The Picayune Maroon Tide and Pearl River Central Blue Devils swim teams competed in the 2022 MHSSA State Championship this past Saturday.

Picayune girls placed 11^th while the boys placed 16^th. Pearl River Central’s girls placed 6^th while the boys placed 3rd and took gold in the 200 freestyle relays.

Picayune Relay Finals Results

Picayune’s Addison Taggard, Lauren Stevenson, Victoria Vloedman and Heidi Hill placed 6^th in the 200 Medley relay with a time of 2:16.92. Morgan Craft, Parker Helton, Ryder Burge and Ian Herring placed 8^th in the 200 Freestyle relay with the time of 1:48.77.

 

Individual Finals results

Stevenson finished 5^th in the girls 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:23.17.

 

PRC Relay Finals Results

The boys took gold in the 200 freestyle relay. The team included Austin Woods, Zak Kennedy, Jared Bryson and Wyatt Waltman. They also clocked in a new state record at 1:32.58. The girls finished 7^th in the same event. PRC’s Kaelynn Malley, Maelin Harvey, Adaline Albritton and Shalynn Lee placed 4^th in the girls 200 medley relay with the time of 2:14.12. The boys also placed 4th in this event with a time of 1:47.72. Those swimmers included Jake Rogers, Woods, Bryson and Waltman. The boy’s finished second in the 400 freestyle relay and the girls placed 7^th in the same event.

 

Individual Finals results

Malley finished 8^th in the girls 200 IM with the time of 2:54.22.

In the girls 50 freestyle, Lee placed 4^th at 26.81 and Martin placed 8^th at 28.61. In the boys 50 freestyle, Waltman placed 3^rd at 23.19 and Woods placed 5^th at 23.84. Bryson finished the 100 butterfly in 4^th place at 57.15. In the boys 100 freestyle, Kennedy placed 2^nd at 49.45 and Rogers placed 7^th at 56.58. Kennedy also placed 3^rd in the 100 breaststroke.

 

“The best part is that they are a team and a family. They encourage each other and are there for each other for the good and the bad. Doesn’t matter what grade they are in or how well they swim, all are equal in their eyes. They helped each other with stroke technique and were right there cheering at every meet. When the relay won gold and broke the record you would have thought the whole team won gold. They are an awesome group of swimmers. Could not be more proud of them. The win is great, but the journey, emotionally and spiritually, to get there is just as important ” said Pearl River Central Head Coach Beverly Griffing.