On a night dominated by the powerhouse St. Xavier boys and Manual girls swimming and diving programs, Pleasure Ridge Park High School junior Max Holton scored one for the little guys.
Holton posted a time of 47.80 seconds to win the 100-yard freestyle at Friday’s Region Four Championships held at the University of Louisville’s Ralph Wright Natatorium.
Holton was the only outlier on a night that saw St. X win 11 of 12 boys events and Manual will all 12 girls events.
“He’s not a normal swimmer for PRP,” said PRP coach Megan Miller, who has only seven swimmers (four girls, three boys) in her program. “He’s in a league of his own.”
Led by sophomore Aldan Johnston, St. Xavier scored 585 points to take the boys team crown. Manual was second with 331.5 points, followed by Male (109.5), North Bullitt (66) and PRP (37).
Manual won the girls title with 534 points and was followed by Male (198), Presentation (186), Bullitt East (95) and North Bullitt (20).
Manual also took the combined (boys and girls) title with 865.5 points. Male was second with 307.5 points.
The top two individuals in each event earned automatic spots in the State Championships set for Feb. 25-27 at U of L.
BOYS
Holton has been swimming for nine years and said he considered transferring to a more competitive high school program. Ultimately, he chose to stay close to home at PRP.
“I know a lot of people there care about me,” said Holton, who trains with the Cardinal Aquatics club program. “I just felt that’s the best school for me.”
Holton also finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke. He finished ninth in the 100 freestyle at last year’s state meet and is hoping to improve on that position later this month.
“My goal is to finish first at state, but Trinity has a freshman (Hunter Tapp) who is crazy fast,” Holton said.
Johnston was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Swimmer after winning the 200 and 500 frees. His time of 1:40.96 in the 200 free was a regional record, breaking the mark of 1:42.46 set by St. Xavier’s William Buese in 2012.
“I really just wanted to swim fast and have fun,” Johnston said. “I just swam my heart out, and that happened.”
Tigers coach Todd Larkin said his team is well-positioned to capture its 28th straight state title.
“We wanted to swim a clean meet and make no mistakes and make sure our team was trending up,” Larkin said. “The attitude and energy were fantastic. I think we’ll be able to push that even harder in two weeks.”
GIRLS
Along with winning all three relays, Manual had the top two finishers in all nine individual events.
Leading the way were sophomores Zorry Mason and Kristin Adams. Mason was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer after taking the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly. Adams took the 200 and 500 frees.
“Zorry’s going to do nothing but get faster,” Manual coach J.C. Barnett said. “She’s the real deal. I expect her to be breaking some of our IM and (butterfly) team records in the next couple of years, and those records are held by All-Americans.”
Barnett admitted his squad benefited from the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s realignment of swimming, which spread the Louisville-area schools across two regions. Manual no longer has to compete for a regional title with powerhouse Sacred Heart, which is in Region Three.
Barnett saw two sides to the realignment discussion.
“The bad side is that it broke up the fastest region in the state of Kentucky,” he said. “The good side is that more kids got to the regional consolations and finals. Sometimes we’re very selfish and only look at how it affects us, rather than other sections in Kentucky.”
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.
REGION FOUR SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
At University of Louisville’s Ralph Wright Natatorium
Top two finishers in each event automatically qualify for state meet
GIRLS
* Team scores – 1. Manual, 534; 2. Male, 198; 3. Presentation, 186; 4. Bullitt East, 95; 5. North Bullitt, 20; 6. Shawnee, 19; 7. Pleasure Ridge Park, 16; 8. Fairdale, 12; 9. Butler, 9; 10. (tie) Bullitt Central, Central, 4; 12. Doss, 2.
* 200-yard medley relay – 1. Manual (Emma Pagni, Ellie Cambron, Nicole McGrath, Darci Truman), 1:57.50; 2. Bullitt East, 2:17.94.
* 200 freestyle – 1 Kristin Adams (Manual), 1:55.33; 2. Savannah Gupton (Manual), 2:01.36.
* 200 individual medley – 1. Zorry Mason (Manual), 2:06.14; 2. Anna Hogan (Manual), 2:10.82.
* 50 freestyle – 1. Maggie Michael (Manual), 27.19; 2. Darci Truman (Manual), 27.22.
