Donna Blaum is the first state champion of the GHSA winter sports season from a Fayette school.
The Starr’s Mill sophomore took first place in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly while also being a member of the winning 4×100 free relay team at last weekend’s state swimming championships at Georgia Tech.
The Lady Panthers finished seventh as a team in the A-AAAAA standings, while final boys’ rankings saw McIntosh in fifth place and Starr’s Mill in ninth place.
Also on the state champion relay team for the Lady Panthers were Kylee Bogumill, Sarah Phinney and Johanna Goldblatt. That group also came in fourth in the 200 medley relay.
No individual swimmer or relay team from Fayette County won a state championship last year. Blaum came in third in 2014 in both of the events she won this time.
Nick Palmer of Starr’s Mill finished second in the 500 free and sixth in the 200 free, while Goldblatt was third in the 100 backstroke. Also third was the McIntosh 200 medley relay team of Tan Dunn, Chip Machemehl, Marty Stange and Maalik Nixon. Those four also combined for a fourth-place finish in the 200 free relay.
Machemehl was fourth in the 100 fly. Dunn was fifth in the 50 free and the 100 back, where he touched the side .06 seconds ahead of Machemehl.
Bogumill came in sixth in the 200 free. Whitewater’s Jordan Watson was ninth in that race and ninth in the 500 free.
Finishing ninth in the 200 individual medley was McIntosh’s Alexandra Schmid. The 4×100 free relay team from Starr’s Mill – Palmer, Junhan Lee, Cody Clements and John Hall – also came in ninth. Hall finished tenth in the 100 free.
The top boys’ teams were Westminster (309), Marist (293.5), Chamblee Charter (269), Evans (206), McIntosh (151), Dalton (131.5), North Atlanta (122), Holy Innocents (114.5), Starr’s Mill (106) and Greenbrier (100.5).
The top girls’ teams were Marist (264), St. Pius (202.5), Oconee County (193), Dunwoody (192), Sequoyah (179), North Oconee (175.5), Starr’s Mill (175), Woodward Academy (162), Westminster (150.5) and Pace Academy (142).
