Co-Champions in the 2022 DeKalb County Swim and Dive Boys’ Championships were Dunwoody (top photo) and Lakeside (bottom photo). The teams tied with 218 points each. (Courtesy photos)
A first-ever tie in 52 years of the DeKalb County Swimming and Diving Championships occurred in the boys’ event as Dunwoody and Lakeside finished tied at 218 points each to share the 2022 championship.
Chamblee won the girls’ even for the third time in school history and third time in the past four years with a 13-point (252-239) win over Lakeside to regain the title the Lady Vikings won in 2021.
The boys’ championship came down to the final event with Dunwoody leading Lakeside and Chamblee in the team standings as they hit the water for the 400-freestyle relay. Any score in the event for the Wildcats would give them their first outright title since 2003.
Dunwoody swam to a gold medal winning time of 3:17.33, but an early start on one leg of the relay caused a disqualification for the Wildcats. Lakeside’s team of Jack Van Valkenburg, Elijah Peterson, Ethan Collins and Sam Boehringer finished second in 3:26.93 and moved into the gold medal spot for the tie and Chamblee took the silver only five back from the two title teams with 213 points to finish third in the team standings.
Ryan Altera led the Wildcats picking up two gold medals with wins in the 200 freestyle (1:45.19) and the 500 freestyle (4:46.24). Luke Amerson added a gold in the 200-individual medley (2:01.01) and tied teammate Naeem Mangum in the 100 breaststroke as both touched in 1:04.90. Dunwoody also picked up a gold medal winning performance in the 100 freestyle as Evan Shine took the title in a time of 49.10.
Craig Steinhauer was the leader for the Vikings striking gold in both the 50 freestyle (21.55, second consecutive year) and the 100 butterfly (52.72) to become a four-time county champion. Jack Van Valkenburg became a three-time county champion winning in his third different event in three years as he swam to gold in the 100 backstroke (53.05).
Lakeside also took the gold in the 200-medley relay (1:39.05) with Van Valkenburg and Steinhauer teaming up with Elijah Peterson and Griffin Higgins. Another gold went to Lakeside in the 200-freestyle relay (1:32.21) as Steinhauer helped himself to a fourth gold medal with the aid of teammates Ethan Collins, Higgins and Sam Boehringer.
Chamblee’s Micah Neely won the one-meter diving gold with a score of 392.75 and teammate Jack Rourk was second with 361.30 as both hit qualifying marks for the state meet.
Decatur finished fourth in the team standings with 128 points and Martin Luther King Jr. was fifth with 77 points. King was led by their 200-freestyle relay team of Trevonte Johnson, Jeremiah Washington, Maurice Smith and Charles Petty who swam to a fourth-place finish in 1:38.98 to qualify for the state meet.
In all 29 individual boys and 12 relay teams swam to state qualifying times in the meet.
The Chamblee Lady Bulldogs won the 2022 DeKalb County Swim and Dive Girls’ Championship. (Courtesy Photo)
GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP
The 400 freestyle relay team of Kyla Maloney, Evelyn Entrekin, Anna Beth Blankenship and Catherine Smart sealed the Chamblee Lady Bulldogs fourth DeKalb County Swim and Dive Championship and third in the past four years by swimming to the gold in a time of 3:44.53.
Winning the final event lengthened the Bulldogs lead on Lakeside to a final of 252 to 239 to take back the title Lakeside had taken in 2021 to end Chamblee’s two-year reign.
The 400-relay gold was the sixth for Chamblee on the day after a quick start to the meet with wins in the first three events. Maloney Blankenship and Entrekin teamed up with L.C. Smith in the 200-medley relay (1:51.57) to start a string of three consecutive Chamblee gold medals to begin the meet.
Maloney followed with a win in the 200 freestyle (1:58.92) her second win in three years in the event. Evelyn Entrekin regained her 200-individual medley (2:12.19) title also for the second time in three championships to end the run for Chamblee to open the meet.
Entrekin became a four-time county champion as she defended her 2021 title in the 100 butterfly (58.97). Maloney who missed the 2021 event due to illness still became a six-time individual champion winning the 100 backstroke (57.23) for the third time.
Lakeside’s Sophia Hook led the Lady Vikings to their second-place finish picking up a pair of gold medals winning the 50 (25.00) and 100 (55.30) freestyle races. Phoebe Mansker added a gold for Lakeside with her win in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.12). Hook, Mansker, Katelyn McClintock and Anna Baldwin teamed up to win gold in the 200-freestyle relay for the Vikings.
Decatur’s Maya Mikrut was victorious in the one-meter diving with a total score of 380.75 as the Bulldogs finished fourth with 160 points behind third place Dunwoody with 162.
Druid Hills’ Anna Verlander swam to a first-place finish in the 500 freestyle (5:17.36).
The girls had 39 individual times/scores qualify for the state meet along with 10 relay teams.
See link below for the full results of the 2022 DCSD Swim and Dive Championships:
2022 DCSD SWIM AND DIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
Some action from various events at the 2022 DeKalb County Swim and Diving Championships at Chamblee. (Photos by Mark Brock)