Last weekend, the Starr’s Mill swim team competed at the Fayette County championship at the Boundary Waters Aquatic Center. With the chance of the 24-year long streak being broken, the Panthers brought home another championship, winning against McIntosh 594 to 561.
Girls swim won with a score of 310 and boys swim ended in second place with a score of 284. Girls finished with 49 points more than school rival McIntosh.
“It’s fun to see everyone come together, especially cheering everyone on for meets,” sophomore Mason Burgess said. “There’s just a strong sense of community that I love about county.”
In the 200 yard medley relay, sophomore Mason Burgess, senior Brooklyn Klutz, sophomore Megan Holmes, and sophomore Chloe Tucker finished first. This group beat McIntosh by .16 seconds. McIntosh placed third here, as second place went to freshman Chloe Koffler, freshman Brooke Willing, senior Claire Martinez, and sophomore Callie Masson.
“It’s a great opportunity for our kids to swim their very best. We had lots of best times, we have a new county record that Braeden Roach got in the 200 free,” girls head coach Robin Huggins said. “It’s just nice when our kids work so hard for it to pay off in such a big way for them.”
The Starr’s Mill boys swim team placed second at the 2025 County Championship this past weekend. They finished 16 points behind school rival McIntosh.
“We’ve worked really hard this season. This season’s been crazy with all the pool closure,” senior Jacob Ramsey said. “We’re just really happy that we got 25.”
Despite placing second, the boys swim team had many excellent times during the championship. Senior Braeden Roach set a new county record in the 200 freestyle.
In the 400 yard freestyle relay, junior Jack Lynch, junior Elliott Dale, junior Joshua Jiang, and senior Braeden Roach took first. One of McIntosh’s groups finished .18 seconds later, coming in second.
“We put in the work and this is a goal of ours throughout the season,” boys head coach Derek Abrams said. “We have swimmers that buy into our program and then give us their all, it just highlights what this day is all about: coming together as a team and pulling out a victory.”
The Panthers will face their final challenge at the Swimming State Championship on February 5-6 at Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center.