For the second year in a row, the Douglas Stingrays swim team won the GRPA Class B state championship. The two-day meet took place Friday, July 17 and Saturday, July 18, in Tifton. The Stingrays, which qualified the most swimmers of any team in the meet with 61, finished day one in fifth place. There were 28 teams at the meet. “We’re right where want to be,” said head coach C.M. Jenkins at the conclusion of Friday’s session. “Our younger kids have put us in a great position and we feel good about what our older swimmers can do tomorrow.”
On day two, the older swimmers added to the foundation the younger swimmers built the day before and propelled the Stingrays into the top spot. The Douglas swimmers earned 400 total points. Oconee was second with 374 and Tift came in third with 331.
The Stingrays only had six state champions – three individual swimmers and three relay teams – but Douglas swimmers consistently put themselves in the top three. Those points added up in a hurry and the Stingrays’ consistency throughout the meet is why they were able to leave Tifton with another state title.
The following swimmers won state championships in their individual events: Emory Moorman (50 yard breaststroke), Taylor Justice (50 yard breaststroke, 50 yard backstroke), and Garrett Holton (50 yard freestyle, 50 yard butterfly).
Here are the Stingrays’ second place finishers: Emory Moorman (100 yard freestyle), Deuce Ferris (50 yard butterfly), and Karsyn Scholten (25 yard breaststroke).
The third place finishers are as follows: Leah Levrette (50 yard backstroke), Logan Vickers (50 yard breaststroke, 100 yard individual medley), Andy Lee (100 yard individual medley), Macon Vickers (25 yard breaststroke), Loren O’Steen (25 yard butterfly), Matt Dykes (50 yard butterfly), and Steven Vickers (50 yard freestyle, 50 yard backstroke).
The Stingrays’ relay teams also won three state titles: the girls’ 13-14 medley relay (Taylor Justice, Ashley Goldberg, Haleigh Lee, and Megan Hill); the girls’ 13-14 freestyle relay (Taylor Justice, Haleigh Lee, Megan Hill, and Abbi Arnett), and the boys 11-12 medley relay (Hogan Doyle, Andy Lee, Deuce Ferris, and Rhett Robinson.
“It’s fantastic for our program to win another state championship. Our swimmers were very consistent and won us points on both days of the meet. I’d like to congratulate all of our Stingray swimmers and assistant coaches – Greg Lee, Jim Minchew, Jared Wood, and Ansley Vickers – for working so diligently throughout the summer to earn this title,” said Coach Jenkins.