BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s varsity swim teams made a strong showing in their first-ever state tournament last weekend with the girls finishing sixth out of a field of 26 Class 3A-2A-1A teams and the boys placing in several events to finish in 17th place.
Two weeks ago, the Decatur boys and girls varsity swim teams came in a close second in the Class 3A-2A-1A East regionals with 262 total team points to advance several swimmers to the state championship meet last weekend. This year marked only the second year of existence for the Decatur swim team and its first as an officially sanctioned team sport.
In the state championship meet last weekend, the Seahawk girls finished in 6th place out of a field of 26 schools from around the state. The Decatur girls finished with 143 team points to come in just behind fellow Bayside Conference school Cambridge-South Dorchester, which finished fifth with 150 points. Yet another Bayside school, Queen Anne’s, took first in the state championship meet with 233 total team points.
The Decatur girls collected points in several events including individual events and relays. For example, Decatur’s 200-yard medley relay team of Taylor Blazer, Krysten Wolinski, Brianna Carroll and Catelin Geiser finished fourth with a combined time of 2:03:87 to earn 30 team points. In the 400-yard relay, the Decatur girls’ team of Blazer, Carroll, Geiser and Katie Hansen finished in third place and earned 32 team points.
Taylor Blazer came in second in the women’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:02:86 to earn 17 points for the team. Lindsey Bankart came in 19th in the event. In the women’s 200-yard individual medley, Decatur’s Brianna Carroll took 10th with a time of 2:33: and earned seven team points. Catelin Geiser took third in the women’s 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25:86 and earned 16 points for the Decatur women’s team.
In the women’s 100-yard free, Geiser came in sixth to earn 13 points, while Carroll finished in 11th place to pick up six more points for the cause. Blazer finished second in the women’s 100-yard backstroke to gain 17 more points for the Seahawks, while Katie Hansen finished in 12th place in the women’s 500-yard freestyle to pick up an additional five points for the Seahawks’ cause.
On the men’s side, the Seahawks gained 36 total team points to finish in 17th place our of the field of 23 schools participating in the state championship meet and placed several swimmers in their respective events. The best finish for the Decatur men’s team came in the 400-yard freestyle relay when the team of Christian Yandle, Stephen Kosicki, Jake Blazer and Austin Deppe finished 9th to pick up 14 total points for the team. In the men’s 500 freestyle, Blazer finished ninth with a time of 5:45:39 to pick up nine more team points for the Seahawks.
In the men’s 200 freestyle, Kosicki finished 14th to grab three points for the team, while Blazer contributed one more point for the Seahawks with a 16th place finish. Deppe finished 12th overall in the men’s 200 individual medley with a time of 2:24:54 to earn five points for the Seahawks.