THOMASVILLE – Thomas County Central’s boys swim team went toe-to-toe with the best squads in the state at Georgia Tech this past weekend. It proved it belonged.

The boys relay team of Johnny Bradshaw, Cabe Parker, Lucas Miller and Nick Pierce competed in the 200-yard freestyle relay race on Friday and finished with a time of 1:37.15. It finished in 21st place among the best Class 5-A schools in the state.

Pierce also competed in the 100-yard freestyle race and finished with a personal best time of 50.05, earning a 21st finish. Pierce also competed in the 500-yard freestyle race and finished with a blistering time of 5:13.05. He locked up a top-15 position and advanced to the finals on Saturday.

In the finals, Pierce achieved another personal best time in the 500-yard freestyle, dropping his time to 4:59.82. Pierce’s performance ranked as the 11th fastest time among the state’s swimmers.

Central’s boys ranked No. 31 among the state’s swim teams.

“The athletes gave it everything they had in the pool this weekend,” Central coach Ashley Lanatta said. “Their dedication, hard work and resilience showed in every race. I couldn’t be more prouder of their performances and the way they represented Thomas County Central at the state level.”