Tallulah Falls’ Madison Dampier almost missed her race Saturday at the state championships.
But she was ready when it was time to jump in, and she powered her way to a state championship in the 100 butterfly in 56.60 seconds.
“I almost missed the race and I was a little freaked out,” Dampier said Monday. “But I got my goggles on and they said to take your mark. I got in the water and just went for it, and when I hit the wall, I thought ‘Oh my gosh, what just happened?’”
Dampier also capped her incredible sophomore year with a state runner-up finish in the 200 individual medley. She set school records in both races, with a 2:08.54 in the IM finals.
“When I came into the meet, I thought I had a chance to win both events,” Dampier said.
The Ocala, Fla., native moved to Tiger two years ago and was swimming with her older sister Montgomery until this year, when the 2022 senior went on to swim at Georgia Southern University.
“She texted me congratulations and was really excited for me,” Dampier said.
Dampier joins the 2022 TFS volleyball team as state champions this year and has plenty of time to add to her trophy case over the next two years.
The Lady Indians finished eighth place overall in the state as a team.
The 400 freestyle relay girls squad was fifth, and the 200 medley relay for girls was sixth. Mattie Patterson earned a 10th-place finish in the 100 freestyle.
For the boys, their 200 medley relay (8th), 200 freestyle relay (10th), and 400 freestyle relay (7th) all posted top-10 finishes as well. The boys tallied 100 points to come in 12th as a team.
Final times
Girls
200 Medley Relay (Carsyn Griffis, Madison Dampier, Mattie Patterson, Emma Jackson)
8th in Prelims 2:01.87; 6th in Finals 2:01.62;
200 IM Madison Dampier
2nd in Prelims 2:09.15; 2nd in Finals 2:08.54;
200 IM Mattie Patterson
9th in Prelims 2:26.23; DQ in Finals 2:27.50;
100 Fly Madison Dampier
1st in Prelims 57.85; 1st in Finals 56.68;
100 Free Mattie Patterson
10th in Prelims 58.06; 10th in Finals 58.51;
200 Free Relay (Layne Kafsky, Molly Rickman, Emma Jackson, Carsyn Griffis)
DQ in Prelims (early start) 1:53.83;
400 Free Relay (Mattie Patterson, Molly Rickman, Carsyn Griffis, Madison Dampier)
3rd in Prelims 3:58.99; 5th in Finals 3:51.98.
Boys
200 Medley Relay (Emery Sims, Nelson Wilkinson, Henry Rickman, Grayson Penland)
8th in Prelims 1:47.43; 8th in Finals 1:47.08;
50 Free Nelson Wilkinson
15th in Prelims 24.05; 13th in Finals 23.37;
200 Free Relay (Grayson Penland, Henry Rickman, Emery Sims, Nelson Wilkinson)
9th in Prelims 1:36.40; 10th in Finals 1:37.80;
100 Back Emery Sims
14th in Prelims 59.01; 17th in Finals 1:00.22;
400 Free Relay (Grayson Penland, Henry Rickman, Emery Sims, Nelson Wilkinson)
7th in Prelims 3:33.07; 7th in Finals 3:29.49.
Tallulah Falls’ Brian Carter and The Northeast Georgian editor Matthew Osborne contributed to this report.