Several Scotland swimmers post personal bests

The Fighting Scots girls’ swim team improved by 25 points Wednesday in their second meet of the season in the Sandhills Athletic Conference. The team finished in third place overall out of six girls’ teams at O’Herron Pool at St. Andrews University.

Maegan Gunnells bested her previous time in the 100-yard freestyle by slightly more than one second, placing second in a field of 24 girls—18 of them swimming in competition—with a time of 1:14.56.

Cassie Rinkacs shaved one second off her time from last week in the 200-yard freestyle, placing second out of eight girls, with a time of 2:19.83. She also placed third in the 100-yard backstroke.

Madeline Litty was second again this week out of 27 girls in the 50-yard freestyle, where 17 were in competition, with a time of 32.04 seconds.

The Fighting Scots boys came in third overall again this week but dropped 23 points. Seventy-First High School did not bring their boys, so the Scots were up against four schools overall.

The Scots took first place again in the boys’ 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 4:14.51, one-half second ahead of Pinecrest and improving by 5.41 seconds over last week. The relay team consists of Cody Milhoan, Nicholas Eury, Ethan Philippi and Connor Bert.

Nicholas Eury was second in the 100-yard backstroke, squeaking just under last week’s time, at 1:10.76, in a field of nine.

Connor Bert took second place in the 50-yard freestyle, with a time of 26 seconds, out of a field of 24 boys, 14 of them in competition.

On the boys’ side, Pinecrest is the squad to beat. They put swimmers in every event, as did Jack Britt High School, including two teams each in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Scotland had no boys in the 200-yard individual medley or the 100-yard butterfly.

Wednesday night’s meet was the season-opener for the Richmond Raiders, whose girls and boys teams each finished fifth overall.

Final scores for the girls: Pinecrest 279, Jack Britt 243, Scotland 157, Hoke 148, Richmond Senior 54, Seventy-First 21.

Final scores for the boys: Pinecrest 305, Jack Britt 262, Scotland 140, Hoke 81, Richmond Senior 59.

Michael Litty photo Scotland swimmer Connor Bert races in the 50-yard freestyle on Wednesday. Bert took second place in a field of 24 swimmers in the 50 freestyle.

https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_ConnorBertInTheBoys50YdFreestyle.jpgMichael Litty photo Scotland swimmer Connor Bert races in the 50-yard freestyle on Wednesday. Bert took second place in a field of 24 swimmers in the 50 freestyle.

Michael Litty photo Scotland High swimmer Cassie Rinkacs competes in the 100-yard backstroke during the SAC meet on Wednesday. Rinkacs placed third in the 100 backstroke, and she also finished second in the 200 freestyle.

https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_CassieRinkacsInThe100YdBackstroke.jpgMichael Litty photo Scotland High swimmer Cassie Rinkacs competes in the 100-yard backstroke during the SAC meet on Wednesday. Rinkacs placed third in the 100 backstroke, and she also finished second in the 200 freestyle.