* Diving – 1. Cassie Martin (Manual), 260.50; 2. Danielle Zell (Manual), 206.00.
* 100 butterfly – 1. Zorry Mason (Manual), 56.87; 2. Nicole McGrath (Manual), 1:01.27.
* 100 freestyle – 1. Darci Truman (Manual), 59.18; 2. Maggie Michael (Manual), 59.73.
* 500 freestyle – 1. Kristin Adams (Manual), 5:12.21; 2. Audrey Becker (Manual), 6:04.18.
* 200 freestyle relay – 1. Manual (Anna Hogan, Savannah Gupton, Zorry Mason, Kristin Adams), 1:42.37; 2. Male, 1:56.64.
* 100 backstroke – 1. Emma Pagni (Manual), 1:03.18; 2. Alyssa Pfitzer-Price (Manual), 1:06.10.
* 100 breaststroke – 1. Anna Hogan (Manual), 1:08.11; 2. Ellie Cambron (Manual), 1:10.93.
* 400 freestyle relay – 1. Manual (Zorry Mason, Kristin Adams, Savannah Gupton, Anna Hogan), 3:51.45; 2. Male, 4:19.89.
* Most Outstanding Swimmer – Zorry Mason (Manual).
* Coach of the Year – Tim Hill (Shawnee).
* Sportsmanship Award – Amanda Hans (Presentation).
* All-Region – Zorry Mason, Nicole McGrath, Rose McDonogh, Maggie Michael, Cassie Martin, Darci Truman, Kristian Adams, Emma Pagni, Anna Hogan (Manual).
BOYS
* Team scores – 1. St. Xavier, 585; 2. Manual, 331.5; 3. Male, 109.5; 4. North Bullitt 66; 5. Pleasure Ridge Park, 37; 6. Bullitt East, 31; 7. Shawnee, 19; 8. Butler, 7; 9. (tie) Fairdale, Central, 1.
* 200-yard medley relay – 1. St. Xavier (Martin Nitzken, Keefer Barnum, Matt Steiden, Michael Eastman), 1:38.70; 2. Manual, 1:48.38.
* 200 freestyle – 1. Aldan Johnston (St. Xavier), 1:40.96; 2. Cole Brown (St. Xavier), 1:44.88.
* 200 individual medley – 1. Clayton Forde (St. Xavier), 1:54.90; 2. Keefer Barnum (St. Xavier), 1:57.51.
* 50 freestyle – 1. Michael Eastman (St. Xavier), 22.02; 2. Matt Steiden (St. Xavier), 22.34.
* Diving – 1. Michael Miller (St. Xavier), 289.50; 2. Blake Ansert (St. Xavier), 257.05.
* 100 butterfly – 1. Matt Steiden (St. Xavier), 52.88; 2. Carson Work (Manual), 54.43.
* 100 freestyle – 1. Max Holton (Pleasure Ridge Park), 47.80; 2. Michael Eastman (St. Xavier), 48.09.
* 500 freestyle – 1. Aldan Johnston (St. Xavier), 4:35.95; 2. Clayton Forde (St. Xavier), 4:40.73.
* 200 freestyle relay – 1. St. Xavier (Aldan Johnston, Matt Steiden, Michael Eastman, Clayton Forde), 1:28.95; 2. Male, 1:35.15.
* 100 backstroke – 1. Martin Nitzken (St. Xavier), 54.08; 2. Dominic Tomchek (St. Xavier), 54.34.
* 100 breaststroke – 1. Keefer Barnum (St. Xavier), 58.17; 2. Jack Heim (Male), 58.41.
* 400 freestyle relay – 1. St. Xavier (Aldan Johnston, Dominic Tomchek, Cole Brown, Clayton Forde), 3:14.91; 2. Manual, 3:28.86.
* Most Outstanding Swimmer – Aldan Johnston (St. Xavier).
* Coach of the Year – Josh Poore (Male).
* Sportsmanship Award – Elliott Roman (Manual).
* All-Region – Aldan Johnston, Cole Brown, Clayton Forde, Michael Eastman, Michael Miller, Matt Steiden, Martin Nitzken, Keefer Barnum (St. Xavier); Max Holton (Pleasure Ridge Park).
