The Bob Jones Swim and Dive team has just wrapped up their season this past weekend. The Alabama High School Athletics Association (AHSAA) hosted the 2017 state championships swim meet at the Auburn College aquatics center on Dec.1-2. The team left for Auburn on Thursday morning and rode together on a charter bus. The boys and girls swam a warm up at the pool on Thursday night and reported back for prelims the next day. At the end of the first day, 4 Bob Jones swimmers qualified for A-Finals in at least one of their events and 5 swimmers were set to swim in the B-Finals on Saturday.

Logan Black (12) swam in the 100 Yard Free in A-Finals and finished 6th with a time of 49.39 and also swam the 100 Yard Breast and finished in 7th place with a time of 1:02.02. Devin Campbell (12) swam in A-Finals for the 200 Yard IM and finished 6th with a time of 2:12.28, she also competed in the 100 Yard Back B-Finals and ended the race in 10th place and with a time of 1:00.73. Joe Palenapa (9) swam in the 200 Yard Free and finished 9th overall with a new personal best time of 1:49.50, he dropped almost 3 seconds from prelims on Friday. Joe (9) also completed the 500 Yard Free at state with a time of 4:59.90 and in 11th place. Elise Rinehart (11) swam in the A-Finals for the 100 Yard Back and touched in 6th place with a time of 1:00.08, she also competed in the 200 Yard Free and ended in 13th place.

Anna Grace Pell (12) swam the 50 Yard Free and placed 14th with a time of 25.29 and completed the 100 Yard Free with a new personal best of 54.13 and 6th place overall. Joanne Stevens (11) swam the 100 Yard Fly and finished in 16th place with a time of 1:03.46 and competed in the 100 Yard Back with a time of 1:01.76 in 12th place. The individual races were exciting to watch on Saturday, but nothing compares to the energy of the team when they cheer for the relays together. All of the Bob Jones girls relays placed in the top 8, and 2 of the boy relays did as well. The girls 200 Yard Medley Relay, Elise Rinehart (11), Grace Palenapa (11), Joanne Stevens (11), Anna Grace Pell (12), finished in 5th place in finals with a new best time of 1:51.81.

The boys Medley Relay, Bryson Tesseneer (8), Logan Black (12), Vaughn Barnhart (10), Marshall Wu (12), ended in 6th place with a new time of 1:45.85. The Girls 200 Yard Free Relay finished 8th, Devin Campbell (12), Sabrina Grace (8), Grace Palenapa (11), Mia Fries (11). The boys ended in 9th overall, Warren He (12), Joe Palenapa (9), Marshall Wu (12), Vaughn Barnhart (10). The Bob Jones girls best relay was the 400 Yard Free, Elise Rinehart (11), Joanne Stevens (11), Devin Campbell (12), Anna Grace Pell (12), the foursome finished in 4th place with a new best time of 3:39.81, which is over 4 seconds faster than their entry time. The boys relay, Warren He (12), Joe Palenapa (9), Vaughn Barnhart (10), Logan Black (12), finished in 7th place with a new best time of 3:25.02, over 2 seconds faster than their original entry time.

The Girls Bob Jones Swim Team completed the 2017 meet in 8th place, but in 4th place for the 6A-7A high school division. While the Bob Jones Boy team came in 11th place overall, but 7th place for the 6A-7A teams. Head Coach Wade Thaxton says “I was very happy with the results from the State Meet. The girls made a good jump from 8th place last year, to 4th this year. The Girls had a very successful session, which included a Sectional Championship and finishing in top 5 at State. Our Boys team had a great season too! Going into the season I thought we would finish in top 10, around 8th. To finish 7th in the state was just great! Overall I couldn’t have asked for a better first year as Bob Jones Swim Team’s head coach!”

The team’s bleachers were decked out in red, white, and blue. The girls made signs for each other and hung them up for everyone to see. The team always has a pasta dinner the monday before state weekend. Some time ago, the boys started a tradition where they give a girl a rose at this dinner. And in turn, the girls team meets up at the Senior Leader’s house and craft goody bags filled with candy and sweet notes for the boys to receive on the day of prelims. This year, the girls joined together at Anna Grace Pell’s house and spent hours creating the perfect bag for each boy. The Bob Jones Swim Team definitely had a great season and they couldn’t be more excited to see how next year goes!