By Derek Brenton

BOAZ- Three individuals and one relay team all posted their best recorded times in events for the 2023 season as the women’s team led the way for Sparkman High School at the North Alabama High School Swim League Championship on Saturday.

The relay teams for the women accounted for 26 points while Monrovia Middle School seventh grader Bella Minnon recorded 22 points of her own for the Senators.

Capturing 12th in the 200 Yard Medley Relay for 14 points with a time of 2:23.97 was the relay team of Lilly Aguilar (40.68), Mya Ceideburg (40.47), Bella Minnon (30.55) and Mikayla Finucane (32.27). The group comprised of students from Monrovia Middle School, Sparkman 9th Grade and Sparkman High School were less than one second behind James Clemens High School (2:23.10) and Scottsboro High School (2:23.07) and less than one second ahead of Florence High School (2:24.53).

In the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, the grouping of eighth grader Aguilar (32.88), senior Jordan Breton (34.31), junior Kaitlyn Finucane (28.27), and freshman Mya Ceideburg (30.81) took 14th place in 2:06.27 for 10 points. The finish was an improvement of 6.11 seconds over the group’s previous best time. They finished less than a second ahead of James Clemens High School (2:07.03) and Florence High School (2:07.25).

Minnon placed third out of 14 swimmers in the 100 Yard Butterfly with a time of 1:08.63, matching her season’s best time from the first meet of the season. The 16-point effort was less than a second off the pace of first place finisher Morelia Calderon-Diaz of Scottsboro (1:07.67) and second place Sofia Velez of Cullman (1:08.63).

Minnon tallied another six points with her 11th place finish out of 33 swimmers in the 100 Yard Backstroke (1:13.98). She finished just behind Scottsboro junior Amelia Armour (1:13.48) and just ahead of James Clemens senior Angela Ai (1:14.23).

Sparkman senior Jordan Breton scored two points for the Senators with her career best time in the 500 Yard Freestyle at 7:51.25. The effort was a substantial improvement of 12.2 seconds. Breton likewise made notable gains in her 100 Yard Breastroke where she dropped 5.89 seconds for her best posting of the season (1:41.43).

Aguilar also posted her season best time in the 100 Yard Breaststroke. Her time of 1:36.58 was an improvement of 3.53 seconds. Monrovia Middle School eighth grader Megan Zaremba saw her best finish of the season in the 50 Yard Freestyle, trimming 1.4 seconds to finish at 33.12.

Senators junior Matthew Hammer led the men’s team with six points on a pair of 14th place finishes. In the 200 Yard Individual Medley he finished in 2:55.78. He completed the the 100 Yard Breaststroke in 1:27.14.

Senior Alex Bratton scored four points for the men while capturing 13th place in the 100 Yard Freestyle out of 58 swimmers with his season’s best time of 59.29 seconds. It was an improvement of 0.39 seconds. Bratton scored an additional point for the team with his 16th place finish in the 50 Yard Freestyle out of 71 swimmers at 26.46 seconds.

A number of swimmers from many schools were unavailable for NAHSSL due to the Fran Norris Invitational, a USA Swimming sanctioned event, that drew many of the best from across the Southeast. Recorded times at Fran Norris and other USA Swim sanctioned events can also be used to qualify for AHSAA State Sectionals. Sparkman had three swimmers at the event in Quintellis Darden II, Lynden West and Kipten West. Of the seven events he swam, Darden’s time of 49.64 in the 100 Yard Free and 22.97 in the 50 Free met State Sectional qualifications.

Men’s Team Scores: Boaz 393.5, James Clemens 364, Scottsboro 220, Florence 193.5, Jasper 176, Buckhorn 170, Bob Jones 155, Arab 138, Cullman 130, St John Paul II 75, Hazel Green 68, Athens 47, Guntersville 33, Sparkman 12, Lindsay Lane 2

Women’s Team Scores: James Clemens 329, Bob Jones 299, Cullman 221.5, Jasper 210, Scottsboro 209, Arab 198.5, Boaz 191, Guntersville 130, Florence 128, St John Paul II 81, Buckhorn 52, Athens 52, Sparkman 48, Sardis 21, Hazel Green 20, Lindsay Lane 1