By Staff
March 3, 2001
By Rocky Higginbotham
The Meridian Star
Seven members of the Meridian Swim Association qualified to compete in this year's Short Course Championships at Laurel, and two brought first-place finishes from the recent event.
One of those, 17-year-old Michael Gray, snared three first-place finishes all on his own. Gray won the Men 15-18 100 Free race, as well as the Men 15-18 500 Free and the Men 15-18 200 Free.
Christie Vaughn, 14, of the MSA also brought home a first-place finish, taking top honors in the 13-14 Women 200 Breast race.
Other swimmers who participated from the local organization included 11-year-old Jacob Gray, 11-year-old Holly Corbitt, 11-year-old Elliott Clark, 15-year old Amanda Gardner and 17-year-old John Bouder.
In all, Meridian's seven-qualified swimmers brought home 34 medals and ribbons from top-16 finishes.
The MSA swim team practices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4-5:30 p.m. at Meridian Community College; as well as on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
Mississippi Swimming Inc., includes more than 760 swimmers who strive to meet qualifying times in order to compete twice a year in MSI state championships.
Michael Gray, in addition to his three first-place finishes, also placed in five other Men 15-18 events.
He was second in the 400 IM, the 200 Fly and the 100 Fly, as well as fourth in the 100 Breast and fifth in the 100 Back.
Vaughn, competing in the 13-14 Women, was second in the 100 Breast, third in the 200 IM, sixth in the 100 and 200 Free and eighth in the 50 Free.
Jacob Gray placed in eight Men 11-12 events, including second in the 500 Free and third in the 100 Free, 100 IM and 200 Free. He was also fourth in the 50 Fly and fifth in the 100 Fly, as well as fifth in the 50 Free and sixth in the 200 IM.
Corbitt placed in seven of the 11-12 Women events, with her best an 11th-place finish in the 500 Free.
She was 12th in the 100 Fly and 13th in the 100 Free, the 100 IM and the 50 Free. Her other finishes included a 14th in the 200 IM and a 15th in the 200 Free.
Clark placed in two 11-12 Men events; Gardner in the Women 15-18 200 Back and Bouder in the Men 15-18 50 Free. Clark was 15th in the 50 Free and 16th in the 200 Free, while Gardner was 11th in her race and Bouder 16th in his event.
Rocky Higginbotham is the sports editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at rhigginbotham@themeridianstar.com.