9 Spartans compete in state championship finals

Members of the Mountain Brook High School swimming and diving team traveled to Auburn University the weekend of Dec. 1 to compete in the annual state championship.

MBHS saw swimmers in six events for the Class 6A/7A finals, which took place Dec. 2.

Senior Gaston Petznick started off the meet with the 200-yard individual medley and swam 2 minutes, 2.10 seconds, nearly a full-second drop from his preliminary time. He won the consolation final, placing ninth overall.

The girls 200-yard freestyle relay was next on the docket for the Spartans, during which junior ER Gray, senior Elizabeth Hamilton, sophomore Sarah Petznick and eighth-grader Aliana Long earned 16th with a time of 1:48.68. The boys relay — with teammates Gaston Petznick, sophomore David Albright, senior Edwin Fan and freshman Cory Fan — followed, swimming a 1:35.23 to take seventh place overall.

The Spartans boys continued, and three swimmers placed within the top 16 in the 100-yard breaststroke. 

Gaston Petznick added only 0.04 seconds to his prelims swim in finals to place sixth overall with a time of 1:01.59. Edwin Fan and David Albright swam 1:02.91 to earn 12th and 1:04.99 to earn 14th, respectively.

In the final two events of the day, the girls and boys 400-yard freestyle relay, MBHS again placed in the top 16 overall.

The team of Gray, Hamilton, Sarah Petznick and Long took 13th after dropping 0.23 seconds from their prelims time to break the four-minute barrier. They finished the race with a time of 3:59.85.

The boys relay team of Gaston Petznick, Cory Fan, Edwin Fan and Garrett Long ended the meet on a high note and swam 2.17 seconds faster in finals, touching the wall at 3:29.24. They finished 10th overall.

For more results, go to ahsaa.com.