Orderique leads Columbus swimmers at area championships

At the Columbus area swim championships on Tuesday at the Aquatic Center, it seemed the hardest part for Columbus High School was divvying up the medals at the end of the day.

Columbus delivered an excellent performance in the area championship with victories in the boys and girls divisions. The Blue Devils dominated the day by winning 14 of the 24 events against a field of 13 other teams.

“We had probably close to 85 or 90 percent best times, and that’s all I can ask of them,” Columbus coach Karen Waters said. “We competed, we would not give up and we kept going strong.”

RELATED: Photo gallery from the event

The area championships served as a precursor to the state championships at Georgia Tech beginning Feb. 2. While it provided a window for swimmers on all teams to race their way into the big meet, it also made it apparent that Columbus’ team members will be a challenge going forward.

Chief among them will be Fabrizzo Orderique, who had a busy and rewarding day.

“It was so much fun,” said Orderique, who won the boys 200-yard freestyle, 100 butterfly and contributed to victories in the 200 and 400 free relays. “This is my first year here, and honestly, it was exciting. With your team there, it just makes it so much better.”

Columbus pulled off the victory, but Northside High School did what it could to keep the event interesting. Led by Jacob Abeyta, Northside won its share of events and ultimately finished second in the boys division.

“We had a couple of bumps here and there, but in general, I’m proud of the way our team did,” said Abeyta, who helped Northside win the 200 medley relay and later won the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke. “I’m looking forward to a big meeting at state in a few weeks.”

The focus on state is one also shared by Waters, who sees Tuesday’s triumphs as a good start toward even bigger things in Atlanta.

“We need to take the momentum and make sure they’re all working hard for another two weeks,” Waters said. “We have that incentive to go on.”

Below are the results from Tuesday that helped swimmers — and one diver — qualify for the state meet.

This story was originally published January 17, 2017 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Orderique leads Columbus swimmers at area championships."