Senior Hannah Davis placed eighth in both the 50 meter and 200 meter freestyle events at the Butler Invitational, held at Butler High School on Dec. 17, 2016.

Senior Hannah Davis placed eighth in both the 50 meter and 200 meter freestyle events at the Butler Invitational, held at Butler High School on Dec. 17, 2016.

By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor

The Milford Eagles boys and girls swim teams posted solid performances in the Butler High School Invitational on Dec. 17, sweeping both titles.

In the boys’ 50 meter freestyle, Milford placed swimmers in first and second position. Sophomore Tyler Babinec won the event with a time of 22.55 seconds, placing just .02 seconds ahead of teammate Chase Fisher. Another Eagle, sophomore Sam Leatherwood, finished the event in 23.97 seconds, good for fourth place. Milford placed a fourth swimmer in the top 10, with sophomore Evan Higgins finishing in eighth place with a time of 26.11 seconds.

Three Eagles earned top-10 finishes in the 100 meter freestyle. Senior Jarod Higgins placed fourth with a time of 53.70 seconds, with junior teammates Branham Leavens and Matt Schnelle placing sixth and seventh, respectively. Leavens finished the event in 54.83 seconds with Schnelle finishing in 57.57 seconds.

In the 200 meter freestyle, Jarod Higgins placed third, finishing in 1:56.01. Freshman teammate Tim Greenwell crossed the line in 13th with a time of 2:11.46.

Fisher posted another top-five time in the 500 meter freestyle, finishing fourth with a 5:07.54 mark.

In the 100 meter backstroke, Sam Leatherwood finished second with a time of 57.68 seconds. Evan Higgins placed 14th, posting a time of 1:12.95 in the process. Fellow sophomore Nathan Klick finished 17th, less than four seconds behind Evan Higgins.

Babinec posted his second win of the meet in the 100 meter breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:01.80. Greenwell finished ninth for Milford, finishing in 1:15.90.

Jan Rae Chavez led the Eagles in the 100 meter butterfly, finishing in eighth place with a time of 1:03.34. Leavens placed ninth for the Eagles, less than a second behind Chavez.

Schnelle placed sixth for the Eagles in the 200 meter individual medley, finishing in 2:21.00. Bishop Fenwick’s Adam Chaney won the event with a time of 2:01.78.

Milford won two of the three relay events: the 200 meter freestyle and the 400 meter freestyle. The Eagles placed ninth in the 200 meter medley.

Milford totaled 382 points in the boys’ event, five more than second-place Bellbrook. Vandalia Butler placed third with 281.

On the girls’ side, six Lady Eagles placed in the top 10 of the 50 meter freestyle, with nine finishing in the top 14.

Sophomore Megan Krieger placed second, finishing in 27.45 seconds. Senior Katey Pena finished third. Freshmen Olivia Pattison and Lauren Bell finished fifth and sixth, respectively, with seniors Sami Connor and Hannah Davis finishing seventh and eighth.

Junior Jill Krieger crossed the line in 29.34 seconds, good for a 12th-place finish. Sophomore teammate Stephanie Karan placed 13th, with freshman Madison Reckman finishing in 14th place.

The Lady Eagles swept the top three positions in the 100 meter freestyle. Megan Krieger finished first, edging out teammate Abby Leatherwood by .2 seconds. Megan Hardewig placed third, finishing in 1:03.15.

Connor and Abby Leatherwood paced the Lady Eagles in the 200 meter freestyle, with the pair finishing third and fourth, respectively. Connor finished in third with a time of 2:16.43, with Abby Leatherwood finishing less than .2 seconds behind. Hannah Davis placed eighth with a time of 2:19.11.

Two Lady Eagles cracked the top five in the 100 meter backstroke. Junior Cora Striet and freshman Lauren Clark placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Striet finished the event in 1:10.35, with Clark posting a time of 1:10.76.

Bell, Jill Krieger and Madison Reckman all earned top-10 finishes in the 100 meter breaststroke.

Bell placed fourth, finishing in 1:19.03, with Jill Krieger placing sixth after posting a time of 1:20.16. Madison Reckman earned a 10th-place finish with a time of 1:27.00.

Striet and Pena both finished in the top 10 for Milford in the 100 meter butterfly. Striet’s time of 1:07.16 was good for a fifth place finish, with Pena’s 1:08.59 placing her in seventh.

A trio of Lady Eagles finished in the top 10 of the 200 meter individual medley. Hardewig led the way with a time of 2:34.47, good for seventh place. Clark’s time was .2 seconds slower than Hardweig’s, which placed the freshman in eighth. Pattison finished 10th, posting a time of 2:41.46.

As a team, the Lady Eagles totaled 454 points, 39 more than runner-up Kettering Fairmont. Talawanda placed third with 270 points.