It’s the second of the three major high school championship seasons (the others being in Demember and in May), and the National Records are beginning to fall. Earlier this weekend, we saw Regis Jesuit (Colorado) sophomore Missy Franklin take down Natalie Coughlin’s National Independent High School Record in the 100 back, and last night, The Baylor School broke another.
At the Tennessee High School State Championships, the Baylor School, which is a private boarding school in Chattanooga, downed their own mark in the 200 free relay with a blazing 1:32.63. This eclipsed both their own Independent School mark of 1:33.35, as well as the overall mark that was held by Indiana’s Carmel High School at 1:32.75. Both of those times were set on the same day: February 14, 2009.
The swimmers on this year’s relay were sophomore Kristen Vredeveld (22.45), junior Ashley Yearwood (23.71), senior Emma Michaels (23.47), and senior Arden Pitman (23.00).
Those last two names on the relay, senior leaders Michaels and Pitman, should sound familiar, as they were both sophomores on the relay that previously held the mark. In 2009, they were joined by Pitman’s sister Sloane, who now swims at Tennessee, and Alison Lusk, who is a freshman at Kansas.
Vredeveld’s leadoff mark of 22.45 was also a State record, and she later broke the 100 free State mark in the individual with a 48.76. This bettered the previous record, held by her, by over a second. As only a sophomore, she will battle fellow sophomore Franklin and her National Independent High School record of 48.39, set last year, to be the first to Dagny Knutson’s overall mark of 48.15.
Most high schools in the country would feel lucky to have even two swimmers who could split 23.7 or better in a 50 free, but to have four is simply unbelievable. This is a collaboration of sprinting talent possibly never before seen at the high school level, and the Baylor School keeps turning it over and building more and more impressive groups.
The Baylor school took the State title by almost 300 points, with a final score of 484 t0 Harpeth Hall’s 200. The former overall record holders at Carmel High School were Megan Detro, Jesse Hames, Logan Mason, and Trish Regan.