The Highlands Hurricanes traveled to Sylva with 39 swimmers to swim against the Jackson County Swim Team and the Smoky Mountain Aquatics Club. Highlands won 508, 224, 211.
The Hurricanes were led by a quartet of Jr. Olympians – Chase Kenter, Jack Sumner, and twins Dasha and Ben Halldin. All four won all five of their events and scored 24 points apiece.
The trio of Emilina Hernandez, Jr. Olympians Paolo McCrae, and Justin Powell all won four of their events and took a second place, scoring 22 points. Jr. Olympians Finneaus Garner, Aniah McKim, and Conner Hughes brought home 21, 19, and 18 points respectively. Margaret Cole and Ian Batista scored 18 points, Cole won three events, Batista two.
Elizabeth Burnette had 17 points, while both Penelope McRae and Jr. Olympian Blake Kenter each had 16. All three won two events each. Jayce Powell and Jr. Olympian Lilliana Chambless both scored 15 points. Powell won one event, Chambless three. Chambless broke seven year old team record in the individual medley. Aleks Petric, Asa Garner, and Jr. Olympian Corena Dearth both scored 14 points and won an event.
Bella Batista, AnnMarie and Wylie Hinton all brought home 13 points. AnnMarie won three events, Wylie and Batista one each. Miley Zagal and Morgan Mason scored 12 points, Ivan Shchelgachov 11.5. Shchelgachov had two blue ribbons. John Bradshaw Spencer and Katherine Wise scored 9 points, Alex Lopez 8.5. Spencer and Lopez each won an event. Maxwell Basil scored 7 points and won two events in his first swim meet ever.
Annie Wilkes, Agatha Jestin and Charlie Wilkes scored 7, 6, and 5 points respectively. Jestin won an event. William Burnette scored 3 points, and Nicole Shchelgachov 2. Also swimming for the Hurricanes was Grayson Banks and Harrison McKim. Bo Curcuru was on injured reserve for this meet.
The Hurricanes next meet is at home on Thursday July 22, at 6 p.m.
The Highlands Hurricanes Swim Team is a Highlands Recreation Park Team that practices in the evenings at the Highlands Recreation Park Pool. The only requirement to join is that a prospective swimmer must be able to swim 25 yards (one length of the Recreation Park Pool) unassisted. For further information call head coach Steve Hott, at 828-421-4121.