State High School Swimmers from Wilson County

Eight Swim at State

February 15, 2009….8 WilsonCounty residents participated in the Tennessee High School Swimming Championships in Knoxville over the weekend. The meet was held in the new Alan Jones Aquatic CenterUniversity of Tennessee on the campus.

Representing Wilson County and their respective schools: Kelsey Copeland and Spencer Bracey from Mt Juliet High School; Luke Blackwell and Rachel Sandoval from Friendship Christian; Zac Morgan from Lebanon High School; and Conrad Claycomb, Alek Nochowicz, and Ashley Powell from Pope John Paul II High School.

Copeland, a senior in her last meet for the bears, finished with best times in both of her events. In the Girl’s 50 Yard Freestyle, Copeland dropped 8-hundreths of a second, and finished 63^rd in a time of 0:27.17. In the 100 Yard Backstroke, Copeland dropped 1.09 seconds and finished 39^th in the meet with a time of 1:05.84.

Copeland will continue her training with Excel Aquatics in order to be prepared for her swimming career with King College, which starts in the Fall.

Bracey, a freshman boy with MJHS swam in the 100 Yard Backstroke, dropping 2.40 seconds and finishing 75^th in a time of 1:03.16.

Blackwell, a sophomore at FCS, finished the highest among the Wilson County boys in final standings. In the 200 Yard Freestyle, Blackwell dropped 0.71 seconds to finish 22^nd with a time of 1:50.13. In the 100 Yard Backstroke, Blackwell finished 26^th overall.

Sandoval is a junior at FCS and qualified for the meet in the Girl’s 50 Yard Freestyle. Sandoval finished 66^th in the meet in the event.

Morgan, finishing up his swimming career at LHS, participated in the Boy’s 50 Yard Freestyle and the 100 Yard Freestyle. In the 100 Free event Morgan dropped 0.01 seconds and finished 60^th in the event in a time of 0:53.84. In the 50 Free event Morgan finished 64^th.

Claycomb, a senior at Pope JPII HS and a Lebanon resident, clocked in impressive drops in both of his events. In the 100 Yard Freestyle, he posted a time of 0:52.43, dropping 0.48 seconds and finishing in 41^st place. In the 100 Yard Backstroke, 2.67 seconds fell off his best time when he hit the wall in a time of 1:01.07 seconds, good enough for 50^th place.

Nochowicz, a junior at Pope JPII HS hailing from Mt Juliet, placed 33^rd in the 500 Yard Freestyle when he swam to a personal best time of 5:12.21, a 2.69 second drop. In the 200 Yard Freestyle, Nochowicz finished 56^th.

Powell, a Mt Juliet resident who is a senior at Pope JPII HS is better known as a cross country star in the region, qualified for two events for the State Swim Meet. There, Powell placed 41^st in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, clocking a time of 1:15.21, a 1.09 second drop off her personal best time.

Earlier in the year in a dual meet versus Riverdale HS, Powell swam the 500 Yard Freestyle for the first time in her career, and posted a State qualifying time. At State she swam it for only the second (and final) time and dropped 2.09 seconds finishing in 66^th place with a time of 6:08.20.

“Ashley is a tremendous athlete who steps up and is not afraid to compete,” Coach John Barnes noted. “She had the benefit of training this year with not only Claycomb and Nochowicz from Pope JPII HS, she also had Copeland and Blackwell in those lanes every day pushing her.”

“Three of those 4 also had qualifying times in the 500 Free, and we decided that after she got her annual cut in the 100 Breast, we would go after the 500 Free. She got great advice from those she trains with, and went out there and stunned the crowd when she got the cut in her first try.”

For more information on swimming in Wilson County, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.