Newton Citizen

CONYERS - The Salem swim team placed second overall in a meet with Paideia, Loganville, Heritage and Eastside on Thursday at Johnson Park.

The Salem boys placed first overall with 167 points, while the Lady Seminoles took fourth with 76 points, giving Salem 243 overall. Paideia took the top spot overall with 334 points as the girls finished first and the boys placed second. Loganville took third overall with 197 points as the Loganville boys placed fourth and the Lady Red Devils took second. Heritage took third on both sides but placed fourth overall with 189 points.

The Salem boys were led by the 200-yard medley and 200 free relay teams, which both placed first. The 200 medley relay team finished in 1 minute, 48.87 seconds, while the 200 free relay came across at 1:38.84.

"I definitely think that the boys pulled out some strong wins tonight. Everybody seemed to drop time and I'm very proud of all of our guy swimmers," Salem swimmer Josh Danforth said. "The girls did really good tonight. That had a lot of good times and got some really good relay times in. It was a great meet for all of the guys and girls."

Salem swims again today in Athens as both the Seminoles and Lady Seminoles continue trying to qualify as many swimmers as possible for the state meet.

"We still have a long way to go before the county championships. We're hoping to have a few more kids qualify for state and we're looking forward to it," Salem assistant coach Nancy Hill said. "We're still trying to get back in shape after the winter break, but we have a feeling that we're going to be pulling out pretty well at the end of the season."

Heritage was led by Rebecca Bradley and Nathaniel Eisenman. Bradley took first place in the girls 100 breaststroke in 1:23.99, while Eisenman placed first in the boys 100 freestyle in 51.80.

Eastside was led by Drew Ellwanger, who took first in the boys 100 breaststroke (1:00.54) and the boys 200 individual medley (2:09.52).

Brandon Evans can be reached at brandon.evans@rockdalecitizen.com.