COLLEGE PARK — Senior Henry Martinez secured his place in the annals of Kent County High School swimming on Saturday when he became the program’s first state champion.
Martinez captured gold in the 100-yard freestyle in a school record of 47.37 seconds — about 1.5 seconds faster than his nearest challenger.
His accomplishment is all the more noteworthy because three events earlier in the state meet for Class 1A-2A-3A schools, Martinez took silver in the 50 free in another school record, sprinting to the wall in 21.13. The only one faster was LaPlata senior Clinton Cupples (20.71).
Cupples and Martinez also went one-two on Feb. 15 in the East Region championships, when Cupples’ margin of victory was a nanosecond.
Martinez is only the second KCHS swimmer to medal at states, joining Maggie Jones who as a sophomore in 2015 tied for second-place silver in the 50 free.
(The first year for a state championship meet was 2007.)
Also on Saturday at the University of Maryland, Martinez started off the state meet as a member of the Trojans’ 200 medley relay with underclassmen Tucker Ervin, Andy Messick and Lynden Saunders. They placed 13th among 22 entries.
KCHS’ 200 free relay, anchored by Martinez, placed 10th among 23 teams.
Martinez is a shoo-in to become the Trojans’ four-time team MVP.
This month alone, he repeated as the Bayside Conference champion in the 50-yard free (22.47) and at twice that distance (49.48) — both times are meet records — and placed second in those events at the state-qualifying 1A-2A-3A East Region meet on Feb. 15.
Look for a full report of all the Trojans’ news from the state swim championships in a coming edition of The Evening Enterprise.
Pictured here is Henry Martinez standing atop the podium, gold medal in hand, with KCHS head coach Grayson Wise on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the University of Maryland’s Natatorium.
2 Responses
We are so proud of Henry, our grandson. We we fortunate to have gotten the chance to watch him at regionals the week before but we’re not able to make it to state meet. Henry is not only a fine swimmer but also a friendly, thoughtful and generous person. We are excited to see where he goes from here.
Congratulations Henry! I have followed your swimming progress over the last 4 years with great interest. I remember working with you several years ago in the Park and Rec. summer Track program and I saw your athletic ability. This moment – – – a State Championship – — – is something you will remember all your life. Even when you get to be my age, you will look back at this moment, and smile. I am very happy for you. And I will look toward seeing you continue with swimming in college somewhere; and with success. Well done!
Coach Dennis Herrmann