On Friday, Feb. 4, the Sequoyah swim team competed at the GHSA 6A-7A State Championship at the McAuley Aquatic Center at Georgia Tech. McAuley was the home of the 1996 Olympic Games and is the pool in which countless world records have been shattered. 

The meet began with somewhat of an unusual start; a grease fire in the aquatic center kitchen delayed the meet for multiple hours and caused a mass evacuation of the athletic complex. 

After the disruption, the Sequoyah men’s team competed in prelims, with juniors Landon Thomas, Spencer Espelid, and Logan Geoghagan all competing in the 100-yard backstroke. Geoghagan also competed in the 500-yard freestyle, ultimately progressing to finals and taking eighth place overall in the state. The men’s team also competed in two relay events in prelims, with junior Brett Lowry and the three aforementioned swimmers competing in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.  

On the women’s side of the competition, four Sequoyah girls had a historic showing. Freshman Lainey Blase, juniors Kelsey Jackson and Laurel Blase, and senior Delaney Harrison competed together in the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay and took third place in both, marking the relay as the first relay podium in six years. Lainey Blase competed in prelims in the 50-yard freestyle and took fifth in the 500-yard freestyle. Kelsey Jackson also competed in prelims the 200 freestyle and took seventh in the 100-yard backstroke.  

The girl’s duo of Delaney Harrison and Laurel Blase brought home multiple state championships, marking consecutive repeat champions for both swimmers. Blase, who is verbally committed to the University of Alabama won both the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle. Blase won the 500 last year. Harrison, who is signed to swim at the University of Arkansas, won the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. Harrison has won the 100 for the prior two years, marking a “three-peat” in the event. 

The girls’ team took fourth place overall as a team, losing to Lakeside, Cambridge, and Lassiter, whose teams were over double the size. Logan Geoghagan was the sole scorer on the men’s side of the competition which placed 46th in the overall team score.