St. Andrews Episcopal Retains MHSAA Class 1 Double: Team Depth and Swims That Tell a Story

The starting horn cut through the pool deck, the water in the center lanes shivered once, and the stands seemed to hold its breath. St. Andrews Episcopal entered the final day of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 1 Swimming Championships with two clear goals: keep the trophies the boys’ and girls’ teams had won the previous season. When the scoreboard settled, both teams had done it, not through a single flash of brilliance but through depth that stretched from individual events into relays. The boys won their third title in four years. The girls defended their title with a roster so young that observers had to check the class list again: one sophomore and two freshmen led much of the scoring. Class 1 is a stage for small Mississippi schools that build swim teams through patience rather than large budgets. A lineup deep enough to win individual events is difficult; a lineup flexible enough to win all three relays is harder. St. Andrews Episcopal did that on both sides, and the way it happened is the most revealing part. The girls carried the pressure of defending a title after a strong season. The boys carried the memory of two recent seasons, and their third championship in four years pointed to a rare cycle of stability in high school swimming. The stands could see the gold medals, but a closer look showed the structure underneath: young swimmers placed in the right lanes, seniors kept in the right rhythm, and relays assembled like a transition exercise rather than a simple sum of four swimmers. Figarola, a sophomore at St. Andrews Episcopal, was the center of the girls’ team. She won the 200 freestyle in 1:52.22 and repeated as champion in the 500 freestyle in 5:09.15. The two events demand different kinds of composure. The 200 freestyle tests rhythm and the ability to hold speed after the turn. The 500 freestyle tests energy distribution, where one uneven breath can disrupt an entire stretch. Figarola did not win with a single late surge. She won by keeping her line clean, limiting wasted motion, and turning distance into a psychological advantage. MC Neely, a freshman, gave St. Andrews Episcopal a different pair of results: 2:17.43 in the 200 individual medley and 1:10.04 in the 100 breaststroke. The 200 individual medley is an event of constant transition across four strokes, where technique and breathing must change roles without losing momentum. The 100 breaststroke is an event of patience, where each pull must be long enough and each breath compact enough. A freshman winning both events showed an early technical foundation and, more importantly, the ability to handle two starts on the same day. Annie Seanor, another freshman, won the 100 freestyle in 55.69 and the 100 breaststroke in a personal-best 1:02.68. Her range stood out. The 100 freestyle is a pure speed race, while the 100 breaststroke is a test of technique and stability. A young swimmer can win one; winning both shows adaptability to different rhythms. In swimming, that adaptability often shows up before the scoreboard does, in the way a swimmer steps onto the block: shoulders loose, eyes forward, breathing even before the horn. Those three names, Figarola, MC Neely and Annie Seanor, all contributed to St. Andrews Episcopal’s three winning relays. The 200 medley relay team of Stella Roman, Neely, SK Crowder and Seanor won in 1:59.64. The 200 freestyle relay team of Figarola, Crowder, Roman and Neely won in 1:44.62. The 400 freestyle relay team of Figarola, Marlow Ratcliff, Crystal Zhou and Seanor won in 4:03.02. Three relays, three different combinations, one result. That is a sign of a roster with multiple transition options, not a group of four names repeated mechanically. SK Crowder, a sophomore, won the 50 freestyle in a personal-best 25.96. In the shortest event on the program, everything happens in a window that leaves little room for correction. A good start, a well-timed breath and a clean touch can separate places. Crowder appeared in two winning relays and won an individual event, showing the value of a versatile swimmer who may not be the biggest star but is always present where the lineup needs her. On the other side, Our Lady Academy had its own moment. Ella Garcia, a sophomore, won the 100 butterfly in 1:03.23. On a day when St. Andrews Episcopal collected most of the gold, Garcia’s win was a reminder that the high school meet still has room for smaller teams to break into the race between larger programs. The 100 butterfly tests shoulder strength and patience with breathing; a young swimmer who wins it usually has a strong physical base. The St. Andrews Episcopal boys’ team had a different look. If the girls were led by a sophomore and two freshmen, the boys entered with three seniors: William Skelton, Tulio Figarola and Elias Abraham. Each won two individual events and contributed to winning relays. Their experience created a different kind of stability: fewer surprises, but harder to beat. Skelton repeated his double in the 200 individual medley in 1:53.23 and the 100 backstroke in 50.46. Both were personal bests. The 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke demand a refined feel for the water. In the 100 backstroke, a swimmer must hold a straight line