LAURINBURG — The Scotland High School swim team traveled to Greensboro on Saturday to compete in the 4A Central regional.
The Fighting Scots swam in three relays — 200-yard medley, 400-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle — in the regionals against some of the top teams from around the state.
In the second event of the afternoon, the Fighting Scots foursome of freshman Nicholas Eury, senior Nyjel Collins-Jackson, senior Gabe Williams and sophomore Conner Bert.
The Scots finished 18th out of 22 teams with a time of 2:06.51 — as they shaved five hundredths of a second off their qualifying time. Fellow Sandhills Athletic Conference teams that competed in the men’s 200-yard medley were Pinecrest, Jack Britt and Lumberton.
Pinecrest was the top finisher in 10th place with a time of 1:44 while Jack Britt took 13th with a time of 1:49 and Lumberton was disqualified. The winning team in the men’s 200-yard medley relay was Green Hope, their foursome posted a time of 1:36 to advance to state.
The top eight fastest times from each 4A regional advanced to the state meet.
The Fighting Scots second event of the day was the 200-yard freestyle relay, which they took 20th place out of 23 teams. The team of Liam Lentz, Redionysis Redionysis, Ethan Phillippi and Aaron Haislip posted a time of 1:59 — a second slower than their qualifying time.
The Scots did finish ahead of Purnell Swett, who took 21st in the event, with a time of 2:04. Pinecrest, Jack Britt and Lumberton finished ahead of the Scots in the event — but none of the SAC-8 teams advanced to the state meet, as Pinecrest was the highest finisher in ninth place with a time of 1:32.
Grimsley High School won the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:26.
The Scots final event of the 4A Central regional was the 400-yard freestyle relay and it was by far their best showing. The Scots foursome of Haislip, Phillippi, Collins-Jackson and Williams shaved three seconds off their best time to finish 17th out of 21 teams.
Haislip, Phillippi, Collins-Jackson and Williams entered the meet with a qualifying time of 4:37 and ended Saturday’s event posting a time of 4:33 — a personal best. The Scots finished ahead of Lumberton, which placed 18th, and Jack Britt, which was disqualified. Pinecrest placed 11th in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:34 — 24 seconds slower than the winning time of 3:10 posted by Green Hope High School.
Despite not advancing to the 4A state swim meet, in their first year as a team the Fighting Scots proved given time they will turn into a force to be reckoned with in the pool.
Amber Hatten-Staley can be reached at 910-506-3170 or [email protected].