For the third year in a row the Marlins AG swimmers have shown their dominance at the 2007-2008 Short Course State Meet.  This group of 38 14 and under swimmers headed to Savannah with victory on their minds and came away BIG winners – taking 1st place amongst the Division II teams and placing 3rd overall against teams several times our size!  This year’s point total eclipsed last years with the girls slightly outscoring the boys (girls – 1244.5, boys – 1047 for a total of 2137.5). 

Marlins swimmers also walked away with several individual State Champion titles.  Joseph Hill (10 under boys) was crowned in the 100 breast.  Kylie Stewart swept all of the backstroke events (50, 100, and 200) for the 11-12 girls.  Jamie Christy did the same with the breaststroke events (50, 100, and 200) for the 11-12 girls.  Stephanie Peters won the 1000 free for the 11-12 girls while Nat Siwabut was victorious in the 50 breast for the 11-12 boys.  Victor Hernandez (who came from Venezuela for the meet) took the title for the 13-14 boys 200 breaststroke.

The Marlins relay teams were amazing this weekend, too.  The 11-12 girls dominated the competition by setting 2 new state records.  The 400 Medley Relay (Micaela Janco, Jamie Christy, Kylie Stewart, and Stephanie Peters) and the 400 Free Relay (Jamie, Nicole Prendes, Kylie, and Stephanie) easily broke the existing State records and the 200 Medley Relay (Kylie, Katherine Weeks, Jamie, and Stephanie) emerged as State Champs also!  Not to be outdone by the girls, the 10 under boy’s relays did some dominating of their own!  Andrew Tang, Joseph Hill, Alex Mayfield, and Matthew Williford worked together to bring home the 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay State titles!

Top 8 finishers for the meet include 10 under boys:   Joseph Hill (8x), Alex Mayfield (2x), and Andrew Tang (1x).  For the 11-12 girls:  Stephanie Peters (8x), Kylie Stewart (6x), Jamie Christy (6x), Katherine Weeks (5x), Nicole Prendes (4x), Afton Nourzad (2x), and Micaela Janco (2x).   The 11-12 boys were Griffin Garratt (6x), Jonah Beri (5x), Nat Siwabut (2x), and Zack Marshall (1x).  The 13-14 girls were:  Sarah Williford (7x) and Alli Crenshaw (2x).  The 13-14 boys included Derek Onken (5x), Henry Loong (2x), and Jean-Michael Hilliard (2x).

Top 16 finishers for the 10 under girls:  Britheny Joassaint (3x); 10 under boys:  Andrew Tang (9x), Alex Mayfield (5x), Matthew Williford (4x), and Joseph Hill (2x).  For the 11-12 girls:  Nicole Prendes (5x), Afton Nourzad (4x), Katherine Weeks (3x), Cleo Naizer (3x), and Micaela Janco (2x).  The 11-12 boys were:  Griffin Garratt (3x), Decker Onken (2x), Zack Marshall (2x), Nat Siwabut (2x), and Jonah Beri (1x).  The 13-14 girls were Alli Crenshaw (3x) and Sarah Williford (2x).  The 13-14 boys included: Henry Loong (4x), Jean-Michael Hilliard (2x), Victor Hernandez (2x), Cameron Garratt (2x), and Derek Onken (1x).

GREAT JOB MARLINS SWIMMERS AND COACHES!!!

_{contributed by Tai Tang}