On Thursday, 44 Highlands Hurricanes Swim Team hosted Cherokee County Aquatics Club for a home meet. The Hurricanes won 743 - 307.
The Hurricanes were led by Anton Halldin who won three events and finished second in another. Emilina Hernandez and Jr. Olympians Finneaus Garner, Jasmine Abranyi, Ben Halldin, and Lilliana Chambless all scored 27 points and won five events. Chambless broke both a pool and a team record in the backstroke. Jasmine Abranyi broke team records in both the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley.
Morgan Mason and Jr. Olympians Aniah McKim, Jack Sumner and Chase Kenter brought home 25 points with four wins and a second. McKim, along with Tate Wilson were 2022-23 High School Academic All American Swimmers. McKim also broke a team record in the 100 butterfly and both a pool and team record in the 100 breaststroke. Sumner broke a pool record in the Butterfly, and Kenter got both a MSL record and a pool record in the backstroke.
Penelope McRae and Jr. Olympian Corena Dearth scored 23 points with a blue ribbon and two seconds. Jayce Powell and Jr. Olympian Tate Wilson had 22 and 21 points respectively. Wilson broke a team record in the 200 IM.
AnnMarie Hinton, Miley Zagal and Jr. Olympian Paolo McRae all scored 20 points. McRae and Zagal had two seconds, Hinton a first. Justin Powell, Elizabeth Burnette, Annabelle Searles, Valerie Nadzorau and Blake Kenter all scored 19 points. Kenter and Nadzorau each won an event, Powell had two seconds, Burnette and Searles a blue ribbon each.
Ian Batista, Ivan Shchelgachov, Bella Batista, Katherine Wise, and Jr. Olympian Conner Hughes brought home 18 points each. Bella Batista won an event, Wise two, Hughes, Ian Batista, and Shchelgachov each had a second and a third place finish.
Aleks Petric and Wylie Hinton won 16 points and a second each. Asa Garner, Bo Curcuru, Maxwell Basil and Stefan Halldin all scored 15 points. Curcuru won a race, and all four got a second. Michael Spencer had 12 points, brother John Bradshaw Spencer and Agatha Jestin each had 9.
Michael and Agatha both won an event. William Burnette and Nicole Shchelgachov earned six points. Kenley Birchfield scored five points, Alyssa Atwood four points, and Harrison McKim two. Visitor Grayson Banks and sister Annabelle had good exhibition swims. Grayson broke a pool record in the IM.
Margaret Cole had to leave due to illness.
The Highlands Hurricanes are a Highlands Recreation Park Swim Team that practices at the Highlands Recreation Park Pool on weekday evenings. The only requirement to join is that a prospective swimmer must be able to swim 25 yards (one length of the Highlands Recreation Park Pool) unassisted. For further information please call Steve Hott, Head Coach at 828-421-4121.