Nansemond River fared the best out of the three Suffolk public schools this past Saturday in the Southeastern District swimming championships at Hampton University. NR saw four swimmers and one relay team advance to regionals, while King’s Fork had one swimmer move on.

As a team, Nansemond River’s boys’ placed fifth out of nine, and its girls’ placed seventh out of nine. Both of King’s Fork’s teams placed eighth, and Lakeland’s squads trailed them at ninth.

The top four finishers in relays and top eight finishers in individual events at the district meet qualify to compete at the regional championships.

The Nansemond River 200-yard medley relay team beat the school record by nearly three seconds in the process of coming in fourth with a time of 1:50.91. The relay team consisted of Kyle Cook (backstroke), Michael Betts (breaststroke), Logan Eubanks (butterfly) and Robert Boswell (freestyle).

Betts, Boswell and Eubanks each qualified for regionals in two individual events, as well.

Michael Betts, who was sidelined with a back injury until the last meet of the regular season, made a splash at districts, as head coach Shamus Riley had predicted. Betts earned the bronze medal in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.14. He also came in eighth in the 50-yard freestyle with a 24.41-second time.

Eubanks finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly, breaking the school record again with a 59.87-second time. He also finished sixth in the 100-yard backstroke, beating the school record by 14 hundredths of a second, 1:00.12 to 1:00.26.

Boswell placed fifth in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:14.78 and sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:11.32.

Andrey Lonshakov, a Russian foreign exchange student, broke the Nansemond River record for the 50-yard freestyle and came in seventh with a time of 24.18 seconds.

Samantha Barbour was the only swimmer from King’s Fork to qualify for the next level of competition. She advanced in the 200-yard individual medley with a 2:27.20 time that placed her fifth, as well as in the 100-yard butterfly, where she came in sixth with a time of 1:08.30.

While Lakeland, in only its second year with a swim program, did not have any competitors place high enough for regional competition, Philip Rankin came close in the 50-yard freestyle. He placed 12th, but less than half a second separated him from eighth place.

The Eastern Region Championships will take place Friday and Saturday at Old Dominion University.

2012-13 Southeastern District Swimming Championships

Team Results

 Boys

1. Hickory, 152

2. Western Branch, 108

3. Grassfield, 80

4. Great Bridge, 59

5. Nansemond River, 48

6. Oscar Smith, 46

7. Indian River, 15

8. King’s Fork, 8

9. Lakeland, 2

 

Girls

1. Western Branch, 131

2. Hickory, 129

3. Oscar Smith, 76

4. Great Bridge, 68

5. Grassfield, 61

6. Indian River, 26

7. Nansemond River, 12

8. King’s Fork, 11

9. Lakeland, 4