On Friday and Saturday, February 10-11 the Baylor School claimed the combined 2023 TISCA State Swimming & Diving Championship for the 18th consecutive year. The Baylor boys finished second in a very tight battle with the McCallie School which came down to the last relay of the meet. The Baylor School girls finished in sixth place overall in the team scores. The two-day competition featured the best high school swimmers & divers from all over the state of Tennessee. Over 1200 athletes participated in the competition which was held at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
The Baylor School had some fantastic swims over the two-day competition. On the boys side, none were better than the performances from the relays. Both the 200-yard Medley Relay and 400-yard freestyle relays came away with state titles. The boys 200-yard Medley Relay of Drew Hitchcock, Will Taylor, Josean Massucco, and Sam Flack swam to a NISCA Automatic All-American time of 1:30.96. The same quartet (Hitchcock, Massucco, Flack, and Taylor) blasted 3:01.29 in the 400-yard free relay in an Automatic All-American time. The Baylor School boys also finished second in the 200-yard freestyle relay (Flynn Watson-Brown, Alex Brann, Felix Vicknair, and Luke Waldrep) swimming to an All- American Consideration time of 1:24.60.
The Baylor School put up some really outstanding individual performances. Sophomore Drew Hitchcock swam to a first-place finish and a TISCA State record in the 200-yard IM. His time of 1:46.22 broke the previous standard held by former Baylor School and University of Tennessee Volunteer Sam McHugh which was set back in 2014. Hitchcock also took second place overall in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 47.13 which was another Automatic All-American time. Seniors Josean Massucco and Sam Flack raced to a one-two finish in the 200-yard freestyle. Massucco won the TISCA State title in an Automatic All-American time of 1:37.87. Teammate Sam Flack claimed silver finishing just behind Massucco in an All-American time of 1:38.12. Sam Flack came up golden in the Boys 500-yard freestyle and swam to an Automatic All-American time of 4:25.30. Josean Massucco came away with fourth (4:28.77), and sophomore Luke Waldrep claimed fifth (4:31.79) in the 500-yard freestyle to score big points for the Baylor School in that event. Senior Will Taylor posted some big-time swims finishing fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke. His time of 56.71 in the 100 breaststroke is a NISCA All-American Consideration time.
The girls were led by sophomore diver Claire Ellish. She came away with the TISCA State title in the 1-meter diving event posting a score of 379.80. The Girls 200-yard Medley Relay of Peighton Skeate, Charlotte Murphree, Ellie Lydon, and Caroline Schenck took fourth overall in the event in a time of 1:46.18.
Representing Signal Mountain, Baylor Swim Club athlete Avery May had an impressive meet. She came away with the TISCA State title in the girls 500-yard freestyle posting a time of 4:58.67. She also finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke swimming a time of 1:04.42.
Team Scores
Combined Team Scores |
Girls Team Scores |
Boys Team Scores |
| 1. Baylor School 496 |
1. Ensworth School 242 |
1. McCallie School 352 |
| 2. Ensworth School 281 |
2. Girls Preparatory School 204.5 |
2. Baylor School 343 |
| 3. Brentwood High School 256.50 |
3. Ravenwood High School 184 |
3. Montgomery Bell 222 |
| 4. Ravenwood High School 243 |
4. Harpeth Hall 172.5 |
4. Brentwood High School 159 |
| 5. Farragut High School 197 |
5. Father Ryan High School 155 |
5. Memphis University School 96 |
| 6. Houston 180 |
6. Baylor School 153 |
6. Hardin Valley Academy 92 |
Other Baylor School / Baylor Swim Club Top 16 Finishers
Girls
Monroe Chittum (8th-100 BR) | Marley Degenhardt (15th-100 BR) | Charlotte Dillmon (12th-100 BK) | Claire Ellish (1st- 1-meter diving) | Hannah Laramore- Signal Mountain (14th-100 BR) | Ellie Lydon (8th-200 IM, 9th-100 FLY) | Avery May- Signal Mtn (1st-500 FR, 4th-100 BR) | Ava McCoy (16th-100 BR) | Charlotte Murphree (7th-100 BR, 16th-200 IM) | Caroline Schenck (6th-100 BR, 15th-100 FR) | Peighton Skeate (8th-500 FR, 11th- 200 FR) |
Boys
Brandon Adkins (8th-500 FR, 10th-100 BK) | Alex Brann (8th-200 FR, 10th-100 FR) | Sam Flack (1st-500 FR, 2nd-200 FR) | Drew Hitchcock (1st- 200 IM, 2nd-100 FLY) | Josean Massucco (1st- 200 FR, 4th-500 FR) | Maddox May- Signal Mountain (11th-500 FR) | Cullen Roberts (13th-100 BK) | 15th-100 FLY) | Will Taylor (4th-50 FR, 5th-100 BR) | Felix Vicknair (5th-100 FLY, 14th-100 FR) | Luke Waldrep (5th-500 FR, 6th-200 IM) | Flynn Watson-Brown (12th-50 FR)