was our lone varsity male swimmer, and he had an amazing meet. Spencer took first place in the 200 Freestyle and the 500 Freestyle and had a fourth-place finish in the 50 Freestyle.
Our Middle School team had a great showing as well. Our fifth-grade swimmers swam in their first official meet and did amazing. Our Middle School Girls Freestyle Relay took fourth place and consisted of Ava Smith, Margaret Certain, Kamaya Quarterman, and Laila Gilbert. Laila Gilbert took eighth place in the 50 Freestyle.
On our Middle School Boys team, Aaron Hamm took second in the 50 Backstroke, and Hayden Bovinet took fifth. Clay Sproule took third in the 50 Breaststroke, and Elliot Sullivan took sixth. In the 50 Freestyle, which is the largest event, we had a great showing with Clay Sproule taking fourth, Elliot Sullivan taking sixth, Darshap Patel taking seventh, Clifton Gilbert taking ninth, and Aaron Hamm taking tenth. The highlight of the entire meet was when the FA Boys Middle School Relay teams competed and took first and second place! The teams were so close that the final time was less than 1/100 of a second. The first-place team consisted of Clay Sproule, Peter Vinci, Mason Hall, and Elliott Sullivan. The second-place team consisted of Hayden Bovinet, Eli Brock, Aaron Hamm, and Darshap Patel.
We are so proud of these teams, but I must give a special acknowledgment to the fifth graders. They have been so committed all season and can only compete in select GISA meets. These students are Kamaya Quarterman, Margaret Certain, Eli Brock, Mason Hall, Gabe Albright, Hayden Bovinet, Peter Vinci, Peyton Kruk, and Riley Kruk. They have been coached by Jessica Albright this season.
FA looks forward to finishing the season strong this month, and we are excited for all of our state qualifiers. We stay in the area next weekend to compete at the Brunswick YMCA in a meet hosted by the Glynn Academy and Brunswick High School swim teams.
Go Knights!
Coach Nikki Pope
