Myrtle Beach boys, girls sweep region swim titles for first time

The Seahawks made it a sweep. They also made history.

The Myrtle Beach boys and girls swim teams both won Region VII-AAA titles Saturday, marking the first time in school history that both were crowned.

The boys finished with 117 points for a 44-point win, while the girls had 127 points for a 39-point victory in the meet hosted by Socastee at Pepper Geddings Recreation Center.

“It was a historic day. … We’re really proud about that,” Myrtle Beach coach Kirk Gallion said. “Our girls have been consistent throughout the year. But if I had to highlight something, it would be the boys team winning their first region title. It was a good day for us.”

Isaiah Ivey (100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke) and Yianni Paraschos (100-yard breaststroke) had individual wins for the Seahawks, while Myrtle Beach’s 200-yard medley – Ivey, Paraschos, Sean McGonigal, Vincent Goduto – 200-yard freestyle – Nestor Llanot, Goduto, Matthew Card, Justin Roberts – and 400-yard freestyle – Ivey, Llanot, Justin Roberts, McGonigal – relay teams earned wins.

“One thing I pride ourselves on is we have hardly any year-round swimmers on the boys side,” Gallion said. “They are mostly just high school kids.”

The region title was a big step for the boys program, Gallion said.

“We’re trying to build a program and we’ve added depth,” he said. “Our guys really stepped up.”

The Myrtle Beach girls, meanwhile, continued what has been a dominating season.

Catherine Miller (200-yard freestyle), Danielle Flaherty (200-yard individual medley, 500-yard freestyle) and Olivia McGonigal (100-yard backstroke) earned individual wins, while the Seahawks also won the 200-yard medley – McGonigal, Flaherty, Kennedy Drew, Miller – and 200-yard freestyle – Drew, Flaherty, Miller, McGonigal – relays.

McGonigal and Drew were part of the Seahawks’ 200-yard freestyle relay that won a state title a year ago. But with the state championship meet a week away, Gallion knows nothing is guaranteed and had a message for his talented girls team, especially the underclassmen.

“I told those girls today – and Olivia and Drew got a ring last year – that you can get kind of spoiled when you win it that young,” he said. “That’s something you better cherish and realize you’ll have to fight like crazy to get back there.”

On a historic day for the program, Gallion made sure to share credit with fellow coaches Mike Angwin and John Hairston.

“Those guys are the heartbeat of the team and they do a great job,” he said. “It’s a total team effort with our coaches.”

In Region VI-AAAA, Socastee (93 points) won the boys title by 21 points, and Carolina Forest (96) won the girls title by 61 points. The results were a bit skewed because the Florence teams of the region decided not to make the trip because of the effects of Hurricane Joaquin.

While the two classifications are normally separated during the region meets, Saturday’s was all inclusive with less teams at the recreation center. While expressing disappointment for the Florence-area swimmers who didn’t get to compete, Gallion said the circumstances actually made for faster times.

“It made it better for the racing today. In the races you’ve got the fastest people going in the whole meet,” he said. “By combining them, it put the top AAAA kids versus the top AAA kids. It’s all about the racing. When you’ve got good people in there to race you’re going to raise your level.”

Aside from results, Gallion and the other coaches were pleased simply to get the meet in considering the weather challenges.

“We got it in,” Gallion said. “I give a lot of credit to [Socastee coach] Jay Preslar. He did a great job as always.

“… I’m so proud of this whole area in swimming. I know a lot of these folks worked very hard and I’m very proud of having this meet happen. A lot of local people stepped up to put this meet on.”

Individual winners

Girls

Region VI-AAAA

▪ Socastee’s Jenn Paul (200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle)

▪ Carolina Forest’s Jensen Helgerson (200-yard individual medley)

▪ Conway’s Catherine Jackson (50-yard freestyle)

▪ Carolina Forest’s Ashley Woodall (100-yard butterfly)

▪ Carolina Forest’s Taylor Steele (100-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke)

▪ Carolina Forest’s Elizabeth Gatley (100-yard backstroke)

Region VII-AAA

▪ Myrtle Beach’s Catherine Miller (200-yard freestyle)

▪ Myrtle Beach’s Danielle Flaherty (200-yard individual medley, 500-yard freestyle)

▪ St. James’ Ana Wolff (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle)

▪ North Myrtle Beach’s Summer Ratley (100-yard butterfly)

▪ Myrtle Beach’s Olivia McGonigal (100-yard backstroke)

▪ North Myrtle Beach’s Rivers Chandler (100-yard breaststroke)

Boys

Region VI-AAAA

▪ Carolina Forest’s Connor Steele (200-yard freestyle)

▪ Socastee’s Chad Bateson (200-yard individual medley)

▪ Socastee’s Eddie Bateson (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke)

▪ Socastee’s Taylor Koppel (100-yard butterfly)

▪ Socastee’s Chad Bateson (100-yard freestyle)

▪ Carolina Forest’s Connor Campbell (500-yard freestyle)

▪ Carlolina Forest’s Jack Vaught (100-yard backstroke)

Region VII-AAA

▪ North Myrtle Beach’s Connor Britt-Tripp (200-yard freestyle)

▪ St. James’ Casey Mitchell (200-yard individual medley, 500-yard freestyle relay)

▪ Myrtle Beach’s Sean McGonigal (50-yard freestyle)

▪ Georgetown’s Hurley Cribb (100-yard butterfly)

▪ Myrtle Beach’s Isaiah Ivey (100-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke)

▪ Myrtle Beach’s Yianni Paraschos (100-yard breaststroke)

Relay winners

Class AAAA

Girls

200-yard medley: Carolina Forest (Elizabeth Gatley, Taylor Steele, Ashley Woodall, Alexis Porfilio)

200-yard freestyle: Carolina Forest (Anna Fortenberry, Jensen Helgerson, Ashley Woodall, Alexis Portfilio)

400-yard freestyle: Carolina Forest (Anna Fortenberry, Jensen Helgerson, Elizabeth Ratley, Taylor Steele)

Boys

200-yard medley: Socastee (Chad Bateson, Eddie Bateson, Taylor Koppel, Jakob Hasbrouck)

200-yard freestyle: Carolina Forest (Connor Steele, Grice Fortenberry, Jack Vaught, Liam Zevgolis)

400-yard freestyle: Socastee (Chad Bateson, Taylor Koppel, Jakob Hasbrouck, Eddie Bateson)

Class AAA

Girls

200-yard medley: Myrtle Beach (Olivia McGonigal, Danielle Flaherty, Kennedy Drew, Catherine Miller

200-yard freestyle: Myrtle Beach (Kennedy Drew, Danielle Flaherty, Catherine Miller, Olivia McGonigal)

400-yard freestyle: North Myrtle Beach (Madison Young, Rivers Chandler, Summer Raley, Alexis Ross)

Boys

200-yard medley: Myrtle Beach (Ivey, Paraschos, Sean McGonigal, Vincent Goduto)

200-yard freestyle: Myrtle Beach (Nestor Llanot, Vincent Goduto, Matthew Card, Justin Roberts)

400-yard freestyle: Myrtle Beach (Isaiah Ivey, Nestor Llanot, Justin Roberts, Sean McGonigal)

This story was originally published October 3, 2015 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach boys, girls sweep region swim titles for first time."