Pinewood swimmers held their own against much bigger teams during the SCISA 2009 Swim Championships in Augusta, Ga. Saturday.
The Panther boys placed fourth overall and the girls place ninth.
Sophomore Florian Vogt broke away from the pack in the final length of the 100-yard Freestyle event to win gold and set a new school record with his 52.07 first-place finish.  Vogt also placed fifth in the 50 Free (24.08).
Michael Tibbs dropped six seconds to take second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:12.97.  Tibbs brought in an additional fourth-place finish in the 500 Free (5:26.66).
Brooks Bowen took sixth in the 100 Back (1:07.11) and ninth in the 100 Breast (1:16.29).
Taylor Greene capped an impressive season by placing seventh in the 500 Free (5:50.33) and eighth in the 200 Free (2:10.39) at the championships. During this season, he dropped over 25 seconds from his 500 Free time.
Marty Liner placed seventh in the 100 Back (1:10.06). Darien Hernandez brought in points with his eighth-place finish in the 100 Fly (1:04.67) and his 10th place in the 500 Free (6:01.18).
David Soyka steadily dropped time all season to earn a ninth-place finish in the 100 Fly (1:06.64).  Cassidy Latham earned points individually for the girls with her seventh-place finish in the 100 Breast (1:21.51).
The relay competition was fierce. Pinewood’s boys placed a close third in the 200 Medley Relay with a 1:54.32 finish. The team consisted of Bowen, Tibbs, Hernandez and Vogt.  The 200 Free Relay team of Alex Grossman, Tibbs, Bowen and Vogt came in fourth by just tenths of a second with a time of 1:41.31. Soyka, Greene, Hernandez and A. Grossman placed fifth in the 400 Free Relay (4:00.86).
The girls relay team of Hanna Hiel, Cassidy Latham, Shelby Lemons and Hayley Dyer placed sixth in the 200 Medley (2:17.59)  Kasey Grossman joined Dyer, Hiel and Lemons to earn points with and eighth-place finish in the 200 Free Relay (2:07.12)
“The team had a great season,” Pinewood coach Jessica Dawber said. “Swimmers achieved 29 personal best times at the meet. We look forward to next year”.

Cross Country
Pinewood’s cross country teams ran in three meets in a week and a half, marking several personal records (PRs) for players in the process.
On Sept. 23, the teams traveled to Wannamaker Park for the Stratford Invitational, where they faced the stiffest competition yet among Lowcountry meets.
Taylor Katsanis was the first member of the boys’ team across the finish line as he finished the 5K route with an 18:55 season best time.
Trailing was Ryan Colucci at 19:16, also a season best. Nick Holt, Garrett Shields and Brandon Phinney rounded out the top five finishers. Gannon Gay, Michael Pfaehler and Michael Trevillian set personal records in the meet and Hayden Smith also hit a season best.
Katherine Gore led the Pinewood girls with a 21:28 finish, a season best. Trailing were Katie Black, Abby Mandel, Charlotte Holt and Alyssa Padgette. Black and Padgette set PRs in the meet.
On Sept. 26, the teams traveled to James Island County Park for the Citadel Invitational, which attracted more than 1,000 collegiate and high school runners.
Competing in the Bravo division (smaller high schools), several of the runners again shaved time and achieved records or season bests.
Katsanis finished first for the boys and 17th overall in the Bravo division with a 18:54 time. Following were by Colucci, Holt, Shields and Adam Elligett.
In the girls’ run, Gore finished eighth overall and first for Pinewood with a 22:02 race. Trailing were Black, Mandel, Holt and Alexis Combs. Earning PRs at the meet were Black, Alexis Combs, Taylor Combs, Charlotte Holt, Nick Holt, Taylor Strickland, Jake Birdsong and Trevillian.
The teams returned to James Island County Park on Sept. 30 for the James Island Invitational, where continued hard work paid off in even better times.
Katsanis set a PR with an 18:42 finish to place ninth overall. Colucci, Holt, Phinney and Shields rounded out the Panther top five. Holt and Michael Pfaehler also earned PRs in the meet.
For the girls, Gore posted her season’s best time to place second overall with a 21:22 finish, seven seconds behind the meet winner.
Black finished eighth overall with a time of 22:55, followed Mandel, Holt and Bouyea. Alexis Combs, Taylor Combs, Holt, Mandel, and Taylor Strickland, who all also set PRs.