In their fourth year under head coach Margaret Turlington, the swimmers pushed several 3A schools to the limit on Nov. 24 and Dec. 1 at the Bryan Natatorium in Goldsboro.
As previously reported by Jessica Wagner, last week the women’s side finished fourth out of eight teams behind first place Croatan (a division 3A school) but ahead of division rival Swansboro. The men’s side not only soundly trounced division rival Swansboro, but finished second only to division 3A Croatan High School.
This week both performed even better. On Dec. 1, the women moved up to fourth place and the men finished first out of 10 schools. Clinton scored points in 20 out of 22 events with consistent top eight finishes or better.
The women led off with a terrific sixth place finish in the 200-yard medley relay (all distances are swum in yards). Alex Vreugdenhil cranked out a fast leadoff backstroke leg. Kimberly Gore stretched fast with a sound breaststroke. Denise Elizondo kicked her excellent butterfly for the third leg of the relay. Sarah Murphy secured the sixth place slot behind the strength of her freestyle kick honed from hours of soccer.
In the women’s individual events, Casey Faircloth endured the tough 200-yard freestyle for a sixth place finish, yet still pulled off another sixth place finish in the 100 free as well. The true test of endurance was the 500 freestyle where Haley Williams locked in seventh. The 500 free is similar to running a mile and a half. Junior Denise Elizondo continues to exhibit tremendous endurance and all around swimming power by finishing second in the 200 individual medley (IM) as well as third in the 100 butterfly.
She achieved state championship consideration time qualifications in both events. Sarah Murphy put up five points in the 200 IM with her fifth place time. Vreugdenhil and Gore tag teamed for a fifth place 100 back and a fourth places 100 breaststroke respectively.
The women polished off their night with a fifth place 200 freestyle relay with Christie Gutierrez joining Vreugdenhil, Murphy and Faircloth on this sprint relay. Samantha Pope combined with Faircloth, Williams and Elizondo for an impressive second place finish for the 400 freestyle finale.
The men’s side shows tremendous promise securing Clinton High School’s first major win. The 200 Medley Relay instantly qualified for the state championship meet aggressively beating the entire field, including two 3A schools.
Ryan Taylor built a solid lead with the backstroke which Casey Yang extended in the breaststroke leg, followed by Stephen Holden in the butterfly and Taylor Stanley with his freestyle.
Not to be outdone by his sister, Henry Elizondo dropped his football helmet for swim trunks to also receive state championship consideration in both the 200 yard freestyle and the grueling 500 yard freestyle.
Senior Stephen Holden and freshman Ryan Taylor trounced several swimmers from bigger schools for a 2nd and 4th place finish in the sprint 50 freestyle. Casey Yang and Taylor Stanley continue to show that great athletes can succeed regardless of the sport by hosing several year round swimmers in the 100 yard freestyle sprint with a fifth and sixth place finishes respectively.
Taylor Stanley is expected to once again be a three sport varsity letterman this year for football, swimming and baseball. Weston Locklear caught many established swimmers off guard as he transitioned from soccer to the pool scoring a valuable four points for a fifth place finish in the 100 breaststroke.
Holden, Locklear, Elizondo and Stanley teamed up for a third place finish for the 200 freestyle relay which had already qualified for the state championship meet last week.
Stanley, Holden, Yang and Ryan Taylor smashed the competition for first place in the 400 freestyle relay finale, and vaporized the state qualifying time by almost 18 seconds to send all three eligible relays to the championship meet within the first two swim meets of the season.
(Editor’s note: Information provided by Ken Yang)
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