Story - The Meade County Messenger


Vol. 117, No. 06	February 11, 2009

School records fall, honors abound at Region 3 swim meet
Troy Jobe and boys’ relay team head to state competition

By BILL ROSACKER
Messenger Staff

On Feb. 5 and 6, the Meade County High School boys’ and girls’ swim teams departed to Woodford County to participate in the Region 3 swim meet where the best advance to state competition. Feb. 5 was the preliminary round with the consolation/championship round Feb 6.

Their journey to prepare for and participate in the Region 3 swim meet has been a bumpy road indeed. Due to the winter storm, sickness, road closings and pool unavailability, preparation/practice has been almost nonexistent. Some members of the team were still sleeping on the floor in front of space heaters because their electricity was not yet restored. There was much adversity to overcome.

During the preliminary round Friday, many Meade County High School swim records fell by the wayside. The girls’ 200-yard medley relay team of Megan Spilman, Kelsey English, Lisa Hurt and Ashley Crotzer set the tone with the first of many records. Their new record stands at 2:08.30.

Next up, Ashley Crotzer broke her own school record in the 50-yard freestyle event with a time of 28:02. Lisa Hurt, the current record-holder in the 100-yard butterfly, lowered her school record to 1.11.91. In the girls’ 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Kelsey English, Lisa Hurt, Kensie Mills and Ashley Crotzer broke the record they set early in the season with a time of 1:55.61.

Photos by Bill Rosacker
Ashley Crotzer celebrates a new school record in the 50-meter freestyle.

On the boys’ side, the major news was that Troy Jobe no longer holds every school swimming record, individual and relay. During the preliminary round, Alex Medley bettered Jobe’s old record in the 50-yard freestyle (23:47) to 23:32. Jobe lowered his own school record in the 100-yard freestyle to 50:34 and teamed with Medley, Ben Bevill and Scott King to set a new MCHS record in the 200-yard freestyle to 1:35.73.

Troy Jobe sets a new school record in the 100-yard freestyle on his way to qualifying for state competition.

There were similar results at finals the next day.

The boys’ 200-yard medley relay broke the record set in 2007 by the boys’ team that went to state. Ashley Crotzer broke her 50-yard freestyle record, set the day before, to 27:67. Crotzer missed setting a new school record in the 100-yard freestyle by just a couple hundredths of a second during the finals. Lisa Hurt’s previous day’s school record was lowered even further to 1:10.69. The girls’ 200-yard freestyle relay team (English, Hurt, Mills, Crotzer) lowered their previous day’s record to 1:54.86 and so did the boys’ 200-yard freestyle team (Bevill, King, Medley, Jobe) 1:35.37.

Alex Medley takes off to break Troy Jobe’s 50-yard freestyle record.

School records, however, do not qualify anyone to move on to state competition next week.

Troy Jobe is the only member of the squad to qualify for state in individual events – the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke.

The relay team of Bevill, King, Medley and Jobe qualified for state in the 200-yard medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle medley.

During the awards ceremony, Jobe was selected to the All Region swim team for the second year in a row.

J.P. Lavertu, head coach of the Greenwave swimmers, was also recognized at the end of the meet as the Outstanding Men’s Coach for 2009. “I don’t know what to say,” Lavertu said. “I’m very honored.”

Last, but surely not least, the Region 3 swim team awarded the spirit award for the team with the most spirit, both fans and team alike. They formally recognized what Meade Countians have known all along, that Meade County truly supports their sports programs. For the second year in a row, Meade County won the spirit award. Approximately 40 fans accompanied the team to the preliminary as well as the final round. It was easily the loudest and most boisterous of the event, with loud cheers from the team on the sideline, and the fans in the stands, cheering the team on.

We’ve got spirit, yes we do! The MCHS swim team received the Region 3 Spirit Award for the second year in a row.

Meade County placed eighth overall in the combined teams scores, with the boys placing 6th and the girls 11th. After the turmoil and adversity of the preceding weeks, their individual and team achievements are a testimony to the class of young men and women native to Meade County.

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