Decatur Swimmers Make Splash At States

BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s varsity swimming team culminated a strong 2011-2012 season with a great performance at the state 3A-2A-1A championships last weekend with solid team performances and numerous swimmers placing in their individual events.

The Decatur boys finished sixth overall out of the top 26 schools in the state championship meet with 160 team points. In the 200 medley relay, the Decatur boys team including Jeff Middleton, Jake Blazer, Shayne Custodio and Jeff Middleton finished fourth. Jake Middleton finished seventh in the 200-meter freestyle and Custodio finished second in the 200-meter individual medley.

Blazer was second in the 50-meter freestyle, while Zach Hoshino finished 18th. Custodio was fourth in the 100-meter butterfly and Blazer was third in the 100-meter freestyle. Jake Middleton finished fifth in the 500-meter freestyle.

In the 200-meter freestyle relay, the Decatur team of Custodio, Hoshino, Blazer and Jake Middleton finished second. Jeff Middleton was 14th in the 100-meter backstroke. The 400-meter freestyle relay team of Hoshino, Zack Keiser, Colin Bankert and Jeff Middleton finished 16th.

On the girls’ side, Decatur finished right in the middle of the pack, coming in 13th among the 28 schools represented. In the 200-meter medley relay, the Decatur team of Karli Straight, Carly Deickman, Brianna Carroll and Madison Tinus finished 12th. Carroll was 10th in the 200-meter freestyle and Tinus was 23rd in the 50-meter freestyle.

Straight finished sixth in the 500-meter freestyle and 13th in the 100-meter backstroke. The Decatur team of Julia Wellen, Cece Pyles, Maria Zweifel and Tinus finished 15th in the 200-meter freestyle relay. Deickman was 14th in the 100-meter breaststroke. The 400-meter relay team of Straight, Wellen, Zweifel and Carroll finished ninth.