Results from the championship swim meet have been released and McMinnville swimmers enjoyed their best success in years.
Competing in a 10-team league, the McMinnville girls finished third and the McMinnville boys finished sixth. Combined, it amounts to a fourth-place overall finish for McMinnville Swim Team.
“We came up from a ninth-place finish last year to fourth overall this year,” said swim coach Paige Northcutt, a member of the 2021 induction class for the Warren County Sports Hall of Fame. “I am over the moon that our kids have done so well.”
Northcutt continued, “The kids really worked hard to overcome obstacles. They worked on building their stamina and their stroke. And some of them got that competitive fire as the season progressed.”
Local swimmers get in the water and begin practice at the end of April. Swim season ends in mid-July for about two and a half months of swimming.
“We’re not able to swim year-round like the rest of the teams because we don’t have an indoor pool,” said Northcutt. “Imagine what an indoor pool would do for McMinnville.”
Northcutt was glowing about the great effort exerted in the championship meet, which took place at three locations and with Sewanee opting to compete virtually. That’s why it took nearly two weeks to release overall results.
Layla-Barrie Guthrie, Finley MacDonald, J.P. Toney and Brody Chisam were four of the top competitors for McMinnville Swim Team.
Guthrie, 8, won an individual event, the 25-meter Backstroke, and was part of two winning relay teams.
MacDonald, 8, was also part of three first-place finishes. She won individually in the 25-meter Butterfly, and was part of two winning relay teams.
Chisam, 8, and Toney, 14, both won individual races and were part of winning relay teams.
Here’s a list of McMinnville swimmers who finished in the top 4 of their event. Two events had as many as 58 swimmers.
First place
Girls 25 Breaststroke ages 8 and under
Layla-Barrie Guthrie
Boys 25 Backstroke ages 8 and under
Brody Chisam
Boys 50 Backstroke ages 13-14
J.P. Toney
Girls 25 Butterfly ages 8 and under
Finley MacDonald
Boys 100 Freestyle Relay ages 13-14
Isaac Stefanick, Luke Saldana, Easton West, J.P. Toney
Girls 100 Freestyle Relay 8 and under
Amelia Partin, Mary Collier, Finley MacDonald, Layla-Barrie Guthrie
Mixed 100 Medley Relay 8 and under
Brody Chisam, Layla-Barrie Guthrie, Finley MacDonald, Owen Payne
Second place
Mixed 100 Medley Relay ages 13-14
Isaac Stefanick, Samantha Saldana, J.P. Toney, Bailey Cooper
Girls 25 Freestyle ages 6 and under
Iva Newman
Girls 25 Freestyle ages 8 and under
Amelia Partin
Girls 25 Breaststroke ages 8 and under
Layla-Barrie Guthrie
Third place
Girls 25 Freestyle ages 6 and under
AnnaLee Simpson
Boys 25 Breaststroke ages 8 and under
Case Simpson
Boys 100 Freestyle Relay ages 11-12
Noah Greer, Parker Higley, Dean Cooper, Joshua Caten
Fourth place
Boys 50 Freestyle ages 13-14
J.P. Toney
Girls 25 Breaststroke ages 9-10
Charlotte Saldana
Girls 50 Breaststroke ages 13-14
Samantha Saldana
Girls 25 Breaststroke ages 8 and under
Amelia Partin
Girls 25 Backstroke ages 9-10
Charlie Jones
Boys 50 Backstroke ages 13-14
Isaac Stefanick
Girls 25 Butterfly ages 8 and under
Amelia Partin
Girls 25 Butterfly ages 9-10
Sloan Youngblood
Girls 100 Freestyle Relay ages 9-10
Evelyn Fry, Charlie Jones, Sloan Youngblood, Ruth Jackson
