Swimming: Northeast Ga. competitors leave mark at state

ATLANTA -- Three area swimmers made an impression on Saturday at the GHSA State Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta.

North Hall's Paul Powers made the biggest splash for area swimmers at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center, finishing fifth in the 50-yard freestyle for Classes A-AAAA. Powers touched the wall in 21.57 -- roughly four-tenths of a second behind Wesleyan's Will Gregory, who won the race with a time of 21.21.

Powers was joined by Flowery Branch's Zack Miller-Hogg and Gainesville's Andy Doan, who each finished strong in the 100 free finals.

Miller-Hogg completed the race in 48.98, good enough for 12th place, while Doan ended up 16th with a time of 49.72.

"I'm not going to lie, that last 50 yards, my legs felt like rubber," Miller-Hogg said. "I was just trying to keep up with the 6-foot-8 guy next to me. That was hard enough as it was. Plus me and Andy are great friends, and he beat me by a tenth of a second yesterday, and I got him by about a second today."

A junior, Miller-Hogg says the strong showing this year will help motivate him for an even better showing next season.

"It's a big step for me," Miller-Hogg said. "Colleges are already trying to get you interested, but if I'm going to make it at the next level, I need to keep improving and finish in 46 or 45 (seconds) next year.

"To do that I'm going to have kick serious butt this year."