CAMBRIDGE — Kent County High School senior Henry Martinez heads to tomorrow’s state-qualifying region swim meet having most recently won Bayside Conference championships in two sprint freestyle events in record time.
For the second year in a row, he was first to the wall in the 50-yard free (22.47) and at twice that distance (49.48). Both times are meet records.
Martinez also lowered his own school record in the 100 free; he set the previous standard of 49.71 at last year’s state championships where he placed fourth.
“It definitely feels great to break those records my last year of swimming for the high school,” Martinez told The Evening Enterprise in a text message.
“I actually was a little surprised by my success as my goal for the meet was just to swim under 50 seconds in the 100 free,” he added.
Martinez, the three-time team MVP for Kent County’s boys, said he didn’t do anything differently from a regular-season dual meet to psych himself up for the conference meet.
“All I did was really focus before my swims started, but other than that I was just trying to enjoy by last Baysides,” he said.
The conference championship meet for public schools on the Eastern Shore was Feb. 1 at the Dorchester County Family YMCA.
In addition to Martinez’s championship swims, Kent County boasted medal winners in Mary Jane Joiner, Izzy Anderson, Lynden Saunders, Tucker Ervin and the boys 200 free relay — as well as many personal- and season-best times.
When asked for her takeaway from the meet, Grayson Wise, who is in her fourth year as head coach at alma mater KCHS, said, “Everyone really impressed me. Times improved. Even the new swimmers were super dedicated to getting better.”
Joiner placed second in the 200 free and third in the 100 butterfly, while Anderson, who is the three-time team MVP for Kent County’s girls, was second in the 100 backstroke.
Saunders was third in the 500 free, Ervin was third in the 100 breaststroke and the 200 free relay of Ervin, Andy Messick, Saunders and Martinez placed second.
Printed here are results for Kent County.
GIRLS
200 freestyle: Mary Jane Joiner, 2 minutes, 11.40 seconds, second; and Misha Rau, personal best of 3:14.20, 15th. Joiner set the school record of 2:06.74 at last year’s state championships where she placed ninth.
200 individual medley: Izzy Anderson, 2 minutes, 35.66 seconds, fifth.
50 free: Allee Hall, personal best of 33.46, 11th; Lyric Frase, 34.47, 12th; and Me’An Tanjapatku, 45.57, 16th.
100 butterfly: Joiner, 1 minute, 9.99 seconds, third.
100 free: Hall, personal best of 1 minute, 17.69 seconds, 12th; Rau, personal best of 1:20.03, 14th; and Frase, 1:23.37, 16th.
100 backstroke: Anderson, 1 minute, 8.76 seconds, second; and Brenna Thorpe, personal best of 1:42.68, 14th.
400 free relay of Anderson, Rau, Frase and Joiner, 4 minutes, 49.93 seconds, fifth.
BOYS
200 medley relay of Tucker Ervin, Andy Messick, Henry Martinez and Lynden Saunders, 1 minute, 55.50 seconds, fourth.
200 freestyle: Messick, 2 minutes, 31.91 seconds, ninth; and Nate Sutton, personal best of 2:55.50, 12th.
200 individual medley: Saunders, personal best of 2 minutes, 30.65 seconds, fifth.
50 free: Martinez, meet record of 22.47 seconds, first; and Nick Stead, 35.54, 14th. Martinez also holds the school record of 22.32, which he established last year at states where he placed fourth.
100 free: Martinez, meet record and school record of 49.48 seconds, first; Ervin, personal best of 54.85, fifth.
500 free: Saunders, personal best of 5 minutes, 53.25 seconds, third.
200 free relay of Ervin, Messick, Saunders and Martinez, 1 minute, 40.63 seconds, second.
100 backstroke: Quinten Joiner, 2 minutes, 0.5 seconds, 11th.
100 breaststroke: Ervin, personal best of 1 minute, 10.54 seconds, third; Messick, 1:23.85, 11th; and Sutton, 1:39.36, 14th.
****
Next up for the Trojans is the Class 1A-2A-3A East Region championships Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Edward T. Hall Aquatic Center in Prince Frederick. The region consists of 16 schools — four from Calvert County, five from Charles County and Eastern Shore schools KCHS, Queen Anne’s, Kent Island, Easton, Cambridge-South Dorchester, Pocomoke and Stephen Decatur.
The top three place-finishers in every event in each of the four regions automatically qualify for the state championships Saturday, Feb. 22 at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Also, individuals and relays who in their region meet final have the top 12 times statewide — excluding automatic qualifiers — advance to fill out the field of 24 competitors for each event.