Trinity’s swimming and diving team placed fifth in the state meet on Feb.14 at U of L’s Ralph Wright Natatorium. For the 21st consecutive time, St. Xavier won the meet. They edged Covington Catholic 229.5 to 215.5. The meet was close throughout, as Beechwood placed third (184), followed by Paul Dunbar (180) and the Rocks (179). The Rocks were led by senior Patrick Kemme, who amassed 69 points and three All-American Automatic times for the Rocks through his relay and two individual performances, including a state championship in the 100 breaststroke. Favored to win in the 200 freestyle, Kemme was edged by Henry Clay’s Nick Wrightson by .11 second. Kemme’s time of 1:41.44 was still a school record. About two hours later Kemme returned to the pool in the 100-yard breaststroke with teammate Rick Stewart. This time Kemme was supposed to be in a dogfight for second. He won. In one of the most exciting races of the meet, Kemme out-touched Male junior Devan Terry (57.24 to 57.31). The time was good for another school record. Stewart placed fourth in the race (59.26). “I was a bit disheartened after the first race. I went out and proved it the second time around,” said Kemme, who leaves Trinity with five school records. He is leaning towards swimming for the University of Kentucky next year. Attention shifted towards 1-meter diving midway through the meet. Trinity’s standout junior Andrew Galvani closed with a sequence of solid dives to land in second place for the third straight year. “There were some good dives,” Galvani said. “Individually, I could have fared a little better on some dives, but overall I’m happy with how things went.” Manual senior Kasey Allen (482) has beaten Galvani (444.15) all three years, so Galvani looks forward to next year when he’s finally gone. “I look at my diving and say to myself, I’m not the same diver I was. I’ve improved a lot,” Galvani said. The Rocks’ 200 medley relay team also placed, finishing third. John Kinney, Stewart, Kemme and Matt Frank swam the relay. “We had some ups and downs,” said Trinity head coach Kelly Horrell, who was assisted by coaches Scott Paulson and Wayne Kraus. The Rocks suffered a major blow during Friday’s preliminaries when their 200 freestyle relay team was disqualified due to a false start. Nevertheless, the Rocks began the meet hot. “We’ve had four events and four school records so far,” Horrell said. First up was the 200 medley relay. The foursome swam an All-American Automatic time of 1:36.63. From there the Rocks broke off into their individual races. A plethora of strong performances took place throughout the day, including the 500 freestyle performance by Nate Bond, only a freshman, who took fifth place. “He’s a future All-American,” Horrell said. Horrell praised the team and its commitment throughout the season. “We swam as well as we could swim,” he said. “When kids are swimming their best times ever, that’s all you can ask for.”