SOUTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL SWIM LEAGUE (SCHSL) STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS (3A)
- October 15, 2024
- Columbia, South Carolina
- Short course yards (SCY)
- Results
South Carolina High School 3A State Championship wrapped up earlier this October in Columbia, South Carolina, as the small and medium-sized high schools raced against each other for the state title. St. Joseph’s Catholic School swept the girl’s teams, beating out Oceanside Collegiate Academy by over 200 points. The Greer Middle College boys team took home the state title, breaking an astonishing 9 school records.
Girls Recap
Top 5 teams:
- St. Joseph’s Catholic School, 567.5
- Oceanside Collegiate Academy, 366
- Academic Magnet, 343
- Christ Church Episcopal, 243
- Walhalla, 227
The St. Joseph’s girls took 1st, 201.5 points ahead of the runner-up girls team at Oceanside Collegiate Academy. Sophomore Bella Stewart scored the most points for the school, winning gold in all of her events. She scored a personal best time of 59.69 in the 100 back, making her the only girl swimmer to break 1:00. Her 200 free time of 1:57.21 was also a personal best, helping her outtouch silver medal winner Chelsea Burkhart by .72. Stewart led off her team’s winning 200 medley relay, with a best 50 back time of 29.21. She anchored the 400 free relay, bringing the girls to a win by 9 seconds.
Odette Brown scored the second most points for St. Joseph’s. The freshman clocked a personal best of 52.25 in a 100 free, destroying her previous best time by 1.53 seconds. Her best 200 IM time of 2:10.24 landed her 2nd as the youngest girl to medal in the race. Brown swam alongside Stewart in the team’s 200 medley and 400 free relays, adding two more golds to her collection.
Freshmen shined across the meet, as Bishop England’s Phoebe Hayes put out a new personal best in every event she swam. She shattered her best 100 back time by 6.73 seconds, finishing 6th at 1:02.48. Her 100 fly time was a new best by 10.35 seconds, landing her 8th at 1:02.96. Hayes swam alongside her team’s top swimmers in the 200 medley relay, leading off with a new best 50 back time of 29.05. Her swims show Hayes’ great potential as she continues training into the season.
University of Georgia recruit Grace Hunt took home the title in the 100 breast for the second year in a row, after barely missing out on 1st place her freshman year. The junior also took 1st in the 200 IM at a time of 2:08.90, after taking 3rd in the event at her sophomore year state meet and 4th as a freshman. As only a junior in high school, Hunt’s best 50 breast time would currently rank her 2nd fastest on the Bulldog’s team this season.
Other notable swims include Oceanside Collegiate Academy’s Charlotte Hill. The senior took 1st in the 100 fly at her final state meet, swimming a 58.83. Hill placed 2nd in the event as a sophomore and 4th as a junior before finally coming to claim the title. Her 100 back time of 1:00.39 put her in 2nd, nearly two seconds ahead of Ellis Wilson in 3rd.
Boys Recap
Top 5 teams:
- Greer Middle College, 508
- Academic Magnet, 425
- St. Joseph’s Catholic School, 425
- Christ Church Episcopal, 305
- Powdersville, 277
The boys of Greer Middle College took 1st at the meet as the team broke a total of 9 school records and 2 state records.
Junior Maddex Ternes broke a school record in each event he swam. He put out a personal best of 1:50.37 in the 200 IM, setting a new state record. His 500 free also landed him in 1st, touching at a 4:33.47. Ternes anchored his team’s 400 free relay and swam on the third leg of the 200 medley relay, bringing both teams to a gold at two new school records. Additionally, the 200 medley relay was a new state record by nearly two seconds.
Fellow junior Jimmy Beeson also dominated at the meet, breaking a school record and earning 1st in all of his events. He was the only male swimmer to break 50.00 in the 100 fly, racing in a 49.25. His 50 free was a tight race with just .77 separating 1st from 5th place, but Beeson came out on top with a time of 21.22. He swam alongside Ternes in the 400 free relay and the 200 medley relay, leading the team off in the medley with a personal best of 22.78.
Greer Middle College boys broke three more school records, with senior Dalton Davis putting down a 57.17 in the 100 breast. Junior Quinn Anderson took the 200 free record at a new personal best of 1:47.34. The team’s 200 free relay of Anderson, Brody Runion, Davis, and Brady Weaver broke the final school record, for a total of 9 school records broken.
Arizona State University commit Jack Troy of Academic Magnet High School swam three new personal bests, leaving with two golds and two silvers. He dropped 1.08 seconds in the 100 back, leading him to 1st at 48.43, a 3.8-second lead between him and other finishers. His 200 IM of 1:51.46 was a 2.51 drop, putting him in 2nd behind Ternes. He led off his team’s silver-winning 200 medley relay, and anchored the gold-winning 200 free relay.
Sophomore Grant Smith of Mid Carolina High School led the pack in the two longest events on the schedule. His new personal best 200 free time of 1:40.86 landed him 1st, over two seconds ahead of runner-up Jack Weston. His 500 free time of 4:33.62 was a personal best by 8.06 seconds. Smith placed 2nd, as one of the few swimmers of the meet to give record-breaking Ternes a tight race. He touched just .15 seconds behind Ternes in an impressive finish.
Ike Thomason of Christ Church Episcopal School was the top-performing freshman at the meet. He finished 7th in the 200 IM at a time of 2:02.57, a whopping 3.92 seconds faster than his previous best. His 100 fly time of 56.03 placed him in 8th, showing great potential for Thomason throughout the rest of his high school training.
