ATLANTA — Over the past four years, northeast Georgia swimmers have proven they most definitely belong in the deep end, with at least one competitor from the area claiming gold in each GHSA swim and dive championship since 2012.
This weekend, northeast Georgia's best will gun for a fifth straight crown.
The swim portion of the GHSA championships get underway on Friday at the Georgia Tech Acquatic Center in Atlanta with preliminaries. The medal races follow on Saturday, and there are plenty of area competitors looking to battle their way on to podium and follow in the footsteps of champions like Camille Porter (Jefferson High), Colin Monaghan (Gainesville High) and brothers Paul and Ty Powers (North Hall) -- each of whom dominated in recent title races. In fact Mongahan (100-yard breaststroke) and Paul Powers (50 and 100 freestyle) still own state records.
A number of area swimmers that are looking to better their promising performances of a year ago, including North Hall's Rosemary Schofield and Chestatee's Lindsey Grater. Schofield took sixth in the 100 freestyle and ninth in the 50 freestyle in 2016 and is once again gunning for the top in both races. Meanwhile, Grater is looking to improve on her seventh-place finish in the 500 freestyle from a year ago; she is also qualified in the 100 butterfly this time around.
On the boys side, Gainesville's Brian Monaghan is back at state after finishing 10th in the 100 breaststroke. He is also qualified in the 100 butterfly, as Gainesville gets set to compete in the Class AAAAAAA-AAAAAA portion of the meet. Classes A-AAAAA will all compete against each other in Atlanta.
It's sure to be a busy -- and, hopefully, productive weekend.
NOTE: For complete information on this weekend's state championships, including schedule, directions and ticket prices, click here.
2017 GHSA SWIM AND DIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS
NORTHEAST GEORGIA SWIMMERS QUALIFIED
Swimming portion Feb. 3-4, Georgia Tech, Atlanta
CLASSES AAAAAA and AAAAAAA
GAINESVILLE
Boys 200 medley relay
Boys 400 freestyle (free) relay
Sidney Cochran, 100 butterfly
Tanner Doan, 200 IM and 100 breaststroke
Brian Monaghan, 100 breaststroke and 100 butterfly
Spencer Sumner, 100 backstroke and 500 free
LANIER
Boys 200 medley relay
Boys 200 free relay
Boys 400 free relay
Girls 200 free relay
Girls 200 medley relay
Lilah Davis, 200 free and 100 backstroke
Maya Donaldson, 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke
Seth Johnson, 200 free and 500 free
Katherine Spathelf, 200 IM and 100 backstroke
CLASSES A-AAAAA
BUFORD
Boys 200 free relay
Girls 200 free relay
Girls 200 medley relay
Girls 400 free relay
Hannah Barnard, 100 free and 200 free
Emily Cranney, 100 backstroke
Nelson Montini, 100 free and 200 free
CHESTATEE
Lindsey Grater, 100 buttefly and 500 free
COMMERCE
Girls 200 medley relay
Girls 200 free relay
Samantha Davidson, 50 free and 100 breaststroke
Kate Massey, 100 butterfly and 200 IM
DAWSON COUNTY
Matthew Wood, 200 IM and 100 backstroke
FLOWERY BRANCH
Boys 200 medley relay
Boys 200 free relay
Boys 400 free relay
Girls 200 free relay
Girls 400 free relay
Alec Burke, 50 free and 100 butterfly
Noah Miratsky, 100 backstroke
JACKSON COUNTY
Haley Reinhardt, 100 fly and 100 breaststroke
JEFFERSON
Boys 200 free relay
Boys 400 free relay
Girls 200 medley relay
Girls 200 free relay
Girls 400 free relay
Haley Bartoletta, 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke
Carlos Guzman, 200 IM
William Guzman, 500 free
McKenize Klinck, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke
Sara McMullan, 100 free and 100 butterfly
LUMPKIN COUNTY
Boys 200 medley relay
Boys 200 free relay
Joshua Birk, 100 breaststroke
Mateo Golloshi, 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke
Ben Moers, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke
NORTH HALL
Girls 200 medley relay
Girls 200 free relay
Jordon Battle, 200 IM
Will Crumpton, 50 free and 100 free
Julia Kelly, 100 free and 200 free
Rosemary Schofield, 50 free and 100 free
RIVERSIDE MILITARY
Boys 200 medley relay
Boys 200 free relay
Boys 400 free relay
Daniel Bennett-Blake, 50 free
James Brubeck, 50 free
TALLULAH FALLS
Boys 200 free relay
Boys 400 free relay
Girls 200 medley relay
Girls 200 free relay
Girls 400 free relay
Virginia Griswold, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke
Reid Kafsky, 50 free
Julia Nichols, 100 butterfly
Nickolas Stelmack, 100 butterfly and backstroke
Hunter Weyrich, 500 free
WEST HALL
Cassidy Klekot, 200 IM
