BENTONVILLE -- Holding up four fingers in high school swimming means something other than giving maximum effort in the fourth quarter of a football game.
For Bentonville, it means a four-peat in girls swimming.
Bentonville won for the fourth consecutive year Saturday in the Class 6A State Swimming and Diving championships at the Bentonville Community Center. Bentonville finished with 476 points to outdistance rival Bentonville West, which finished second with 382 points. Little Rock Central finished third with 277.
"Today was a good day, starting with the girl divers," Bentonville Coach Liz Taylor said. "Our four divers made it into the top eight, which was huge. We have 21 girls in swim and dive, which is the biggest teams we've had. So, it was exciting to go in with the depth that we had, which was at least three in each event."
On the boys side, Little Rock Central won with 441 points. Bentonville was second with 334 and Bentonville West third with 323. Central finished strong by setting a record in the 400-freestyle relay in a time of 3:07.93.
"I am so proud of them," Central Coach Mary Joe Heye said. "It was like a storybook finish. The leadoff was by our star senior, Youssef Bahgat, and the anchor was by our other star senior, Jack Henry Forrest."
The Bentonville girls got off to a great start Saturday morning when four of its divers finished among the top eight. The Lady Tigers then set a state record in the first swimming event, the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:46.23 behind the team of Susie Lee, Lienfang Yu, Avery Spencer, and Brooke Holley.
Yu and Lee were also part of the 400-freestyle relay at the end of the meet that set a state record in a time of 3:32.37.
"I hadn't swam in high school before, so it's amazing to win a state championship," said Lee, a sophomore who also won the 500 freestyle. "Everybody is so supportive."
For the LR Central charge, Bahgat led the charge with a win in the 200 freestyle in 1:39.86.
The Tigers also won the 200-freestyle relay (1:29.36).
Athletes from Springdale turned in individual highlights when freshman Maizie Sanchez won the one-meter dive with 409.75 combined points and junior Kevin Brumfield set a state record with a time of 1:50.42 in the 200 individual medley. Brumfield also won the 100 butterfly in a time of 49.83.
"We expect nothing but the best from Kevin and I just told him, 'Go out there and do what you do,' " Springdale Coach Matt Hervey said. "He's not the most imposing figure, but he can go and he's got the respect of all his peers here. Maize, she's a fantastic young lady and I'm so proud of her. This is her first opportunity to compete at the high school level, so she's set the bar pretty high."
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NoneARKANSAS HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING AND DIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS 6A
TEAM TOTALS
GIRLS
1. Bentonville, 476; 2. Bentonville West, 382; 3. LR Central, 277; 4. Fayetteville, 211; 5. Conway, 193; 6. Bryant, 134; 7. Rogers, 111; 8. Har-Ber, 110; 9. Springdale, 95; 10. Cabot, 81; 11. Mount St. Mary, 43; 12. North Little Rock, 40; Fort Smith Southside, 2.