without seeing the far wall. In the 200 individual medley, a swimmer must move from butterfly to backstroke to breaststroke to freestyle without losing rhythm. Skelton did both in the same meet, and repeating as champion showed a foundation tested across seasons. Abraham also repeated his double in the 50 freestyle in 21.49 and the 100 butterfly in 51.74. The 50 freestyle is pure speed; the 100 butterfly is speed endurance. A swimmer who wins both usually can sustain a high stroke rate without losing technique. On a roster with several young swimmers, Abraham’s presence gave St. Andrews Episcopal an anchor in both short and middle-distance events. Tulio Figarola won the 200 freestyle in a personal-best 1:40.73 and repeated as champion in the 100 freestyle in 46.60. That pair points to a swimmer who can hold speed across multiple lengths. At the high school level, a swimmer can be fast in the 100 freestyle, but holding rhythm in the 200 freestyle is a sign of durable conditioning. Figarola also appeared in the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay, where his ability to hold rhythm was placed exactly where the team needed it. The other two individual boys’ winners were Matt Meneses of St. Andrews Episcopal and Connor McElroy of St. Patrick’s. Meneses, a sophomore, won the 500 freestyle in a personal-best 5:03.28. McElroy won the 100 breaststroke in a personal-best 1:01.95. The 500 freestyle is the longest event on the program, where a swimmer must divide pace carefully; the 100 breaststroke is an event of technique and patience. Those wins showed that the meet did not revolve only around the biggest names from St. Andrews Episcopal. The boys’ three relays told the clearest story. The 200 medley relay team of Skelton, Matt Meneses, Abraham and Will Fender won in 1:40.89. The 200 freestyle relay team of Tulio Figarola, Sebastian Roman, John Wofford and Fender won in 1:38.78. The 400 freestyle relay team of Skelton, Abraham, Meneses and Figarola won in 3:10.66. One team, three different combinations, three wins. That is the point to stress when reading the results: St. Andrews Episcopal did not win relays by chance. They won because they had multiple options at transition spots. In the quiet, I hear the breath of the meet more clearly. The area behind the lane ropes at a high school swim meet is often less noisy than the stands, but it reveals a team’s rhythm. Swimmers waiting for a relay do not talk much. They stand together, eyes on the water, hands tapping lightly against their legs in time with a teammate’s stroke. Silence is not without language — it owns a language of its own. There, one can see who holds the rhythm, who accelerates, and who knows how to wait for the right moment. Based on my experience watching meets, a relay sweep is often a more reliable signal than a handful of individual golds. An individual can win on a good day. A relay requires at least four swimmers with enough quality in each stroke and someone who can handle a transition without losing momentum. St. Andrews Episcopal had both on both sides. The girls had three young swimmers capable of carrying multiple events. The boys had three seniors with enough experience to hold the rhythm. That overlap created a lineup structure that is hard to copy in a single season. Kazan taught me that speed also knows how to dance. In swimming, that appears in the transitions: a touch, a breath, a dive, a push off the wall. Spectators often remember only the winner, but the team that wins a relay is the team with several swimmers who can dance at once. St. Andrews Episcopal did that in three girls’ relays and three boys’ relays. That is why their double carries more weight than a simple results sheet. The counterintuitive point sits here: a team can win a meet with a star, but a team that keeps a double usually wins with the names mentioned least. On the girls’ side, Crowder, Roman, Ratcliff and Zhou were the pieces that let the young stars shine without overracing. On the boys’ side, Fender, Sebastian Roman and Wofford kept the relays from losing rhythm. Results make it easy to stop at individual golds. A lineup view shows that St. Andrews Episcopal prepared for both the near future and the present. That future looks brighter on the girls’ side. Figarola still has two high school seasons ahead. MC Neely and Annie Seanor have just entered this level and already won difficult events. If they keep developing, St. Andrews Episcopal can maintain its Class 1 position for several years. The boys’ team will enter a transition period after Skelton, Tulio Figarola and Abraham graduate. Their task will be finding replacements at transition spots, where experience often matters more than individual times. A high school swim meet does not create stories as large as an Olympic cycle. It creates small, repeated stories, and that repetition is what reveals depth. St. Andrews Episcopal repeated championships on both sides, repeated relay sweeps and repeated familiar names in difficult events. What remains open is next season: can the young girls’ team hold its rhythm, and can the boys’ team find swimmers who know how to keep a relay transition after losing three pillars? The answer will not be on the medal table, but in early-morning practices, where the sound of water breaking is clearer than any cheer.