Oak Grove boys claim county swim title

Greer Smith, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·4 min read

Jan. 14—GREENSBORO — Oak Grove's boys turned depth and clutch performances into a championship in the Davidson County high school swim meet Thursday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

The Grizzlies collected just three victories but also posted five seconds, two thirds and two fourths as they finished with 270 points and edged runner-up North Davidson by 13.

"We really had some kids step up," Oak Grove coach Rachael Greene said. "We had some kids missing tonight who are key points of our team. We had kids swim things that they don't normally do just to help out. We had some kids really finish hard at the end of the races and advance past where they were supposed to finish."

Oak Grove's best points haul came in the 100-yard breaststroke as Joshua Vogl edged teammate Drew Hey for first with Charlie McDonald finishing fourth and Abraham Williard claiming sixth.

Vogl and Hey also scored first places as part of the 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams that also included Jay Sams on both, Aiden Fleming on the 400 and Williard on the 200.

Hey (200 free), Yogl (100 butterfly), Fleming (500 free) and Sams (100 free) also scored second places; and Sams (50 free) and Fleming (200 free) added thirds. The 200 medley relay team also finished fourth.

"We had kids step up in relay spots and swim times I haven't seen all season, and we had kids swim individual events that were outside their comfort zones as well," Greene said.

Ledford finished third with 214 points, followed by East Davidson (115), Central Davidson (85), West Davidson (61), Lexington (60) and South Davidson (18).

Ledford's top finishes were second places by the 200 medley relay team and by Chase Sheffield in the 200 IM. Tucker Queen (100 free), Adam Conte (100 butterfly) and the 200 freestyle relay team finished third. Conte (200 IM), Sheffield (100 back), Logan Thoma (50 free) and Luke Riddle (100 fly) finished fourth.

Other winners included North Davidson in the 200 medley relay, Austin Houser of Central in the 200 and 500 free, Caden Leonard of Central in the 200 IM and 100 back, Luke Nebrich of West in the 50 and 100 free, Lane Cooke of North in the 100 butterfly.

In the girls portion of the meet, Ledford won six events and finished second in team standings behind deeper North Davidson, which won just the 400 freestyle relay.

Jenna Koh finished first in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke for the Panthers, while Brea White sped to wins in the 50 free and 100 butterfly. They were also part of the winning 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay teams. Ally Stevens was also part of the winning relay teams that also included Ellery Brown in the 200 free and Maddie Brown in the 200 medley.

"We did very well," Panthers coach Brian Thoma said. "I didn't know how we would do. This is my first year coaching and I didn't know what some of the other teams would bring ... We won several races and had some podiums. We're a young team and we're trying to build the program back up. You put the work in and you are going to see improvement, and we saw improvement today."

North, with its coach not present because of COVID, finished second in seven events and finished with 279 points. Ledford had 212, followed by Lexington (193), West Davidson (168), East Davidson (131), Oak Grove (111), South (20) and Thomasville (1).

"This meet was a big one, especially with our coach being out," said Claire Hartsell, who finished second in two individual events and two relay events for the Black Knights. "We wanted to win this for her."

Callie Curran won the 100 free and finished third in the 200 IM for East. Ellie Harper was second in the 500 free, and the 400 free relay team finished third.The 200 medley relay team finished fourth as did Emma Branscombe in the 200 free.

Other girls winners were Waverly Blackwell of Lexington in the 200 free and 500 free, and Kynley Simerson of West Davidson in the 100 back.

gsmith@hpenews.com — 336-888-3519