BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (WV News) — Both Patrick Foley and Jonathan Maier delivered a pair of school record-breaking performances to pace the Grafton swim teams to a seventh-place combined finish with 35 points at the Big 10 Conference Championships at the Bridge Sports Complex Saturday.
“Both Jonathan and Patrick’s record highlighted a great overall day for the Grafton swim teams,” Grafton swim coach Heather England said. “Everyone had great results with numerous swimmers turning in personal best times.”
Despite being represented by just three competitors, solid showings from Maier, Foley and Isiah Lemon allowed the Bearcat boys to punch above their weight, finishing with 16 team points to claim a sixth-place finish.
Foley set a new school record mark of 55.73 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle to claim a team-high third-place, touching the wall behind only the Bridgeport duo of James Hadjis (50.56) and Nate Dodson (52.33). Maier (55.86) rounded out the 100-yard freestyle top-five in fifth with Isaiah Lemon (1:13.73) finishing 16th.
Foley went on to chat up a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:25.08.
Maier’s record came in the 50-yard freestyle, turning in a program record time of 24.21 seconds to finish seventh with Isaiah Lemon (31.32) following in 16th to close out a memorable showing for Grafton in boys competition.
Anchored by depth, the Grafton girls secured eight top-10 finishes to collect a seventh-place finish with 19 team points.
Two of the Grafton girls top-10 finishes came from the Bella Lemon, Caroline Stead, Julia Shay and Savannah Payez relay pairing.
The Bearcat quad claimed a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard relay with a combined time of 2:19.97 before adding a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay in 2:04.99.
Individually, Stead earned a girls team-high fifth-place finish in the 200-yard IM with a time of 3:00.16.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Shay recorded an eighth-place finish with a time of 1:09.99 with Payez (1:11.15) in 10th and Bailey Fernatt (1:27.77) in 14th following closely behind.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Bella Lemon touched the wall in 1:17.13 to take a ninth-place finish with both Stead (1:21.03) in 11th and Fernatt (1:37.78) in 18th rounding out the field.
The 50-yard freestyle saw three Bearcats in Payez (30.20) in ninth, Bellla Lemon (30.22) in 10th, Julia Shay (31.11) garner top-15 finishes to close out the Big 10 Conference meet.
With postseason action in the pool ramping up, the Grafton swimmers will return to the Bridge Sports Complex with a chance to punch their ticket to the state swim meet in the Region III Championship on Saturday, Feb. 8.
“I’m so proud to coach here. Everyone stepped in up for Big 10s,” England said. “We’ll get back at it this week and prepare to give out best shot to reach states at regionals this weekend.”
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