The Franklin area swim and dive teams’ plans were cancelled last weekend.
After the Mountain Eight Conference Championships, Franklin High School and Macon Early College prepared for their respective regional meets, planning trips to Charlotte and Greensboro Jan. 29-31. Due to the snowstorm however, swimmers are now qualified directly for state.
Under last year’s N.C. High School Athletic Association realignment, the top 24 swimmers per event in each region, East and West, were to qualify for the season’s penultimate meet, with the top 16 finishers statewide advancing to state. Ahead of last weekend’s inclement weather however, officials decided to forgo the regional meets and qualify swimmers for state based on their personal season-best times.
Out of 48 regional qualifiers in each classification, officials advanced 32 individuals to the state meet, including the top 12 swimmers in both regions and the next fastest eight at large, including those who had met automatic regional qualifying standards. In relay events, the top eight teams in each region plus eight at large will advance.
In the 1-meter dive, just eight 5A divers across the state had submitted scores for regional consideration, including FHS’s Jonah Brant and Lana Walker. All eight divers are now qualified for the state meet. While Walker’s season-best score of 242.95 is ranked fifth out of seven on the girls’ side, Brant was the only male 5A diver to submit a score, and presumably will bring home a state title in the event.
While every Panther regional qualifier will advance to state in at least one event, the cutdowns did limit Franklin’s scoring opportunities somewhat. Previously, Emma Ballard and AnnMarie Hinton had qualified in the 200-yard freestyle, but did not make the cut for state. They did advance in the 500 free however, and will also compete on Franklin’s three relay teams.
While the Panthers mostly survived the state meet cutdowns, MEC was not so lucky. While senior Alyse Remery advanced in the 200 and 500 free, Eleanor Kessler missed the cut in the 500 free, leaving her teammate as the school’s only entrant. In their inaugural season swimming for MEC, the Foxes are classified as a 1A team, facing a more competitive field in a combined 1A/2A/3A meet.
Remery and the Panthers will travel to Raleigh this weekend for their respective state meets, where Brant and Walker will compete in the diving portion at the Pullen Aquatic Center Feb. 5. They’ll rejoin their Panther teammates for the swimming portion Feb. 6, before cheering on Remery in the 1A meet Feb. 7.
“They are not happy they didn’t have to drive to Greensboro,” said Panther/Fox co-head coach Dina Picou, referring to both teams’ previous excitement for the cancelled meets. “[The cutdown process was] kind of complicated – maybe the best they could do with the impending weather – but disappointing for Eleanor for sure, and a little disappointing the others won’t be able to swim the extra event.”