Image courtesy of the Birmingham Crossplex
While most students began their Thanksgiving break after school on Friday, the swim and dive team competed in Sectionals on Friday and Saturday. Sectionals is held annually at the Birmingham Crossplex. The boys came home as runners-up, and the girls placed third overall behind Auburn and Hoover. The boys scored 291 points and the girls scored 263 points. Many divers and swimmers swam fast times and qualified for the AHSAA State Championship.
To start the meet off strong, the dive team had four divers that qualified for Sectionals with three divers qualifying for the State Championship. Senior Conley McCormick, senior Joey Sousa, and eighth-grader Pierce Bolton qualified for the state championship. Junior Sara Pennino also competed in Sectionals.
Later in the afternoon, the swim team competed in prelims. Many swimmers swam their best times all season and achieved the state championship-qualifying time. All relays qualified to swim in finals the next day as well. Over 15 swimmers placed top 16 in their event to compete in finals the next morning.
During finals, many swimmers stepped up and placed in their events. For the boys, Ari Azrad was the standout. He placed first in both of his individual events while dropping time from his prelim swim. Sophomore Ari Azrad placed first in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. Junior Hunter Carroll placed in the top three in the 200-yard freestyle as well. Carroll also finished second in the 500-yard freestyle. Junior Patrick Ball finished fifth in the 500-yard freestyle as well. The 400-yard freestyle relay placed second, and the 200-yard medley relay placed third. The boys had a great turnout with fantastic races that were amazing for spectating.
The girls had a solid day of racing in finals as well. The Rebel girls have a strong sprint side this year. Freshman Rilie Reid placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle, and freshman Emily Jin and senior Molly Myrick finished in the top eight to score big points for the girls team. Reid and Jin qualify for the state championship. Junior Maddie Hunsberger barely missed the podium in the 100-yard fly placing fourth, but she still punched a ticket to state in the 100-yard fly and also in the 200-yard IM. Jin placed second in the 100-yard backstroke, and sophomore Emmelyne Bostic finished fifth. On the distance side for the girls, Angela Zhang took command, qualifying for state in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle by placing fifth and seventh, respectively. The 200-yard freestyle relay placed second and the 400-yard freestyle placed third. The girls had a terrific meet with many fast swims.
The Rebels Swim and Dive Team will be topping off a strong and successful season on December 2nd-3rd. The AHSAA Swim Championships will be held in James E. Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn. On Friday, the diving competition will begin at 9am. Friday swim prelims will follow at 4pm and swimming finals begin at 2pm on Saturday. Come out and support the Rebels as they finish their season strong! Go Rebels!
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