Warren Central swimmers win three relay championships at MHSAA state meet
Published 11:48 am Sunday, October 22, 2023
TUPELO — Warren Central’s swimmers turned on the jets Saturday.
Warren Central’s girls and boys teams won three relay championships, had a combined 10 top-three performances, and both placed second in the team standings at the MHSAA Class II state meet in Tupelo. Class II consists of schools in Classes 5A and 6A in other sports.
Jenna Moulder, Avery Greer, Chloe Barnard and Kara Rowe led the Lady Vikes to victory in both the 200 yard medley and 400 yard freestyle relays. They won the medley relay with a time of 2 minutes, 9.79 seconds, and the freestyle relay in 4:22.25.
Greer also had a pair of third-place individual finishes, in the 100 yard freestyle and 100 yard backstroke.
Moulder was third in the 100 yard butterfly and fourth in the 100 breaststroke. Rowe reached the finals in the 500 freestyle and 100 breaststroke and placed fifth and sixth in those events, respectively.
West Jones totaled 91 points to win the Class II team championship, and Warren Central was second with 68. Pontotoc finished third, with 59 points, and Lafayette was fourth with 58.
In the boys’ meet, North State champion Warren Central had another impressive showing with only four swimmers on the roster by finishing second in the team standings with 65 points.
Pearl River Central won the state title with 127 points. Saltillo was third, with 62, and West Jones fourth with 52.
Warren Central’s Ashtin Wallace, Noah Jones, James McKenna and Jacob Byrd reached the finals and finished in the top eight in two relays and eight individual events. They teamed up to win the state championship in the 200 medley relay, with a time of 1:52.25.
The quartet also placed third in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:41.93.
Wallace had the best individual day, with second-place finishes in the 200 yard individual medley and the 100 butterfly. He clocked a time of 2:11.98 in the IM and 57.13 seconds in the butterfly.
Jones finished third in the 100 freestyle in 54.20 seconds, and was fifth in the 100 backstroke.
Byrd placed fifth in the 500 yard freestyle and seventh in the 50 freestyle, while McKenna was sixth in the 100 backstroke and seventh in the 100 butterfly.
Alex Rowe, Vicksburg High’s only swimmer in the meet, also had a good day by reaching the finals in both of his individual events. Rowe placed third in the 100 yard butterfly, with a time of 1:02.20, and was fourth in the 500 freestyle.