The Andalusia Stingrays finished third as a team in the 2015 district swim meet in Dothan on Saturday with the top four from each event moving on to compete at the state meet in Birmingham.

 

“Our third place finish did not represent what this team did Saturday,” Stingrays’ coach Gavin Donaldson said. “We were just outnumbered by Dothan and Eufaula. These swimmers, new and veteran alike, have worked hard from May until now, in and out of the pool, to finish well. Individually, the team did that.”

 

The first event of the day for the Stingrays was the girls’ 8-and-under 100-yard medley relay with swimmer Kaylynn Wagoner, Briley Henry, Sara Catherine Samson and Annaleigh Fischer. The four mighty Stingrays finished second in the event with a time of 1:54.24.

 

Andalusia finished in third place in the girls’ 9-10 200-yard medley relay, when Annabella Lindsey, Anna Grace Scott, Eliana Forry and Trinity Smith finished with a time of 3:55.94.

 

In the fifth event of the day, Andalusia picked up a win in the boys’ 11-12 200-yard medley relay with a time of 3:14.23 from McClaine Bedingfield, Alex Birk, Alex Browning and Justin Koleser.

 

Andalusia got a third place finish from Connor Tillman, Caleb Wiggins, Cameron Woodard and Josh Riley in the boys’ 13-14 200-yard medley relay with a time of 3:07.64.

 

Catherine Yanes, Claire Breedlove, Emma Younce and Lexi Grantham finished second, with a time of 2:27.66, in the girls’ 13-14 200-yard medley relay.

 

In the girls’ 15-18 200-yard medley relay, Andalusia’s Mary Beth Baker, Cali Filmer, Elisabeth Younce and Grace Philpott finished in first with a district record time of 2:03.74.

 

Scott finished in third place in the girls’ 9-10 50-yard backstroke with a time of 1:13.22.

 

Andalusia picked up another win from Browning in the boys’ 11-12 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 46.94. Birk finished second with a time of 48.99.

 

Claire Breedlove secured a spot in the girls’ 13-14 50-yard breaststroke finals by finishing in second place with a time of 41.22.

 

Elisabeth Younce followed it up with a second place finish in the girls’ 15-18 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 38.31.

 

In the boys’ 6-and-under 25-yard freestyle, Carson Breedlove placed second with a time of 32.94.

 

Samson and Henry finished second and third place in the girls’ 8-and-under 25-yard freestyle. Samson finished first in the girls’ 8-and-under 50-yard freestyle with a time of 43.66. Henry finished second with a time of 48.63.

 

Josh Riley qualified for state with a second place finish in the boys’ 9-10 50-yard freestyle with a time of 37.50.

 

Birk finished third in the boys’ 11-12 50-yard freestyle with a time of 36.36.

 

Philpott finished second in the girls’ 11-12 50-yard freestyle with a time of 28.21, and Ava Bailey finished third with a time of 28.58. In the 100-yard freestyle, Philpot took first place with a time of 1:01.97.

 

Emma Younce got her first-first place individual finish of the day in the girls’ 13-14 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.18.

 

In the boys’ 15-18 50-yard freestyle, Ethan Gobea earned a fourth place finish and spot in the state meet with a time of 26.60.

 

Browning picked up another victory in the boys’ 11-12 100-yard IM with a time of 1:28.17. Browning was again victorious in the 100-yard freestyle as he finished with a top time of 1:18.74.

 

Emma Younce followed with another district record, this time in the girls’ 13-14 100-yard IM with a time of 1:02:00. Younce also broke district records in the 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard fly. Her time was 24.90 in freestyle and 27.01 in the fly.

 

Baker took first place in the girls’ 15-18 100-yard IM with a time of 1:05.29. Fillmer finished second with a time of 1:07.20, and Elisabeth Younce finished third with a time of 1:20.64.

 

Baker also finished first and set district records in the 50-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle. Her time was 28.99 in 50-yard backstroke and 55.53 in the 100-yard freestyle.

 

Baker was also part of the 200-yard freestyle relay group of Elisabeth Younce, Philpot and Fillmer, who finished first and set the district record with a time of 1:50.92.

 

Bedingfield, Birk, Koleser and Browning took first place in the boys’ 11-12 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:00.83. Bedingfield also finished first place in the boys’ 11-12 50-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.32.

 

In the boys’ 9-10 50-yard butterfly, Josh Riley finished first with a time of 52.70.

 

With a time of 32.78, Philpot took first place in the girls’ 11-12 50-yard backstroke.

 

Brycen Owens took home the top spot in the boys’ 8-and-under 50-yard freestyle with a time of 52.19.

 

“We had 28 of 33 qualify individually or on a relay team,” Donaldson said. “Of the 28, 20 were individual qualifiers. Many of our swimmers left the meet with personal best times. Now that the coaching staff knows what individual events the swimmers will be competing in, the focus will change to refining and building those specific strokes. It is a much larger venue with many spectators. We now have to prepare and have them ready for the big stage.”

 

The Andalusia Stingrays will compete in the 2015 State Swim and Dive meet on July 24-25 at the SportsPlex in Birmingham.