Relay points make David Douglas the top team finisher out of East County
Barlow junior Nick Thorne left Saturdays 6A state swim meet a bit heavier than when he arrived. That was due to the pair of medals hanging around his neck on his way out of the pool one gold, one silver.
Thorne went into the 200-yard medley race with the top qualifying time, but repeating the task in the finals was no easy task.
He held off Grant freshman Ethan Hanson to carry a slight lead through the first two laps, but Sunsets Cole Hurwitz came on strong in the third leg, the breaststroke, to take over the lead.
Thorne responded to the challenge, closing ground quickly in the last freestyle lap and regaining the top spot coming off the wall at the final turn. He touched in with a school-record time of 1:51.93 .21 hundredths ahead of Hurwitz. The same order that the two rivals finished at last years meet.
I knew hed be ahead into that last 50, Thorne said. I just wanted to get punch off the wall on that final turn and make up ground underwater. I popped up barely ahead, and I knew that I had it.
Thorne finished his day with a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle (46.42), accounting for all 29 of Barlows team points.
Look for extended state swim coverage, including the small-school meet, in the Tuesday, Feb. 19, print edition.