By WESLEY HALLMAN / Sports Editor

Two swimmers from Shelby County returned home from the Aquatic Center on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa with multiple Alabama High School Athletic Association individual state championships Dec. 4.

Spain Park High School freshman Will Freeman and Briarwood Christian School sophomore Mallory Mathias each captured two individual state titles.

Freeman won the boys’ 200-yard freestyle event with his time of 1:42.42, which placed him more than one second ahead of second-place finisher Stephen Parsons of Auburn.

Freeman also captured the boys’ 500-yard freestyle championship with his time of 4:38.97, which placed him more than three seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Mathias took home the girls’ 200-yard freestyle title following her time of 1:55.77, which put her 0.07 seconds ahead of Tuscaloosa County’s Kelly Berger.

Mathias also won the girls’ 500-yard freestyle championship after finishing with a time of 5:02.38, which placed her more than five seconds ahead of Berger.

The Spain Park High School boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving teams were the top finishing teams from Shelby County. The Jaguars came in seventh in team standings in both the boys’ and girls’ competition.

Oak Mountain finished 14th in the girls’ team standings. Briarwood Christian came in 16th overall in the girls’ meet.

Briarwood Christian finished 22nd overall in the boys’ team standings. Oak Mountain came in 29th overall.

Other top individual finishers from Shelby County included Oak Mountain senior Kreable Young, the defending girls’ 200-yard freestyle champion. Young came in fourth overall in individual standings in the 200-yard freestyle swim this year with her time of 1:56.43 in her final meet.

Young, who signed a women’s swimming and diving scholarship with Western Kentucky University last month, also finished fourth overall in individual standings in the girls’ 500-yard freestyle event with her time of 5:10.97.

Spain Park senior Emily Lin came in third overall in individual standings in the girls’ 100-yard freestyle event with her time of 53.98 seconds. Oak Mountain sophomore Madison Kamman finished in a two-way tie for fourth overall with Ashton Ellzey of Baker in the girls’ 100-yard freestyle swim with her time of 54.26 seconds.

Spain Park sophomore Corey Holmes finished fourth overall in individual standings in the boys’ 50-yard freestyle event with his time of 21.45 seconds. Holmes also came in fourth overall in individual standings in the boys’ 100-yard backstroke swim with his time of 53.61 seconds.

The Jaguars’ Maddie Wohlfarth, a freshman at Spain Park, came in fourth overall in individual standings in the girls’ 100-yard butterfly event with her time of 59.92 seconds.

The Spain Park girls’ 200-yard freestyle relay team finished fifth overall with its time of 1:42.61. The Jaguars’ 400-yard freestyle relay team came in fifth overall with its time of 3:46.40.