[11/3/03]Bern Ebersole and Will Tomlinson each won an individual state championship to lead St. Aloysius to a third-place team finish at the state swim meet Saturday in Cleveland.

Ebersole won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2 minutes, 3.40 seconds, and was also third in the 100-yard breaststroke. Tomlinson won the 100-yard freestyle in 50.32 seconds, and was third in the 50-yard freestyle an event he won a state title in last year.

Allen Karel also posted a pair of top-10 finishes for the Flashes, and Jase Ebersole was eighth in the 500-yard freestyle. The Flashes also had a pair of solid relay performances, placing second in the 200-yard freestyle relay and third in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Charles Sassone, Bern Ebersole, and Tomlinson were all members of both relay teams.

Warren Central’s Patrick Chausse had a pair of top-16 efforts, in the 50-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle.

St. Al totaled 206 points for the meet, a distant third to front-runners Biloxi (431 points) and Tupelo (353 1/3 points). Warren Central was 17th, with 29 points, and Vicksburg High did not score any points in the meet.

On the girls’ side, Warren Central’s Elena English finished seventh in the 100-yard freestyle and 11th in the 50-yard freestyle to help the Lady Vikes to an 18th-place team finish. Kris Fischenich also had a top-10 finish for WC, placing eighth in the 50-yard freestyle.

Vicksburg’s Cat Rowan was seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke, edging St. Al’s Bonney Neill by .04 seconds.

St. Al edged WC for 17th place in the team standings, 43-42. Vicksburg was 24th, with 16 points. Tupelo beat out Cleveland to win the meet, 294-253.