Higdon ’21 Shatters 17 Year Old School Record as Swimming Continues to Flourish

Benjamin J Veshi

The Hargrave Military Academy Swimming and Diving team continues to show great progress and resolve as they fared well in their past two meets, with outstanding team and individual performances highlighted by a record-breaking swim by Nathan Higdon ’21.

On Wednesday afternoon, as the Tigers hosted Virginia Episcopal School and Chatham Hall, junior, Nathan Higdon took the the water and gave a truly awe-inspiring performance in the 100 yard Breaststroke. The Hargrave record, which was set in 2003, was previously 1:03.28. Higdon swam the event on Wednesday in 1:01.59. According to Higdon, “It was awesome to learn I broke a school record! I just swam as hard as a I could and tried to do my best for the team. Breaking a school record was just the icing on the cake.” In addition to Higdon’s record-breaking performance, he also qualified for state in the 100 yard freestyle which is the fifth event he’s qualified at the state level for this season.

Wednesday’s Notable Performances Included:
Kip Barksdale ’20–set a personal record in the 50 freestyle and finally broke 30 seconds!
Caleb Chester ’21–who was instructed to just get under the 30 second mark in the 50 freestyle, but he blew it out the water with a :27.85. (taking 3 seconds off!) and also taking a further 2 seconds off his 100 freestyle.
Gabe Chester ’20–who dropped a second in the 50 freestyle and then dropped a further 2 seconds in his portion of the 200 yard freestyle relay. In addition, he took another 2 seconds off his 100 Breaststroke.
Gage Crisp ’21–who set a personal best in the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle.
Ethan Teluk ’22–who dropped a further second off his 50 freestyle and then just over 4 seconds on his 100 Breaststroke
Jay Thompson ’22–who broke into the 28 second mark for the 50 freestyle and took 3 seconds off his 100 Breaststroke.

Over the weekend, both Swimming and Diving made their way to Fork Union Military Academy for a two day event. On Friday afternoon, Corliss Trinkner ’21 entered into his second diving competition of the season. Through continual improvement, Trinkner has grown his repetoire of dives, giving him more flexibility in competition. Overall, Trinkner improved his score by 20 points from his first competition.

On Saturday, the Swimming team took to the pool for their last away meet of the season. In total, the Tigers were one of eight teams, which included conference opponents, St. Anne’s-Belfield, Peninsula Catholic, and host Fork Union Military Academy. Through some strong individual performances (noted below), Hargrave took second overall as a team and placed ahead of their conference foes.

Throughout the meet, the Tigers were able to introduce their newest member, Andrew Bolz ’23, as he had a great meet qualifying indivudally in the 200 IM, 100 Butterfly, 100 Freestyle, and 400 Freestyle Relay.

Overall Results:
Fluvanna County–466
Hargrave–351
Peninsula Catholic–349
Fork Union–231
St. Anne’s-Belfield–225
Monticello–144
Louisa County–103
Orange County–46

Notable Peformances Included:
Caleb Chester ’21–dropping 2 seconds off his 50 yard Backstroke (as part of the 200 IM Relay)
Gage Crisp ’21–dropping 1 second off his 100 yard Freestyle time
Ben Gregori ’21–who swam his first (and he says last) 200 yard Freestyle in a competition!
Nathan Higdon ’21–who dropped a further nearly 3 seconds in 100 yard Butterfly
Scott Kennedy ’20–swam his fastest ever 100 yard Freestyle as an individual event, and then dropped the time further in the 400 yard Freestyle Relay
Michael Lewis ’20–who tried out the 100 yard Backstroke and finished 6th
Wesley Marquardt ’21–who swam a personal best in the 50 yard Freestyle. Just 1.44 seconds off qualifying outright for the 50 yard Freestyle
John Mauriello ’21–who was sick for the week leading up to this swim meet but came back and swam his fastest 50 yard and 100 yard Freestyle events!
Kayline Pruett ’22–who swam his fastest of the season 50 yard Freestyle. He is getting closer to qualifying in the 50 yard Bonus
Ethan Teluk ’22–who successfully broke the 35 second mark of the 50 yard Freestyle.
Jay Thompson ’21–who dropped nearly a second off his 50 yard Freestyle and over a second on his 100 yard Breaststroke making them his fastest ever!

The Tigers are back in action on Friday, January 24th from the ODAC.

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