The Oxford Swim team continues to make progress. Over the past five seasons, the Chargers have steadily increased their point total at the MHSAA state championships. In 2014 they accumulated 31 points. This year they garnered 104 points for a podium finish, taking third place overall in the Class II state meet at the Tupelo Aquatic Center on Saturday.

A pair of fourth place finishes from both the boys’ and girls’ teams helped secure the Top-3 result, finishing behind Madison Central and Tupelo.

The Lady Chargers used three runner-up finishes to record 62 points in the girls’ meet. Madison Central’s girls won with 156 points, Ocean Springs placed second with 67 and Tupelo placed third with 66.

In both the girls’ 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays, Oxford finished second with times of 1 minute, 42.76 seconds and 3:46.76, respectively. They narrowly missed the podium in the 200-yard medley relay with a fourth place finish (1:57.71).

Julia Dennis gave Oxford their best result in the individual events. Dennis placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.20 seconds.

Lucy Chiniche placed fifth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 56.49 and Kate Byars placed seventh (57.25).

The Oxford boys two podium finishes to help them pick up 42 points. Tupelo won another boys’ state championship with 101 points, Madison Central finished second (90) and Biloxi came in third (50).

In the 200-yard medley and freestyle relays, Oxford finished second with times of 1:47.54 and 1:34.44, respectively. The Chargers placed fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:30.12).

Charles Byars and Will Carrington tied for the best individual finish for the Chargers. Byars placed 6th in the 100-yard backstroke (59.28) and Carrington placed sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:04.00). Neil Cipkowski placed seventh in the 100-yard freestyle (51.73).