Swimming and Diving: Haas Hall Fayetteville girls complete threepeat

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF @NWABENGOFF Martina Thomas of Haas Hall swims to victory in the 200-yard freestyle Saturday during the Class 1A-5A State Swimming Championships at the Bentonville Community Center.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF @NWABENGOFF Martina Thomas of Haas Hall swims to victory in the 200-yard freestyle Saturday during the Class 1A-5A State Swimming Championships at the Bentonville Community Center.

BENTONVILLE -- Haas Hall's sister acts was too much for the competition Saturday at the Class 1A-5A state swimming championships.

Sisters Luciana Thomas and Martina Thomas teamed with sisters Corrine DeSpain and Lily DeSpain to lead Haas Hall Fayetteville to its third consecutive championship at the Bentonville Community Center. Haas Hall got off to a strong start when the four girls set a state record by winning the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:46.97. That surpassed the record of 1:50.95 Haas Hall set last year.

At A Glance

Class 1A-5A State Swim Results

Boys

Team Scores: 1. Valley View 306 2. Pocahontas 214 3. LR Christian 191 4. Batesville 185 5. Arkadelphia 172

One meter diving: Xander 1. Adams, Arkadelphia 291.80, 2. Taylor Savage Arkadelphia 203.60

200 yard medley relay: 1. Valley View (Jack Little, Cade Byrd, Reed Graddy, Ty Boren), 1:49.19 2. Little Rock Christian, 1:49.64 3. Batesville, 1:54.22 4. Pocahontas, 1:56.98 5. Lamar, 201.52

200 yard freestyle: 1. Seth Bailey, Batesville, 1:39.54 2. Jack Little, Valley View, 1:40.27 3. Reese Graham, Valley View, 1:53.46 4. Calvin Frazier, Pocahontas, 2:05.65 5. Owen Phillips, Arkadelphia, 2:10.86

Individual medley: 1. Mason Vondenstein, HS Lakeside, 2:05.85 2. Jordan Jones, Little Rock Christian, 2:11.44 3. Cade Byrd, Valley View, 2:11.88 4. Roc Webb, Lamar, 2:12.24 5. William Matthews, Arkadelphia, 2:12.75

50 yard freestyle: 1. Alexander Ware, Pulaski Academy, 22.18 2. Heston Coon, Mountain View, 22.84 3. William Wells, Batesville, 22.85 4. Reed Graddy, Valley View, 22.87 5. Brendan Daugherty, LR Christian, 23.71

100 yard butterfly: 1. Alexander Ware, Pulaski Academy, 55.18 2. Reed Graddy, Valley View, 55:89 3. Hayden Britt, Harmony Grove, 59.91 4. William Matthews, Arkadelphia, 1:00.48 5. Kegan Harris, Greene County Tech, 1:01.87

100 yard freestyle: 1. Seth Bailey, Batesville, 45.46 2. Reese Graham, Valley View, 51.36 3. Brendan Daugherty, LR Christian, 52.97 4. Jonah Sorvillo, Bauxite, 53.13 5. William Wells, Batesville, 53.61

500 yard freestyle: 1. Jack Little, Valley View, 4:29.91 2. Cade Byrd, Valley View, 5:30.15 3. Aiden Glass, Haas Hall, 5:36.60 4. Bailey McCook, Magnolia, 5:42.29 5. Matthew Shelton, Scranton, 5:45.08

200 yard freestyle relay: 1. Valley View (Jack Little, Graham Reese, Ty Boren, Reed Graddy), 1:33.44 2. Batesville, 1:36.16 3. LR Christian, 1:44.68 4. Arkadelphia, 1:46.52 5. Pocahontas, 1:47.00

100 yard backstroke: 1. Mason Vondenstein, HS Lakeside, 55.55 2. Heston Coon, Mountain View, 55.83 3. Jordan Jones, LR Christian, 58.23 4. Kallen Smith, Brookland, 59.75 5. Hayden Britt, Harmony Grove, 1:02.20

100 yard breaststroke: Roc Webb, Lamar, 1:05.86 2. Jonah Sorvillo, Bauxite, 1:06.06 3. Samuel Frazier, Pocahontas, 1:07.94 4. Matthew Shelton, Scranton, 1:12.27 5. Bailey McCook, Magnolia, 1:13.02

400 yard freestyle relay: 1. Valley View (Cade Byrd, Cade Rivers, Ty Boren, Reese Graham), 3:38.51 2. LR Christian, 3:41.64 3. Pocahontas, 3:45.27 4. Arkadelphia, 3:55.89 5. Pulaski Academy, 3:57.12

Girls

Team Scores: 1. Haas Hall Fayetteville 306 2. Greene County Tech 214 3. Pulaski Academy 191 4. Sylvan Hills 185 5. Magnolia 172.

