Spartan boys break through

Wed. January 25, 2012 at 11:51 p.m. | By Mike Duprez

Logan Hammond of Central Davidson moves quickly through the water in the boys 50-yard freestyle heat that he won during the Central Carolina Conference Championship swim meet Wednesday in Salisbury. (Photo by Donnie Roberts/The Dispatch)

SALISBURY | Central Davidson used standout performances by an ailing Logan Hammond and freshman standout Lucas Rhodes along with plenty of depth to end West Davidson’s four-year reign as the boys’ Central Carolina Conference champions.

The Spartans finished with 167 points, well ahead of West’s 113. Lexington was third with 85 points, Salisbury had 70 and East Davidson 30 in the meet held Wednesday at the Salisbury YMCA.

Central won four events but had a bunch of placings near the top and that proved to be decisive.

“It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had the swimmers to be able to do what we did today,” said Central coach Chad Hench. “We had a lot of top five finishers and those points add up. It was a team effort.”

The Spartans displayed a mixture of veteran talent, including seniors Adam Amende and Hammond, and promising young swimmers. It was a combination that worked very well.

Despite suffering from a stomach ailment, Hammond won the 50 free and Amende was second. Amende also took second in the 100 free.

“They are our main sprinters,” Hench said. “Logan was under the weather today but he gutted it out. Adam did a good job in his events.”

Rhodes turned in an impressive performance in the 500 free, winning by nearly nine seconds over a standout swimmer in Garrett Spake of West Davidson.

Central was particularly strong in the relays. Connor Sturgill, Greyson Myers, Amende and Rhodes cruised to victory in the 400 free relay. The 200 medley relay team of Jonathan Hench, Rhodes, Sturgill and Hammond tied with Lexington’s Cole Riggan, Adam Wetherell, Griffin Gray and Patrick Dezego for first place. The 200 free relay team of Charlie Killebrew, Zeb Walser, Amende and Hammond placed second.

Sturgill, Walser and Killebrew were second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 100 fly, providing another bushel of points for the Spartans.

Lexington’s up and coming program had some other successes. Riggan was a double winner, taking the 100 back and the 200 individual medley. Dezego, Gray, Riggan and Wetherell won the 200 free relay.

Salisbury’s Taylor Rodenhuis won two events, the 200 free and 100 fly.
Spake was victorious in the 100 free.

Mike Duprez can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 218 or mike.duprez@the-dispatch.com.