St. Al cruises to victory in tune-up for MAIS state swim meet

Published 10:32 am Wednesday, September 20, 2023

St. Aloysius warmed up for its biggest swim meet of the season with an impressive showing in its home pool.

The Flashes won 22 of 40 events to total 497 combined points, and easily won the four-team St. Al Last Chance Meet Tuesday at the Verbeck YMCA pool.

St. Al’s boys’ team finished with 210 points. Hartfield Academy was second, with 134 points, Bayou Academy was third with 103 and Cathedral fourth with 75. The meet included both elementary school and high school swimmers.

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Jon Daniel Busby and Matthew Busby won four events each for the Flashes in the high school division. Jon Daniel Busby was first in the 200 yard freestyle and 100 freestyle, while Matthew Busby won the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. They were both on the winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays as well.

Luke Larson was on both winning relays and finished second to Matthew Busby in the 50 freestyle. Caleb Jones helped the medley relay to victory, and Conner Johnston was the fourth man on the freestyle relay.

Jack Stanley dominated the boys’ elementary school division, with individual victories in the 50 freestyle and 100 yard individual medley, along with the 100 yard medley relay.

Stanley was joined on the medley relay by Cullen Bounds, Joe Robert and Noah Corley. Bounds also won the 25 yard backstroke.

Abram Rice won the 50 yard butterfly.

In the girls’ meet, St. Al finished with 287 points to nearly double the total of runner-up Bayou Academy, which had 149. Hartfield was third with 114 points and Cathedral fourth with 54.

Elle Larson won four events for the Lady Flashes, and Katelyn Clark won three. Larson finished first in the 200 yard individual medley and 100 backstroke, while Clark was first in the 200 freestyle. They teamed with Olivia Busby and Campbell McCoy to win the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays.

Busby was victorious in the 50 freestyle with a time of 29.83 seconds, and Hendrix Eldridge won the 100 breaststroke in 1:34.54.

In the girls’ elementary school division, Lexi Dahl won the 100 yard individual medley for St. Al. She also teamed with Maggie Farmer, Keaghan Stanley and Evey Fletcher to win the 100 yard medley relay.

Stanley, Fletcher, Emily Harper Averett and Fiona Tidwell won the 100 freestyle relay with a time of 1:31.14.

The Last Chance Meet was the last event on St. Al’s regular-season schedule. Up next is the MAIS Overall Swim Meet Sept. 26 and 27 at GRIT Training Aquatic Center in Flowood.

The elementary school meet for grades 1-3 and 4-6 is Sept. 26 at 8 a.m. The high school meet for grades 7-12 is Sept. 27 at 8 a.m.

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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