Sixty-four TNT swimmers competed at the Gil Williams Memorial Meet held in Merced over the October 27th weekend, and seventeen of them performed at a level to take home one of the top three High Point awards that were distributed at the end of the meet.
Korryn Kennedy of Hanford took home the third place honors for the 6-under girls division by winning the 6-under 25 back (30.01) and being the runner up in the 6-under 25 free, while James Savage was the top point getter in the 6-under boys division resulting from five event wins that included the 25 breast (33.88), 25 fly (28.65), 50 back (58.28), 50 fly (1:09.78), and 25 back (27.28). Five year old Lucas Huckabay of Selma scored enough points to tie for a second place position in the same division. Jayce Ford of Visalia swam undefeated winning all eight of his events, and was thereby among our top point getters earning 72 points and taking home the first place high point award for the 7-8 boys division, while sister Skylar Ford matched his points and undefeated status and took home the top honors in the 9-10 girls division. Katie Sullivan earned the third highest points in the 9-10 girls division by placing no higher than fourth place in any one event.
Our 9-10 boys swept that division with Jackson Huckabay of Selma taking the top honors with the 72 points reflecting first place finishes in all eight events, while Peyton Costa and Toby Jones finishing second and third respectively, each only nine years old. Peyton had three championship swims including the 100 back (1:24.51), 200 IM (3:02.78), and 100 fly (1:27.20), while Toby placed no higher than fourth place in any of his events. Alonso Escobedo had three wins that included the 100 free (58.73), 200 IM (2:22.47), and 50 back (31.10) events, as he took home the top honors in the 11-12 boys division. He was followed by Selmas Jonas Huckabay who won the 100 back (1:14.30) and 200 free (2:16.95) events. Mallory Korenwinder was the runner-up in the 13-14 girls division winning five of her events, including the 100 breast (1:05.63), 200 back (2:19.67), 50 free (25.64), 200 breast (2:22.60) and 200 IM (2:11.87). On the boys side of the 13-14 division, Kyle Grissom was our only other undefeated swimmer who swam away with the honors by scoring the maximum 72 points that reflect the undefeated status.
Lauren Davis of Fig Garden was the high point recipient in the 15-16 girls division, and she did this by winning the 100 free (58.50), 200 back (2:29.97), 50 free (27.49), and 200 IM (2:25.12) events. There was a sweep in the 15-16 boys division with Chris Nolan, Conor Martin and Josh Avila taking home the first, second and third place trophies respectively. Chris was the event champion in the 200 free (1:47.90), 50 free (23.03), 200 breast (2:15.22), and 200 fly (1:55.26) events. Although the 17-18 division was not awarded trophies, Nathan Rhea was the runner up in the male side of that division by winning both the 100 back (55.41) and 200 IM (2:01.97) events.
Five team records were established by three individuals at the meet. Ten year old Skylar Ford of Visalia continues her record breaking performance by improving her 100 free record to a 1:02.57. She had broken the record recently at the Selma meet the previous month with a 1:02.77, and her current time stands as the 71st fastest time in the nation for any 10-year old girl. Kyle Grissom came away with two team records for the 13-14 boys division in the sprint freestyle events, beginning with his time of 50.70 in the 100 freestyle. His time slid under Kohlton Noryss previous record of 50.85 that was set at Junior Olympics in 2004. Kyles time currently stands as the 56th fastest in the nation for 14-year old boys. His 22.58 in the 50 freestyle event surpassed his own record that he had set at Far Westerns in March (22.86). Only six other swimmers in the nation at age 14 have swam a time faster than his so far in this short course season. Mallory Korenwinder was our final swimmer to break team records, and she did so in both breaststroke events. At age 14, Mallory swam 1:05.63 in the 100 breaststroke which is under the 1:05.85 record that she had set at Far Westerns in March, and matched at the Hanford meet one month prior to Merced. The time is currently the second fastest time in the nation behind the 1:04.30 by Meghan Small of Maryland. Mallorys 200 breaststroke record-breaking swim of 2:22.60 matched her national ranking of second, again outperforming her Far Western swim of 2:23.19. The top time in the nation currently stands as 2:19.38.