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Smoky Mountain’s Megan Owens wins all-star honors at state 3-A swim meet
Smoky Mountain junior Megan Owens earned all-state honors and set a school record in the State 3-A Swim Meet held Saturday in Chapel Hill.
Senior Nick Cox also performed well for the Mustang men.
Owens finished second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:55.38.
Smoky Mountain’s Megan Owens (left) and Nick Cox competed in the State 3-A Swim Meet held Saturday in Chapel Hill. Owens earned all-state honors by finishing second in the 200 freestyle and third in the 100 free. Cox placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke and 11th in the 200 individual medley.-
She set a school record in the 100 free as she was third in 55.17. The old record of 55.54 was set last year by Allie Lewis.
“Megan did outstanding,” Coach Sandy Wade said. “It was the best I’ve seen her all year. She had her mind in the right place, and it certainly paid off.”
Finishing in the top three made Owens all-state in both events.
“I felt very good about my performance,” Owens said. “I dropped time in both events. I was very proud of myself afterwards.”
Owens said she considers the middle distance freestyle, such as the 200, her best event. She placed second in that race to her Mountain Athletic Conference rival and friend, Tuscola’s Anna Stringfield, who had a winning time of 1:55.38.
“I swim with her in Waynesville during the summer,” Owens said. “We’re pretty good friends. Before the race we were saying we were going to go one-two.”
With Smoky Mountain dropping to 2-A next year, Owens has her eyes on the big prize.
“I will probably have less competition in 2-A, but there are still a large amount of good swimmers there,” she said. “Winning a state championship is definitely a goal for me.”
Cox had a strong finish in the 100 breaststroke as he was sixth in 1:05.48. He placed 11th in the 200 individual medley in 2:07.02.
“Nick had an outstanding performance,” Wade said. “His breaststroke looked really nice.”
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