One meter diving 1. Josie Matalone, Haas Hall 388.05

200 yard medley relay: 1. Haas Hall, (Lily DeSpain, Corinne DeSpain, Luciana Thomas, Martina Thomas), 1:46.97 2. Pulaski Academy, 1:59.95, 3. Clarksville2:02. 49 4. HS Lakeside, 2:13.78 5. Sylvan Hills, 2:14.28

200 yard freestyle: 1. Martina Thomas, Haas Hall, 1:49.45 2. Genesis Cox, Greene County Tech, 2:18.05 3. Paige Moslander Greene County Tech, 2:20.16 4. Kylie Booher, Lamar, 2:23.46 5. Clarrisa Armstrong, Parkview, 2:24.56

Individual medley: 1. Luciana Thomas, Haas Hall, 2:03.68 2. Lily DeSpain, 2:10.00 3. Savannah Martin, 2:17.35 4. Bailey Roscoe, Sacred Heart, 2:18 5. Emily Spillers, Scranton, 2:32.31

50 yard freestyle: 1. Claire Hyatt, Central Arkansas Christian, 24.07 2. Angel Ke, LR Christian, 24.15 3. Allison Taylor, Pulaski Academy, 25.04 4. Rylee Barnett, Magnolia, 26.35 5. Nicole Burek, HS Lakeside, 27.11

100 yard butterfly: 1. Luciana Thomas, Haas Hall, 55.40 2. Hayley Pike, Haas Hall Bentonville, 56.96 3. Corrine DeSpain, Haas Hall, 1:00.77 4. Rosie Wade, Clarksville, 1:01.54 5. Bailey Roscoe, Sacred Heart, 1:02.42

100 yard freestyle: 1. Martina Thomas, Haas Hall, 50.00 2. Angel Ke, LR Christian, 51.59 3. Claire Hyatt, Central Arkansas Christian, 53.13 4. Ande Harris, Pulaski Academy, 55.34 5. Ally Sawim, Vilonia, 1:02.74

500 yard freestyle: 1. Hayley Pike, Haas Hall Bentonville, 4:52.42 2. Rachel Reaves, Haas Hall, 5:20.25 3. Cross Engel, Sylvan Hills, 5:33. 4. Rosie Wade, Clarksville, 5:35.48 5. Shelby Adams, Green County Tech, 5:36.26

200 yard freestyle relay: 1. Haas Hall (Rachel Reaves, Vannesa Salinas, Corrinne DeSpain, Martina Thomas), 1:42.87 2. Greene County Tech, 1:52.36 3. Sylvan Hills, 1:55.66 4. LR Christian, 1:56.45 5. HS Lakeside, 1:58.16

100 yard backstroke: 1. Allison Taylor, Pulaski Academy, 59.21 2. Rachel Reaves, Haas Hall, 1:01.51 3. Shelby Adams, Greene County Tech, 1:04.49 4. Rylee Barnett, Magnolia, 1:06.07 5. Sarah Linneman, HS Lakeside, 1:07.65

100 yard breaststroke: 1. Corrine DeSpain, Haas Hall, 1:05.78 2. Lily DeSpain, Haas Hall, 1:07.96 3. Savannah Martin, Alma, 1:08.78 4. Ande Harris, Pulaski Academy, 1:09.04 5. Paige Vire, Clarksville, 1:10.59

400 yard freestyle relay: 1. Haas Hall (Rachel Reaves, Vannesa Salinas, Lily DeSapin, Luciana Thomas), 3:47.65 2. Greene County Tech, 4:04.23 3. Pulaski Academy, 4:05.85 4. Clarksville, 4:16.80 5. LR Christian, 4:23.92

Haas Hall piled up 362 points, which was 129 more than second-place Greene County Tech. Pulaski Academy finished third, followed by Sylvan Hills and Magnolia. Valley View won the boys division with 306 points. The Blazers were followed by Pocahontas, Little Rock Christina, Batesville and Arkadelphia.

"I have five senior girls and they wanted to go out on a high note," Haas Hall Fayetteville coach Rebecca Moll said. "We started this program with them as ninth-graders and they've been competing so well. They wanted to go out like this and it took everyone, from top to bottom."

It was a day of dominance from start to finish and an appropriate sendoff for three Haas Hall seniors, sisters Luciana Thomas and Martina Thomas, and Corrine DeSpain. Luciana Thomas is headed to Notre Dame while her twin sister, Martina, will swim at the Naval Academy.

Haas Hall sets records starting with the opening event and ending with another record in the 400 yard freestyle relay.

"We knew we wanted to break that record and we worked really hard to achieve it," Martina Thomas said of the first win to start the meet. "It's incredible we got it at our last meet together and it's been really fun. Me, Corrine, and Luciana, have been friends forever and for Lily to join the team has been great. We love their family and it's great to go out with them this way."

Valley View made a long trip from northeast Arkansas worthwhile by winning the boys championship in the 1A-5A meet. The Blazers were led by Jack Little, who'll swim in college at Arizona State

"It was about a five-hour trip (Friday) on a bus and in the rain," Valley View coach Jo Beth Mathis said. "But we got to practice, hang out, and feel like college athletes. Jack is now a four-time state champion in the 500 and Reed Graddy, our 6-foot-8 basketball player, chose to come here and we weer happy for that."

Sports on 02/25/2018

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