GIRLS
ONE-METER DIVE
1. Mazie Sanchez, Springdale, 409.75; 2. Valerie Hernandez, Bentonville West, 318.10; 3. Jessica Rolen, Bryant, 292.40
200-MEDLEY RELAY
Bentonville, 1.46.23; 2. Conway, 1:48.27; 3. LR Central 1:53.59
200 FREESTYLE
1. Chloe Thompson, Bentonville West, 1:52.41; 2. Emma On-The-Hill, Bentonville, 1:54.60; 3. Avery Spencer, Bentonville, 1:55.96
200 IM
1. Lienfang Yu, Bentonville, 2:05.28; 2. Jenna Gogel, Bentonville West, 2:07.92; 3. Grace Robbins, Bentonville West, 2:07.94
50 FREESTYLE
1. Lydia McClugage, Conway, 24.45; 2. Caroline Costantini, Bentonville West, 24:46; 3. Rebecca Burnett, Mount St. Mary, 24:79
100 BUTTERFLY
Addison Wicklund, Rogers, 57.20; 2. Ainsley Jenkins, LR Central, 57.47; 3. June Dresel, Fayetteville, 57.63
100 FREESTYLE
1. Ellie Schrank, Bentonville West, 52.76; 2. Ainsley Jenkins, LR Central, 52.82; 3. June Dresel, Fayetteville, 53.44
500 FREESTYLE
1. Susie Lee, Bentonville, 4:52.99; 2. Chloe Thompson, Bentonville West, 4:53.73; 3. Ashley Koenig, Fayetteville, 5:08.49
200-FREESTYLE RELAY
1. Bentonville West, 1:39.81; 2. LR Central, 1:40.7; 3. Conway, 1:40.30
100 BACKSTROKE
1. Susie Lee, Bentonville, 56.67; 2. Ellie Schrank, Bentonville West, 56.77; 3. Brooklyn Anderson, Conway, 56.78
100 BREASTSTROKE
1. Lienfang Yu, Bentonville, 1:03.04; 2. Jenna Gogel, Bentonville West, 1:06.18; 3. Addison Wicklund, Rogers, 1:06.57
400-FREESTYLE RELAY
1. Bentonville, 3:32.37; 2. Bentonville West, 3:32.83; 3. LR Central, 3:39.77
BOYS
TEAM TOTALS
1. LR Central, 441; 2. Bentonville, 334; 3. Bentonville West, 323; 4. Conway, 234; 5. Har-Ber, 183; 6. Springdale, 148; 7. North Little Rock, 127; 8. Fayetteville, 116; 9. Cabot, 104; 10. Bryant, 99; 11. LR Catholic, 49; 12. Rogers, 33; 13. Fort Smith Northside, 5
ONE-METER DIVE
1. Aiden Bird, Conway, 440.5; 2. Kaden Chase, Bentonville West, 361.10; 3. Charlie Miller, Bentonville West, 330.40
200-MEDLEY RELAY
1. Bentonville, 1:35.83; 2. Bentonville West, 1:38.49; 3. Conway, 1:38.60
200 FREESTYLE
1. Youssef Bahgat, LR Central, 1:39.86; 2. Connor Boatright, Har-Ber, 1:41.32; 3. Aaron Wicklund, Rogers, 1:42.93
200 IM
1. Kevin Brumfield, Springdale, 1:50.42; 2. Cole Groom, Bentonville West, 1:54.34; 3. Jake Hokanson, Bentonville West, 1:54.80
50 FREESTYLE
1. Gavin Lindley, Bentonville, 21:04; 2. Youssef Bahgat, LR Central, 21:44; 3. Gage Johnson, Bentonville, 21:52
100 BUTTERFLY
1. Kevin Brumfield, Springdale, 49.83; 2. Jack Henry Forrest, LR Central, 50:01; 3. Andrew Rogers, Conway, 54.12
100 FREESTYLE
1. Gavin Lindley, Bentonville, 45.55; 2. Evan Carter, Bentonville, 46.89; 3. Jack Henry Forrest, LR Central, 47.96
200-FREESTYLE RELAY
1. LR Central, 1:29.36; 2. Bentonville West, 1:31.02; 3. Conway, 1:31.62
100 BACKSTROKE
1. Gage Johnson, Bentonville, 50.74; Simon Marotte, Conway, 52.85; 3. Peyton Price, North Little Rock, 54.79
100 BREASTSTROKE
1. Jake Hokanson, Bentonville West, 58.44; 2. Jake Hale, North Little Rock, 58.44; 3. Charles Schach, Fayetteville, 1:02.23
400-FREESTYLE RELAY
1. LR Central, 3:07.93; Bentonville, 3:13.78; 3. Bentonville West, 3:21.07
NOTE Results from the Class 5A and Class 1A-4A championships were not available at press time and are schduled to appear in Monday’s editions.