Wythe County has a new state champ.
Jesse Collins claimed gold in the VHSL state swimming meet’s 100-yard butterfly, touching the wall at 58.77.
Collins was 11th in the 100 freestyle, finishing in 56.66.
Collins’ teammate Joseph Puckett secured silver in the 200 freestyle, clocking in at 1:52.59. Puckett finished fifth in the 100 back, posting a 1:00.84 finish.
Practice partner, Rural Retreat’s Tyler Sickles finished third in the state 500 free, posting a time of 5:37.32. Sickles also turned in a fourth-place finish in the 100 breast, clocking in at 1:08.33.
Lydia Sprano led the George Wythe girls, taking second in the 100 breast, touching the wall at 1:13.87.
Charla King claimed bronze in the 200 free, posting a 2:10.25 finish. King took fifth in the 500 freestyle, clocking in at 5:52.92.
Sprano, a senior, finished sixth in the 100-yard fly, posting a 1:07.80 finish.
Carrie Sage Dalton’s 5:38.96 finish in the 500 free was good for fourth. Dalton claimed sixth in the 100-yard backstroke, posting a finish of 1:05.48.
Fort Chiswell freshman Mikaela Thomas took seventh in the 200 individual medley, clocking in at 2:37.00. Thomas was seventh in the 500 freestyle with a time of 6:01.91.
Also in the boys’ 100-yard butterfly, GW’s Hayden DeReus finished in 13th with a time of 1:15.96.
George Wythe freshman Fynlee Sword took 11th in the 200 freestyle, posting a 2:23.30 time. Sword’s 6:19.80 in the 500 freestyle earned her 13th place.
The GW 400 freestyle relay team of King, Sword, Dalton and Sprano took third, posting a time of 4:10.60. The same group finished fifth in the 200 medley relay, clocking in at 2:05.82. The Maroon team finished fifth in the 200 medley relay, stopping the clock at 2:05.82.
The George Wythe boys took 16th as a team with 61 points, while Rural Retreat finished with 31 points, good for 21st place.
The Maroon girls took fifth as a team, stacking up 158 points. Fort Chiswell’s 24 points, earned the Lady Pioneers 23rd place.
