Frienship Christian School Swimmer Dominates Swim Meet

FCS Swimmer Dominates Swim Meet

January 20, 2009….Luke Blackwell, a Sophomore at Friendship Christian School traveled to Manchester TN for a MTHSSA Division I High School Swim Meet on Friday the 16^th. Also swimming for FCS at the Middle School level was Madison Blackwell, an 8^th Grader.

Luke participated in the 200 Yard Freestyle and 500 Yard Freestyle, winning both in convincing fashion.

In the 200 Yard Freestyle, Luke was leading by over two seconds after the first 50, and the lead grew to five seconds by the half-way point in the race. At the end, Luke turned a 1:53.39 (one minute, 53 seconds and 39 one-hundredths), winning by nearly a full length of the pool and just under 12 seconds in front of the second place finisher.

30 minutes later, Luke participated in the 500 Yard Freestyle, the longest event in High School swimming. By the end of the first 100 yards, Luke was in the lead by over 6 seconds, and by halfway that lead had grown to 17 seconds. Cruising home in 5:04.63, Luke lapped the competition and won by over 35 seconds.

“Luke backed off early in the race, knowing that he had the win secured. His all time best time is 11 seconds faster than what he did,” FCS Head Coach Christy Blackwell explained. “We left this meet and traveled to Knoxville for a USAS Meet on Saturday where he swam for Excel Aquatics, and we wanted him to still be fresh for that meet.”

Madison Blackwell, Luke’s younger sister, swam as “exhibition” in the meet since she is only in Middle School and cannot score in High School meets.

Madison competed in the 100 Yard Butterfly and 100 Yard Backstroke. In the Butterfly event she won the event with a time of 1:10.66, out touching the second place finisher by a mere 0.09 seconds.

In the 100 Yard Backstroke, the tables were turned on Madison as she placed second in the race, by 0.07 seconds, and finishing in 1:08.93.

“Even though Madison is not eligible to compete at State this year, she has accumulated 5 State Qualifying Times, second only to current MJHS Senior Kelsey Copeland in the number of State Cuts achieved,” Coach Blackwell noted. “So next year as a Freshman, we anticipate that she will have an immediate impact on swimming in Wilson County.”

“Our next meet is the Wilson County Championships (WCC) on the 23^rd, and Luke will be one of the early favorites in whatever events we decide to place him in.”

After the WCC, the Mid-State Region Meet will follow on January 30^th in Nashville, with the State Meet being held in Knoxville on February 13^th and 14^th.

After High School season ends the Blackwell siblings will turn their attention towards the Southeastern Swimming Championships in Nashville at the end of February, and the Senior Sectional Championships in North Carolina in March. When not swimming for FCS, the pair train year round for Excel Aquatics under the guidance of Lebanon’s John Barnes.