by Chris Hunt

The SouthLake girls swim team captured the program’s best finish in its four-year history with a second-place performance at the NCISAA 1A/2A swim meet in Rock Hill on Feb. 21.

The SouthLake boys swim team was fourth and combined with the girls to post the second-highest total at the meet with (365 points). SouthLake coach Gary Anderson said his Eagles broke 13 school records in Rock Hill.

“Our team’s performance was very sobering,” said Anderson, whose team also won the Metrolina Athletic Conference swim titles. “We didn’t have any idea where we’d land when they were calling out the final results. We thought we would be third or fourth, but we they said second, our girls game undone. The team effort was amazing: to go from conference champs to runner-ups at states was the highlight of our program.”

The Eagles; Taylor Wilson won a state title in the 200-yard individual medley, breaking the school record by four seconds with a time of 1 minute, 8.4 seconds. She also won the 100 breaststroke, finishing before her competitors began their final lap. Wilson also teamed with Taylor Harkey, Bisese and Moriah Anderson to finish second in the 200 freestyle relay and third in the 200 medley relay. Both times rewrote school records.

On the boys side, John Baker captured school standards with a second-place performance in the 100 butterfly and a fourth-place effort in the 500 freestyle. Baker teamed up with Matt Belter, Ryan Scott and Austin Meletiou to come in third with another school-best time in the 200 medley relay.