SPRINGDALE -- The tinkering with team lineups continues for Bentonville swim coach Nick Nersesian, even though the district and state meets are less than a month away.
Nersesian decided to put a few more combinations to the test during the Bentonville Invitational, and many of them worked in Bentonville's favor. The Tigers and Lady Tigers swept the team title in convincing fashion Thursday at The Jones Center pool.
At A Glance
Bentonville Invitational
at Jones Center, Springdale
Boys
Team Scores — 1. Bentonville 487; 2. Fayetteville 315; 3. Springdale Har-Ber 249; 4. Fort Smith Southside, 232; 5. Siloam Springs 165; 6. Rogers Heritage 153; 7. Haas Hall Academy 144; 8. Rogers High 85.
200 Medley Relay — 1. Bentonville (Gavin Vann, Lucas Ros, John Hedgecock, Brandon Haefner), 1:43.84;
200 freestyle — 1. Jason Hunt, Bentonville, 1:50.87
200 IM — 1. Blake Holland, Rogers Heritage, 2:13.23.
50 Free — 1. Caleb Murders, Mulberry, 21.90.
100 Butterfly — 1. John Hedgecock, Bentonville, 55.00.
100 Freestyle — 1. Tony Siebenmorgan, FS Southside, 53.84.
500 Freestyle — 1. Antonio Thomas, Haas Hall, 4:44.09.
200 Freestyle Relay — 1. Bentonville (Drew Lemma, Gavin Vann, Brandon Haefner, Hayden Harlow), 1:31.70.
100 Backstroke — 1. Brandon Haefner, Bentonville, 56.81.
100 Breaststroke — 1. Lucas Ros, Bentonville, 1:03.12.
400 Freestyle Relay — 1. Bentonville (Gavin Vann, John Hedgecock, Jason Hunt, Hayden Harlow), 3:27.62
Girls
Team Scores — 1. Bentonville 494; 2. Fayetteville 299; 3. Fort Smith Southside 197; 4. Siloam Springs 183; 5. Springdale Har-Ber 175; 6. Haas Hall Academy 162; 7. Alma 118; 8. Springdale High 110.
200 Medley Relay — 1. Bentonville (Katelyn Hedgecock, Katie Andrews, Jessica Kjellberg, Alexis Abernathy), 2:04.19
200 Freestyle — 1. Taylor Pike, Bentonville, 1:56.76.
200 IM — 1. Luciana Thomas, Haas Hall, 2:10.34.
50 Freestyle — 1. Kaylee O’Hare, Siloam Springs, 25.84;
100 Butterfly — 1. Luciana Thomas, Haas Hall, 58.95.
100 Freestyle — 1. Taylor Pike, Bentonville, 55.64.
500 Freestyle — 1. Jade Despain, Haas Hall, 5:35.81.
200 Freestyle Relay — 1. Bentonville (Alexis Abernathy, Jessica Kjellberg, Taylor Pike, Eunsol Chon), 1:45.04.
100 Backstroke — 1. Carly Holland, Rogers Heritage, 1:02.79.
100 Breaststroke — 1. Corrine DeSpain, Haas Hall, 1:09.45.
400 Freestyle Relay — 1. Bentonville (Taylor Pike, Loren Hedgecock, Jessica Kjellberg, Eunsol Chon), 3:52.65.
The biggest experiment came in the girls 400-yard freestyle relay. Nersesian loaded the team with Taylor Pike, Loren Hedgecock, Nicole Dougherty and Eunsol Chon, and they turned in a winning time of 3 minutes, 52.65 seconds, more than 17 seconds faster than the second-place team from Fort Smith Northside.
"We're trying to look at a lot of different things before state," Nersesian said. "If you look at the state records, we hold a lot of them in the relays, and we want to represent that race really strong. It's a big race in the state meet, and we're mixing and matching people in those events."
Bentonville won five of the 11 events, including all three relay races -- which carry 40 points apiece for a win instead of 20 in the other individual events. That helped the Lady Tigers compile 494 points while Fayetteville was a distance second with 299.
Pike also helped Bentonville win the 200 freestyle relay, as well as claimed first place in the 200 freestyle (1:56.76) and the 100 freestyle (55.64). Haas Hall Academy, the only school that wasn't in Class 7A or 6A in the meet, finished sixth with 162 but had four first-place finishes -- Luciana Thomas in the 200 individual medley (2:10.34) and the 100 butterfly (58.95), Jade DeSpain in the 500 freestyle (5:35.81) and Corrine DeSpain in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.45).
"This is the first year for Haas Hall as a team, but these girls have been swimming for a long time," coach Courtney Horn said. "They're a great mesh of girls. Interestingly, it's a great mix of talent in which one specializes in the breaststroke, one specializes in the fly, one in back and one in free. Combined, they make numbers."
Bentonville's boys also won handily with 487 points to 315 for second-place Fayetteville. The Tigers took all three relay races and won seven events, with first-places finishes by Jason Hunt in the 200 freestyle (1:50.87), John Hedgecock in the 100 butterfly (55.00), Brandon Haefner in the 100 backstroke (56.81) and Lucas Ros in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.12).
Henry Apple can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @NWAHenry.
Sports on 01/30/2015