KF sends five swimmers to states

Published 8:32 pm Tuesday, February 16, 2016

King’s Fork High School senior Alex Kaye has qualified to compete at the Group 4A state championships on Saturday in the boys’ 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle relay. (Caroline LaMagna photo)

King’s Fork High School senior Alex Kaye has qualified to compete at the Group 4A state championships on Saturday in the boys’ 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle relay. (Caroline LaMagna photo)

King’s Fork High School will be represented by five swimmers at the state championships this weekend after their performances in the Region 4A East championships on Saturday at SwimRVA in Richmond.

“I was very, very pleased with how we did,” King’s Fork coach Erin Manning said. She noted the region was a little more challenging than she and her team had expected it would be, “but I was pleased with the way everything came out.”

Jamestown High School’s boys’ and girls’ teams won the regional titles, while the Bulldogs placed 10th out of 17 teams to score, and the Lady Bulldogs placed 13th out of 16 teams to score.

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King’s Fork produced two state-qualifiers in individual events, seniors Carlee Morse and Alex Kaye, and one qualifying relay squad, the boys’ 200-yard freestyle relay team.

“Carlee Morse qualified in the 50(-yard) freestyle, again, so this is the third year that she’s going to states in the 50 free,” Manning said.

Morse made the state cut by placement, coming in ninth with a time of 26.76 seconds.

“She had to come from a long way back to make that top 10, and she pulled it off like she always does,” Manning said.

To qualify for states by placement, swimmers in individual events needed to finish in the top 10 and relay teams needed to finish in the top eight.

“Alex Kaye made it in the (100-yard) (butter)fly by both time and placement,” Manning said.

His finished the race in 56.55 seconds, beating the state-qualifying time of 56.89 seconds, and he finished in ninth place.

“He did exactly what I thought he could and should do, and we’re all very excited about that,” Manning said, adding that all of his hard work is paying off.

The boys’ 200-yard freestyle relay team made it to states by claiming eighth place at regionals with a time of 1:41.64. The team featured sophomore Andrew Noggle and seniors Stephen Reeder, Jimmy Smith and Kaye.

Last season, King’s Fork was part of Region 4A South. It featured a similar group of schools to this year’s 4A East, but KF sent nine swimmers to states then.

Manning said that in terms of competition, this year’s conference championships were a bit easier than last year for King’s Fork, but at regionals, times this year were significantly faster by around a second or two.

Morse, Kaye and the Bulldogs’ 200 free relay team will compete in the Group 4A state championships on Saturday at SwimRVA in Richmond.