SAN ANTONIO, TX -- When
Phoebe Johnson touched the wall to finish first in the women's 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, the Bishop Lynch women's swim team could officially celebrate having captured their second title in three years by winning the TAPPS Division 1 State Championship. The Friars beat out Ursuline Academy (306) and St. Agnes (245) as they finished with 365 points - the most points in team history.
The team finished with seven golds and three silvers in the 11 events.
Amie Perna finished out her Friar career with four golds in the meet, along with three TAPPS records, on her way to being crowned the Bruce Collins Swimmer of the Meet.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a stellar regional meet on February 2, the women's team was confident heading into the state meet but knew they had to swim their best, and that is exactly what they did in the first event - the 200 Yard Medley Relay. Not only did
Amie Perna,
Hanna Whitney,
Ella Whitney, and
Abby Beeson capture the gold, but they did it by breaking the TAPPS record. Talk about an opening statement.
The very next event was the 200 Yard Freestyle and to keep the theme of the meet going,
Amie Perna decided to kick it up a notch and not only win the event but also break the TAPPS record by 0.11 seconds with a swim of 1:50.31.
Bishop Lynch then followed up the back-to-back golds with back-to-back silvers from
Hanna Whitney and
Phoebe Johnson. Whitney got her silver in the 200 Yard IM while Johnson swam to silver in the 100 Yard Butterfly.
Want to guess who got the Friars back on the top spot of the podium?
Amie Perna once again struck gold in the 100 Yard Freestyle. She dominated the swim and beat the second-place swimmer by almost three full seconds.
Phoebe Johnson was next up in the longest race of the day, the 500 Yard Freestyle. Johnson's silver in the 100 Yard Butterfly was by just 0.11 seconds and in the long and grueling 500, it was just as close. After closing in on the swimmer in front, Johnson barely got out touched by 0.23 seconds on her way to her second silver.
Next up was the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay and if the Friars were to win this race, they would separate themselves from the rest of the pack as they held a 36-point advantage over the Bears at this point. In typical Friar fashion, the relay team of
Hanna Whitney,
Carolina Girard,
Phoebe Johnson, and
Amie Perna went out and not only got the gold but also broke the TAPPS Record, the third of the meet. The team beat the previous record by just 0.09 seconds with a time of 1:37.75.
With three races remaining, the Friars wanted to leave no doubt on who the 2024 state champion was.
Abby Beeson has been in search of her first individual gold medal at the state meet since 2021 her freshman year. After earning three silvers and one bronze in her career, she had one last opportunity to get a gold in the 100 Yard Backstroke. What did the senior do? Well, she seized the opportunity and not only won the gold but won by over two seconds.
Hanna Whitney was next up in the 100 Yard Breastroke, an event she has won the past two seasons. In her final career race for BL, the University of St. Louis commit won a thrilling race to capture the gold for the third straight year in the breaststroke.
That all but left the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay team of
Abby Beeson,
Carolina Girard,
Ella Whitney, and
Phoebe Johnson to finish the meet. In what was essentially a victory lap, the team took down the field by nearly five seconds to win the event and seal the championship for Bishop Lynch.
Congratulations to all the student-athletes, coaches, fans, and administration on capturing the 2024 TAPPS Swimming State Championship. The 104 Bishop Lynch state championship banner belongs to
Abby Beeson,
Caroline Ellis,
Carolina Girard,
Phoebe Johnson,
Ella Nichols,
Amie Perna,
Lily Roe,
Maisie Swift,
Ella Whitney, and
Hanna Whitney.
For full individual results, click the following link:
https://blfriars.org/documents/2024/2/13/2024-d1-state-championship-results-individual.pdf
Women's Final Results
1) Bishop Lynch High School -365
2) Ursuline Academy - 306
3) St. Agnes Academy - 245
4) The Village School - 206
5) Concordia Lutheran High School - 157
6) John Paul II High School - 132
7) Loretto Academy - 129
8) Incarnate Word Academy - 110
9) Parish Episcopal School - 94
10) Prestonwood Christian Academy - 93
11) Nolan Catholic High School - 64
12) Antonian College Preparatory - 63
13) Incarnate Word High School - 62
14) Trinity Christian Academy - 37
15) St. Pius X High School - 20
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