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Elgin’s Ellie Stevenson. FOR SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE -
Elgin’s Zekke Anderson.FOR SOUTHWEST CHRONICLE
EDMOND — Sixteen Elgin swimmers qualified for the Class 5A State Swim Meet, more than any other year in recent history, head coach Corey Grochow said.
“It went really, really well,” Grochow said of the team’s performance at last week’s 5A West Regional. “Some of them knocked off more time than I thought they would.”
Junior Ellie Stevenson was among the standout swimmers from Elgin, qualifying in four events – three individual races and one relay. But that wasn’t all. She broke Elgin school records in the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley races.
Stevenson swam the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 1:04.41, which cut almost one second off the old record of 1:05.17. In the 200-yard individual medley, Stevenson shaved almost six seconds off the old record with a time of 2:41.75. The previous mark was 2:47.30.
In addition, Elgin’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Stevenson, Josie Pearson, Amira Papp-Cservenak and Kylie Delozier set a new school record in that race with a time of 2:03.93. The foursome finished sixth in the West regional and qualified for the state meet.
The state meet will be held Feb. 17-18 at Mitch Park YMCA in Edmond.
“This is as many as I’ve ever had go (to state meet),” said Grochow, who has coached the Owl swim teams for the past three years.
The girls 400-yard freestyle relay team of Persaus Martinez, Cheyenne Watson, Papp-Cservenak and Emily Bean also qualified for the state meet with a time of 5:12.54 and an eighth-place finish in the regional finals.
On the boys side, Noah Bronkema qualified in four events -- two individual races and two relays. Bronkema will compete in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke and is a member of Elgin’s 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay teams.
Bronkema set a personal best in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.10 seconds and a 16th-place finish at the regional meet.
Elgin also is sending its 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay teams to the state meet. The medley relay team is comprised of Logan Squyres, Zekke Anderson, Jon Clipp and Murdoc Bradley. The 400-yard freestyle relay team is made up of Bronkema, Mason Thompson, Bradley and Hunter Monostori.