CHESTERTOWN — On the scoreboard, Kent County opened its high school swim season with mixed results last week against Easton — commanding wins for Kent County’s boys and Easton’s girls.
Using other criteria to assess the Dec. 5 dual meet, KCHS head coach Grayson Wise was understandably biased.
“I was very pleased with the outcome,” Wise told The Evening Enterprise in an email.
“The enthusiasm, support and sportsmanship that was shown throughout the meet was awesome. Every year has been different in its own way, and I can tell this is going to be a really fun group,” she added.
Wise, who returns for a fourth year at alma mater Kent County, has a roster of eight boys and seven girls — her largest team to date. They include eight newcomers.
“I was extremely impressed with our new swimmers,” Wise said of the first meet.
She added, “We got some base times in practice and those times dropped significantly in this meet.”
Kent County returns three-time team MVPs Izzy Anderson and Henry Martinez, juniors Mary Jane Joiner, Lynden Saunders and Andy Messick, and sophomores Tucker Ervin and Bryce Jacobs.
Martinez is one of the most decorated performers in program history. He holds school records in the 50 and 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Last year, in both sprint freestyle events, he placed fourth in the state and first in the Bayside Conference.
Meantime, Joiner holds school records in the 100 fly and 200 free. Her résumé includes back-to-back Bayside titles in the 200 free.
Martinez (50 and 100 free), Joiner (200 free and 100 fly) and Anderson (200 individual medley and 100 backstroke) were state qualifiers last year, while Ervin, Martinez and Saunders were members of the state-qualifying 200 medley relay.
The newcomers are freshmen Quinten Joiner, Brenna Thorpe, Lyric Frase and Alexandria Hall; sophomore Nathan Sutton; senior Nick Stead; and international students Misha Rau and Manassanan Tanjapatkul, who are attending KCHS for the 2024-25 school year.
Printed here are the Trojans’ results from the first meet, which was held in their home pool at the Kent County Family YMCA in Chestertown. It should be noted that Easton traveled with only two boys, and Kent County’s Bryce Jacobs was sidelined with an injury.
GIRLS
200 freestyle: Mary Jane Joiner, 2:16.62, first.
200 individual medley: Izzy Anderson, 2:45.38, second.
50 free: Lyric Frase, 36.95; fourth; Alexandra Hall, 37.57, fifth; and Manassanan Tanjapatkul, 48:30, sixth.
100 butterfly: Joiner, 1:12.96, second.
100 free: Misha Rau, 1:22.40, fourth; Brenna Thorpe, 1:27.94, fifth; and Hall, 1:34.35, sixth.
200 free relay of Anderson, Hall, Frase and Joiner, 2:14.68, second.
100 backstroke: Anderson, 1:08.68, first; Thorpe, 1:49.57, fifth; and Frase, 2:02.56, sixth.
BOYS
200 medley relay of Tucker Ervin, Andy Messick, Henry Martinez and Lynden Saunders, 1:56.21, first.
200 freestyle: Messick, 2:48.5, second.
200 individual medley: Saunders, 2:35.06, first.
50 free: Martinez, 22.45, first; Quinten Joiner, 39.0, third; and Nick Stead, 46.89, fourth.
100 butterfly: Martinez, 57.15, first.
100 free: Ervin, 57.75, first; and Nathan Sutton, 1:25.25, second;
500 free: Saunders, 6:11.63, first.
200 free relay of Ervin, Saunders, Messick and Martinez, 1:46.02, first.
100 backstroke: Joiner, 1:59.94, first.
100 breaststroke: Ervin, 1:16.53, first; Messick, 1:25.23, second; and Sutton, 1:46.06, third.
