The Chamblee lady Bulldogs finished as the Class 4A-5A State Swim runners-up last weekend. They brought home 10 medals from the competition along with the second place team trophy. (Courtesy Photo)
Five golds, three silver and two bronze medals were collected by the Chamblee Lady Bulldogs swim team as they swam to a close second place finish in the GHSA Class 4A-5A State Championships this past Saturday at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
Senior Kyla Maloney became a four-time individual state champion as she won a pair of gold medals to help Chamblee total 374 points, just five behind St. Pius (379). Maloney won the 100 backstroke for the third consecutive year with a time of 54.46 and the 200 freestyle (bronze in 2020, silver in 2021) with a time of 1:42.08.
Only seven other girls’ DeKalb swimmers have won more than four gold medals at state in their careers. Maloney also picked up her fourth and fifth gold medals in relay events. She teamed up with Anna Blankenship, Evelyn Entrekin and Lilly Smith to swim to gold in the 200-medley relay (1:45.30, All-American Consideration) which was the third consecutive state gold in the event for the Lady Bulldogs.
In the last event of the day, the team of Maloney, Entrekin, Blankenship and Catherine Smart captured the gold in the 400-freestyle relay (3:34.48) as the team won the event for the second straight year.
Chamblee’s Kyla Maloney became just the eighth DeKalb girls’ swimmer to become a four-time individual state swim champion after winning two individual gold medals this past weekend. (Photo by Mark Brock)
Entrekin picked up her first individual gold medal in state competition as she won the 100 breaststroke (1:03.55, All-American Consideration) after finishing with the silver in 2021 and the bronze in 2020. She also has five gold medals over the past three years as part of the 200-medley relay (2020-22) and 400-freestyle relay (2021-22) teams. She grabbed her second silver medal of her career as she improved on her 2021 performance in the 200-IM (2:05.33).
Anna Blankenship who has four gold medals in relay events picked up a pair of silver medals in the 500 freestyle (5:12.01) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.63).
Catherine Smart, Annie Wahlen, Madeline Murphy and Lilly Smith teamed up to swim to a bronze medal finish in the 200-freestyle relay (1:40.88).
Anna Verlander of Druid Hills helped her team to a 21st overall finish in the Class 4A-5A Championships as she picked up silver medals in the 100 freestyle (52.06) and 100 backstroke (56.78).
Class 6A Girls
Lakeside finished strong in the Class 6A Girls State Championships with a third-place finish (248) behind very strong competitors Lambert (544) and Cambridge (399) with a pair of silver medal finishes and a bronze on the day.
Sophia Hook claimed a silver in the 50 freestyle (24.06) and came up just short of a bronze in fourth place in the 100 freestyle (52.73). She then joined Katelyn McClintock, Phoebe Mansker and Anna Baldwin to swim to a time of 1:38.38 to take silver in the 200-freestyle relay.
Mansker added a bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.57) and was fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:56.08).
Hook, McClintock, Mansker and Lyla Richards came up short of a medal in the 400-freestyle relay (3:36.05) finishing fourth.
Class 7A Girls
Dunwoody tied for 24th (31) with North Cobb in Class 7A girls’ competition. Reese Benton was the top finisher taking ninth in the 500 freestyle (5:10.69).
BOYS STATE RECAPS
The Chamblee Bulldogs (234) finished fourth behind Marist (364), Calhoun (305) and St. Pius (270) in the Class 4A-5A Boys’ State Championships at Georgia Tech.
Thomas Rice brought home the only medal for the Bulldogs as he grabbed silver in the 500 freestyle (4:46.43).
Class 6A
The Lakeside Vikings finished sixth in the team standings of the Class 6A Boys’ State Championships with two silver and three bronze performance on the day.
Craig Steinhauer performed well in the spring events taking silver in the 50 freestyle (20.97) and a bronze in the 100 freestyle (46.48) to score 41 points for the Vikings.
Jack Van Valkenburg swam to a silver in the 500 freestyle (4:34.56) on the way to scoring 36 points.
Steinhauer and Van Valkenburg teamed up with Elijah Peterson and Griffin Higgins to pull in a bronze in the 200-medley relay (1:36.99). Steinhauer, Van Valkenburg, Higgins and Ethan Collins put together a time of 1:27.73 to take the bronze in the 200-freestyle relay.
Class 7A
The Dunwoody Wildcats put together a Top 10 finish in the Class 7A Boys’ State Championships coming in ninth with 182.50 points.
Ryan Altera led way with 73 points for the Wildcats on the day. Altera took fifth place in both the 200 freestyle (1:42.60) and 500 freestyle (4:39.03).
See link below for full DeKalb State Swim Results: