Gwinnett Daily Post

Staff Photo: John Bohn Rachael Dudley of Mill Creek competes in the girls 100 yard backstroke during the Gwinnett County swimming championships are held Saturday in Norcross. Dudley set a county meed record in winning this event.

NORCROSS -- With two events left Saturday night, the girls team title hung in the balance.

At the time, Brookwood had 771.5 points. So did Mill Creek.

That's how tight the two girls swimming and diving teams were with the Gwinnett County championship on the line, but it was Brookwood that delivered in the meet's finish for a repeat victory at the West Gwinnett Aquatic Center.

It was the Broncos' 11th county title in the last 13 years. They finished with 987.5 points to runner-up Mill Creek's 921.5.

"It was close," Brookwood coach Greg Puckett said. "It's always exciting. The whole county championship is exciting. There's such tremendous talent and competition in Gwinnett."

Brookwood sealed the title with a victory in the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay, thanks to a huge finish from Rachel Muller on the anchor leg. The junior swam her 100 free portion in 50.58 seconds to rally her foursome, which trailed Mill Creek and Peachtree Ridge when she dove off the blocks.

It was a great night overall by Muller, who also erased some substantial names from the record book in her individual events.

She won the 200 free in 1:48.51, bettering a 2008 meet record of North Gwinnett's Caroline Kenney, Muller also won the 500 free in a county-meet record time of 4:53.08, beating the old mark shared by Olympian Amanda Weir of Brookwood and Sommers Creed of Mill Creek.

"(Muller) broke the records of some outstanding swimmers in her individual events and anchored the 400 free relay with a time of 50.58 seconds," Puckett said. "That's a good time for a boy. It's phenomenal for a girl."

Brookwood's Kelsey Gouge won the fourth individual county title of her career by taking first in the 100 free (51.06) and also was a close runner-up in the 50 free to Archer's Lydia Jones (23.72 to Gouge's 23.78).

Jones also was second in the 100 butterfly. Anna Jahns (third in 200 free, fourth in 500 free) also chipped in big points for the Broncos.

Mill Creek's star was Rachael Dudley.

The Navy-bound senior won the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.61, topping her own county-meet record from last season. She added a second victory, and second county-meet record, with a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke, where her 55.89 bettered the 2009 record of Brookwood's Jana Mangimelli.

Dudley finishes her career with seven individual county championships out of a possible eight.

North Gwinnett's Allison Carr reigned in the 100 breaststroke once again with her third straight county title. Her winning time was 1:04.16.

Peachtree Ridge's Carrington BeVier won in 2:05.98, edging out defending champ Frederique Lefebvre (also the 500 free runner-up) of Mill Creek.

The Parkview girls won a pair of relays, taking first in both the 200 medley (1:48.58) and the 200 freestyle (1:38.29). The Panthers' huge relay points led to a third-place finish with 852 points.

"My proudest moment of the meet may have been the girls taking two of the three relays," said Parkview coach Jack Gayle, whose boys team won the meet. "Nobody saw that coming tonight."

Peachtree Ridge (680) and Collins Hill (619) rounded out the top five.