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."
Flowery Branch's Zack Miller-Hogg
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/2/236120