By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Hillsborough High’s Jacquelynn Parker, Racheel Stoddard, Lindsay Temple and Julieyanna Parker became just the second team in Meet of Champions history to win all three relays, and they did so by erasing Montgomery High’s three records from 2009. Two of them fell in Saturday’s preliminaries, and the Raiders came back to win the finals in three new best times.
”It was a fantastic day,” said Jacquelynn Parker. “I think the times were a little bit faster than what we were originally going for. We knew we wanted to go in, swim fast, break the records and win. It was very exciting in the end.
”Just the way we did it, we went in wanting it and we got it. We finished our senior year with a bang. The fact I got to finish it with my sister and my two best friends, it was great.”
They opened the meet with a 1:45.72 clocking to take the 200-yard medley relay to abolish the record they set the day before, and did the same to win the 200 free relay in 1:35.31, then crushed Montgomery’s 400 free record to end the meet in 3:28.32. All three times are state records and automatic All-America times that currently rank in the top 20 in the country in each relay.
”Without a doubt, they’re one of the top in the country,” said Hillsborough head coach Todd Sudol. “The times are nearly impossible to make.”
Julieyanna Parker posted a school-record 1:50.93 for third in the 200 freestyle, a time that has her in consideration for All-America. It may have only been her second most impressive swim of the day. She split 23.99 seconds for her 50-yard breaststroke leg in the medley relay.
”It’s as fast or faster than some of the guys’ times in the fly,” Sudol said. “It’s very impressive.”
Temple swam an All-America consideration time of 56.15 for third in the 100 backstroke, and also put together an impressive split. Her 51.06 split for her 100 in the 400 free relay is the fastest any HHS girls swimmer has ever gone.
On the boys side, Kian O’Brien, Daniel Sanders, David Chung and Brad Zdroik were 10th in the 200 medley relay in 1:40.23 after posting a 1:39.46 in preliminaries. Chung, Sam Hendrix, Sanders and Zdroik were fourth in the 200 free in 1:27.21. Chung was 10th in the 100 butterfly in 51.58 and Zdroik was third in the 100 free in 46.31 to earn All-America consideration. Chung, O’Brien, Sanders and Zdroik closed the meet in third in the 400 free relay in 3:14.25. All three boys relays swam season bests.
”You always want to finish strong,” Sudol said. “For the 13 years I’ve been coach, we’ve always performed well at this meet. This has been where we get individual records, get best times, and we just always end the season on a good note.
”Even though it’s the individual state championships, they always want to swim all three relays so they have to give up an individual event. Even though it’s individual, they’re swimming for their team. I think that’s what motivates them. You don’t find that a lot.”
Both Stoddard and Jacquelynn Parker cited the relays as their motivation to elect to skip their final individual races after making it back to the finals in their individual events.
”My whole focus was to swim for the team,” said Stoddard, whose 1:04.97 best this year is up for All-America consideration. “I was already in college, so I didn’t need to impress anyone. I wanted to help the team get the goals we established at the beginning of the season.
”I was honestly really surprised we got all three records,” she added. “I was really happy about it. At the same time, I was still a little in shock about it.”
Part of the shock value comes from knowing that the 2009 record times the Raiders beat had been set in high-tech swimsuits that were deemed to give swimmers an unfair advantage.
”We didn’t have that and we went and crushed them all,” Parker said. “We worked our butts off. It’s probably the greatest way I could have imagined ending my senior year.”
The whole weekend was the culmination of four years for the seniors. The night before the start of every MOC, the Raiders get together for Pride Night, a bonding experience for the entire team.
”We’re all sitting down and everyone opens up to each other,” Stoddard said. “It’s such an emotional moment. I know whether I’ll have a good race or bad race, I know my team is supporting me. I’ll always remember Pride Night.”
She will also hold the memories from the pool just as high, especially after the Hillsborough girls closed an historic season with three state records in All-America times.
Said Stoddard: “I’m going to treasure these medals forever. This is my senior year. This has proved Hillsborough has left their mark in everything, and I’m glad I was a part of that.”
