All five local schools traveled to Boundary Waters Aquatic Center Friday evening for the annual Douglas County Swimming Meet. Alexander and Chapel Hill entered as the favorites but it would be Douglas County that took the overall title.

The Tigers and Lady Tigers combined for 281 points behind a team that was greater in number than any other at the meet. DC won the boys competition with 166 points. They placed second in the girls competition with 115 points.

Chapel Hill placed second overall with 238 points. The Panther boys (141) won their competition and the Lady Panthers (97) placed third.

Alexander finished third overall (205), taking second in the boys competition (110) and third in the girls competition (95).

Rounding out the over standings were New Manchester (40) and Lithia Springs (25). The Jaguar boys placed fourth (31) and the girls finished fifth (9). The Lady Lions took fourth (16) and the boys placed fifth (9).

The meet opened with the boys 200-yard medley relay which DC won in a time of 2:03.05. Competing for the relay team were Bemjamin Thrash, Jonathan Peraza, Andrew Norton, and Chris Isennock. In the girls 200-yard medley relay, the Alexander team of Olivia Albanese, Bailee Spivey, Lindsey Dowling, and Hannah Williams, placed first in the time of 2:13.24.

Next up was the 200-yard freestyle event. Douglas County’s Nicholas Scherer took first in the boys race with a time of 2:43.27, qualifying for the state competition. Chapel Hill’s Kamaria Mahone won the girls competition in a state qualifying time of 2:02.44. Spivey finished second but also qualified for state with a time of 2:02.74.

In the boys 200-yard IM, Alexander’s Ian Burks ran away from the field with a time of 2:32.02. Chapel HIll’s Hannah Austin took the girls race with a time of 2:58.78.

In the 50-yard free style, Panther swimmer Zahir Eaton took first place with a time of 26.74. Zephinah Barney won the girls race in a time of 26.06.

Burks picked up his second individual win on the night in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:09.55. Lindsay Dowling took first in the girls race with a time of 1:03.53.

Chapel Hill’s Joshua Thruston picked up his first win of the evening in the tenth event, the 100-yard freestyle. Thruston finished in a state qualifying time of 51.72, blowing away the field by 18 seconds. CHHS swept the event when Emily Austin took first in the girls race with a time of 1:11.55.

Peraza added to his first place relay finish with an individual gold in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 6:56.68. Mahone took the girls race in a state qualifying time of 5:39.01.

In the second relay event of the evening, the Panthers and Lady Panthers stepped up to sweep the 2-yard freestyle. The team of Juaquin Eldridge, Chase Hancock, Eaton, and Thruston won the boys race in a time of 1:47.49. The girls race was finished in a time of 1:59.53 by the team of Emily Gaver, Emily Austin, Hannah Austin, and Mahone.

Up next was the 100-yard backstroke. Thrash won the boys competition in a time of 1:15.02. Dowling won the girls race with a time of 1:02.68.

In the 100-yard breast stroke, Thruston picked up another first place finish with a time of 1:09.78. Spivey took home first for the girls, winning in a state qualifying time of 1:14.65.

In the final event of the evening, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Douglas County boys took first in the boys race and the girls race was won by Chapel Hill. The DC team of Thrash, Isennock, Peraza, and Norton won in a time of 4:34.12. Finishing in a time of 5:26.86, the AHS girls were led by Courtney Martin, Samira Roberts, Laine Gay, and Bri Mayo.

State qualifiers will now prepare for their competition at Georgia Tech.