Rabun Gap swimmers compete hard at CAA Championship meet

Rabun Gap swimmers come away with 28 best times and three new state cuts!
On Friday, February 9th, Rabun Gap traveled to Asheville School to compete in the CAA Championship Meet. The Eagles came away with 28 best times and three new state cuts. The boy’s team was led by Gilleland, Kehoe, Adair, and Spoon in the 200 Free Relay team. With a 3rd place finish, they scored 12 points, just out touching ACA. In the individual events, Kacper Kuzimski led the boys team (4th- 200 IM and 3rd-100 Fly), scoring 11 points. The girls team of Shen, Waters, Hancock, and Paynter crushed the 400 Free relay, placing 2nd overall and scoring 14 points for the girls team. In the individual events, Alyssa Paynter led the girls team with a 4th place finish in the 500 Free dropping 30.8 seconds and a 3rd place finish in the 100 Backstroke, dropping 4.63 seconds and making her second state cut time.

Sam Poole and Justin Gilleland started off our championship meet with two best times and two state cut times in the 200 Free. Gilleland dropped 9.87 seconds and Poole dropped 1.17 seconds. Then, in the girl’s 50 Free, Rabun Gap had best times from Monse Marquina (0.26 seconds), Hayden Turner (1.76 seconds), Natti Darnell (4.49 seconds), and Anna Yin (senior) dropped 4.81 seconds. Dagny Johnson and senior, Gavron Campbell, also swam best times placing 6th and 7th in the same event. Later, Anna Yin finished off her last Rabun Gap swim meet with a 7.40 second time drop in the 100 Breaststroke. In that same event, Campbell was right on her best time and placed 3rd in the conference. Campbell will swim her last 100 Breaststroke for Rabun Gap at the State Meet on February 19th.

In the boy’s 50 Free, Alex Kehoe, Liam Spoon, Will Adair, Bailey McBride (senior) all had personal best times. Kehoe placed 5th and Spoon placed 6th. Later on, in the 100 Back, the team of Spoon and Kehoe placed 4th and 6th. In the girl’s 100 Free, Rabun Gap continued to excel with best times. Cassidy Hancock dropped 3.05 seconds, Mya Coffee dropped 0.18 seconds, and Sunshine Zhang dropped 2.02 seconds. Zhang finished her meet with an 8th place finish in the 100 Breast. On the boys side, Poole dropped 1.24 seconds, RayJon Grayson dropped 2.44 seconds, and senior, Julio Espinosa Cuetos dropped 3.92 seconds in the 100 Free.

In the second half of the meet, Patrick Woods crushed his previous best time in the 500 Free, taking off 1 minute 19.33 seconds. In our final individual event, the team of Will Adair, Patrick Woods, and Bailey McBride placed 6th, 7th, and 8th, scoring a total of 6 points for the team. Adair dropped 2.48 seconds and McBride dropped 1.68 seconds.

Other high scorers included: Abbey Waters (7th- 200 Free,  6th-100 Fly) scoring 5 points for the team. Cindy Shen (6th- 200 IM and 5th- 100 Fly) scoring 7 points for the team.

Women’s Scores
Asheville School 167, Carolina Day School 116, Asheville Christian Academy 88, Rabun Gap Nachoochee School 59

Men’s Scores
Asheville School 170, Carolina Day School 89, Christ School Greenies 83, Asheville Christian Academy 68, Rabun Gap Nachoochee School 62

Our state team will include Kacper Kuzimski (200 Medley Relay, 200 IM, 100 Fly, 400 Free Relay), Liam Spoon (200 Medley Relay, 50 Free, 200 Free Relay, 100 Back), Patrick Woods (100 Breast, 400 Free Relay), Alex Kehoe (200 Medley Relay, 50 Free, 200 Free Relay, 100 Back), Justin Gilleland (200 Free,  200 Free Relay, 100 Back, 400 Free Relay), Sam Poole (200 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay), Will Adair (200 Medley Relay, 100 Breast), Alyssa Paynter (200 Medley Relay, 200 IM, 100 Back, 400 Free Relay), Gavron Campbell (200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 100 Breast ), Cindy Shen (200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay), Dagny Johnson (200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay), and Cassidy Hancock ( 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay)
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Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School is a private, coeducational day and boarding school for grades Pre-K through 12. Centrally located between Atlanta, GA, Greenville, SC, and Asheville, NC, we prepare young people for college, career, and a lifetime of leadership and service.