William Henderson proved once again that he was the one to beat in the breaststroke events, as he laid claim to the titles in the 50 and 100-yd breaststroke at the Eastern Sectional Age Group Championships in Greensboro, NC March 7-11.  This championship, attended by teams from Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, is the premier event for swimmers 14 and under in the Southeast.  GPAC placed 23^rd out of over 90 teams!

Henderson, 10, dominated the field in the 100-yd breaststroke race on Friday of the meet with a winning time of one minute and 15.37 seconds, posting a new ‘AAAA’ and bettering his personal mark by over two seconds!  William became GPAC’s first sectional champion since 2008, when seniors Caroline Page and Jack Tona captured individual titles.  William took second place in the 100-yd event at Southeastern Swimming Championships two weeks prior, but faced even stiffer competition from swimmers from North Carolina and Georgia.

“I am very happy for William,” said Head Age Group Coach Greg Johnson.  “I think he came into the meet knowing he was among the best, and he wanted to win and he did.”

William’s next breaststroke race came on the last day of the meet, and although he did not quite match the time he posted to win the 50-yd event at Southeasterns, he again took the gold medal.  He dotted the medal stand throughout the meet placing third in the 100-yd IM, fourth in the 200-yd IM and eighth in the 100-yd free.

Henderson’s twin, Renee, took the bronze medal in the breaststroke events, once again bettering her team record in the 50-yd event to a blistering 35.27 seconds!  She also beat her personal best in the 100-yd breaststroke by almost three seconds posting a 1:17.41 and a new ‘AAAA’ time.  Renee grabbed an eighth place finish in the 50-yd freestyle, good for another new ‘AAAA’ time and 16^th in the 100-yd IM.  She also got a new ‘AAA’ time in the 50-yd butterfly.

GPAC sent 10 athletes to the meet in Greensboro; all but one of whom were rookies at the meet.  Walker Parra, 11, attended the meet in 2011, and the experience seemed to be beneficial.  Parra nabbed an eighth place finish in the 1000-yd freestyle on the first day of the meet, and adding 11 points to the team tally.  James Henderson, 12, despite being sick for most of the week leading up to the meet, managed to swim fast enough to qualify him for finals each night.  Although his illness precluded him from making his appearance in the 100-yd IM on Friday night, his swims in the 50-yd backstroke and 50-yd freestyle placed him 13^th and 11^th, respectively.

Braden Barkley, 10, posted a new ‘AAA’ time in his 100-yd butterfly, as did Heidi Schellin in her 200-yd breaststroke.  This was the first sectional championship for both swimmers. Barkley also had a new ‘AA’ time in the 500-yd free, dropping over 12 seconds!  Sophia Diagne, 14, in her last swim of the meet, dropped an impressive 2.76 seconds in the 200-yd IM to post a new ‘AAA’ time!

“I could not be more proud of the swimmers that came to the meet to represent GPAC,” said Johnson.  “They have all worked so hard all season to make it to this level and I consider them to be among the best swimmers in the whole Southeast.”

GPAC is very proud of all of our Age Group Sectional participants!  Congratulations to Braden Barkley, Caitlin Bridges, Sophia Diagne, James Henderson, Renee Henderson, William Henderson, Cameron Jones, Ann Jordan Luth, Walker Parra and Heidi Schellin.