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Boys swimming and diving team takes home county title

The Middletown Knights boys swimming and diving team finished off a remarkable season by winning their first County Championship since 1993, ending a 20 year drought. The Knights warded off a late challenge by Frederick to win the 30th Annual County Championship in a meet that went down to the last event. The two most crucial individual events for the Knights were the 100 yard backstroke and 50 yard freestyle. In the 50 yard freestyle Knights got 12 points with a second place finish by Middletown senior Andrew Pressly and a fourth place finish by Middletown senior Eric Darby. In the 100 yard backstroke the Knights earned 11 points with a first place finish by Pressly and a seventh place finish by MHS senior Mitchell Earle. Even though the Knights won the meet, they only won one event, the 100 yard backstroke, and only had one second place finish, the 50 yard freestyle. The Knights consistently received 3rd and 4th place finishes in the other events, such as the 200 yard individual medley. The Knights also performed well in the first two relays, scoring 12 points (third place) in the 200 yard medley relay and the 200 yard freestyle relay. Going into the final event, the 400 yard freestyle the Knights needed only a seventh place finish to capture the title. The Knights succeeded in getting third in the relay,securing the title and an updating championship banner in the pool. Another key factor for the Knights was the diving portion of the meet which took place on Thursday night at Walkersville High School. MHS junior Lucas Tatem and freshman Jonathan Tatem came in third and fourth giving the Knights the lead after Event 9, and they never relinquished the lead after that. The last time the Knights won the title was when former University of Georgia standout and Olympic Trialist Beau Wiebel was the captain at Middletown. In addition to the boys’ victory, The MHS Girls Swimming and Diving team finished off what has been a tough season with a fourth place finish. The Knights’ week was filled with ups and downs as they were without their head coach Stacy MacMillan who was in Pennsylvania due to a personal circumstance. They struggeled early, only having 22 points after the eighth girls event which put them in a hole they could never really recover from. The Knights had no dominate individual performances until the 100 yard backstroke, with most of their points coming off of relays. The next event for the Knights is on February 16th when they will travel to Fairland Aquatics Center in Montgomery County for the 1A-2A-3A West Regional. This will be much tougher than the County championship, as the Knights will go up against some of the Montgomery County Schools who are regarded for being some of the toughest in Maryland.

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About the Contributor
Ben Spector, Round Table Sports Editor
Ben Spector is a reporter for Round Table News at Middletown High School. This is his second year as a reporter for MHS and his first as a co-sports editor. Ben manages the MHS junior varsity and varsity baseball and swimming and diving teams and is an avid fan of all sports. Ben plans to go to college for four years somewhere in the south and major in either sports management, sports medicine or journalsim.

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Boys swimming and diving team takes home county title