Columbus-area swimmers shine at state championship meet

Several local swimmers travelled to Georgia Tech for the state meet this weekend and proved themselves to be among the top talent in Georgia.

Brookstone’s Hannah Mattson stole the show with her effort in the 1A-3A Girls 100-yard freestyle final, tying Holy Innocents’ Abby Pilkenton for first with a time of 50.98. It was part of strong weekend for Mattson, who also took second in the 200 free and helped the Lady Cougars’ 200 free relay take fourth.

At the 4A-5A level, the Columbus girls did nothing but impress. Katie Jordan reached the podium twice with second-place finishes in the 200 free and 500 free, and the girls 400 free relay took third en route to an overall third-place team finish for the Lady Blue Devils.

The Columbus boys, meanwhile, had their highlights as well. Fabrizzio Orderique earned a third-place finish in the 500 free, while Chase Parker took two fourth-place finishes in the 200 free and the 100 breaststroke.

“We’ve taken some of these kids who were barely getting going and seeing them soar,” Columbus coach Karen Waters said. “The confidence, the joy and the excitement they have is just incredible. I can’t even put into words how proud I am of my own kids up there.”

Columbus and Brookstone weren’t the only local schools to send swimmers to the finals.

Harris County’s Jaxon Kite and Hollie Porter each reached finals races, with Kite taking ninth and 16th in the 50 free and 100 free and Porter taking sixth in the 100 breaststroke and 13th in the 200 individual medley. Northside’s Hope McNair qualified for the 100 fly finals, where she finished 17th.

Waters was exuberant about her swimmers’ work but also applauded the efforts of the other local swimmers on the big stage.

“When we’re at this point, I’m cheering for all Columbus-area schools,” Waters said.

Class 4A-5A Finals Results

Boys 200 Free

4th - Chase Parker, Columbus - 1:44.54

9th - Fabrizzio Orderique, Columbus - 1:48.62

Boys 50 Free

9th - Jaxon Kite, Harris County - 22.62

Boys 100 Free

16th - Jaxon Kite, Harris County - 50.04

Boys 500 Free

3rd - Fabrizzio Orderique, Columbus - 4:51.56

Boys 200 Free Relay

8th - Columbus - 1:32.76

10th - Harris County - 1:32.91

Boys 100 Breaststroke

4th - Chase Parker, Columbus - 59.42

Boys 400 Free Relay

11th - Columbus - 3:26.91

13th - Harris County - 3:30.23

Girls 200 Medley Relay

4th - Columbus - 1:50.50

Girls 200 Free

3rd - Katie Jordan, Columbus - 1:56.61

10th - Kylie Davenport, Columbus - 2:01.70

Girls 200 IM

7th - Madigan Starr, Columbus - 2:08.77

13th - Hollie Porter, Harris County - 2:15.22

17th - Libby Story, Columbus - 2:21.28

18th - Katheryn Livingston, Columbus - 2:23.18

Girls 50 Free

6th - Kaleigh Feger, Columbus - 24.98

11th - Kylie Davenport, Columbus - 25.47

Girls 100 Fly

16th - Katheryn Livingston, Columbus - 1:02.10

17th - Hope McNair, Northside - 1:03.42

Girls 100 Free

11th - Kaleigh Feger, Columbus - 54.82

Girls 500 Free

2nd - Katie Jordan, Columbus - 5:09.14

11th - Libby Story, Columbus - 5:32.24

Girls 200 Free Relay

4th - Columbus - 1:41.78

Girls 100 Back

4th - Madigan Starr, Columbus - 57.53

Girls 100 Breaststroke

6th - Hollie Porter, Harris County - 1:10.97

8th - Lindsey Conroy, Columbus - 1:11.21

Girls 400 Free Relay

3rd - Columbus - 3:36.29

Class 1A-3A Finals Results

Girls 200 Free

2nd - Hannah Mattson, Brookstone - 1:50.14

Girls 100 Free

1st (Tied) - Hannah Mattson, Brookstone - 50.98

Girls 200 Free Relay

4th - Brookstone - 1:43.94

This story was originally published February 4, 2018 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Columbus-area swimmers shine at state championship meet."