Tara Stevens, 15-year-old freshman swimmer with coach Gretta Conner’s Region 1-AAAAA champion Bainbridge High School Lady Cats swim team, turned in solid performances at the Georgia High School Association’s weekend State Class AAAAA Swim Meet at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
In Friday’s preliminaries she was 20th in the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 1:01.71 and 24th in the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 2:15.80.
Among freshman swimmers she was fourth in the 100-yard backstroke and seventh in the 200-yard individual medley.
Stevens qualified for state by finishing first in he 100 yard backstroke in a time of 1:02.86 and first in the 200 yard individual medley in a time of 2:18.80 at the Region 1-AAAAA Meet at Darton College in Albany.
In addition to the Lady Cats Stevens, daughter of Eddie and Teresa Stevens, swims with   the Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club (ATAC) Swim Team and with the Bainbridge-Decatur County YMCA swim team at Georgia Recreation and Parks Association GRPA meets during the summer.
“She demonstrates a lot of hard work and dedication in the pool,” Conner said.
Stevens began competitive swimming with the Bainbridge Decatur County YMCA Extreme Swim Team when she was 10. When she was 12, she finished third in the 50-yard backstroke and third in the 50-yard breaststroke at the GRPA State Championships.
During the Region 1-AAAAA tournament at Darton College, the Bearcats swam their hearts out and returned to Bainbridge the tournament title.
In the boys’ 200-yard medley relay, first place went to Nour Hasona, Carson Harrell, Eric Conner and Josh Moorhead with a time of 2:03.89. Third place went to Taylor Colon, Stanton Long, Perry Waddell and Hema Hasona with a time of 2:13.71.
For the girls, Kay Bush, Lynsey Waddell, Tara Stevens and Taylor Bush clocked in with a time of 2:16.21.
In the boys’ 200-yard freestyle, Grayson Graham, Noaur Hasona, Logan Moorhead and Stanton Long finished with a time of 1:52.10 and took third place.
Haylie Wilkinson, Emma Griffin, Jordan Graham and Jennifer Cerone also took third place for the girls, finishing with a time of 2:04.62.
For the boys’ 400-yard freestyle relay, first place went to Josh Moorhead, Carson Harrell, Hema Hasona and Eric Conner for their time of 4:06.91. Third place was awarded to Grayson Graham, Austin Wade, Taylor Colon and Logan Moorhead for their time of 4:30.83.
Taylor Bush, Jennifer Cerone, Kay Bush and Tara Stevens were awarded first place for the girls’ race with a time of 4:30.53. Behind them were Emma Griffin, Lauren Braswell, Emilee Poppell and Lynsey Waddell in third with a time of 5:02.87.