Qualifying swimmers for the state meet was the goal for North Springs going into the 2012-13 season.

The Spartans have certainly been achieving that aim so far with a number of relay teams and individuals earning a spot in February’s Class A-AAAA championships at the Georgia Tech natatorium.

North Springs coach Julie Ferris is pleased with the performance of a Spartan squad that has missed a number of swimmers due to illness in the last few meets.

“We’ve done pretty well, considering that we’ve had a lot of kids sick and we’ve had to piecemeal together a lineup every meet, so we’re dealing with that,” Ferris said.

Senior Scott Berry and junior Morgan Plowman are the individual swimmers who have posted state qualifying times.

Berry earned his berths in the boys’ 200-yard individual medley (2 minutes, 6.37 seconds), 100 butterfly (53.42), 100 freestyle (50.03) and 100 backstroke (54.83).

Plowman’s qualifying marks have come in the girls’ 50 freestyle (25.00), 100 butterfly (1:02.04) and 100 freestyle (56.00).

North Springs has also earned state spots in five relay events — three girls and two boys.

Plowman, junior L.E. Laupus and seniors Cayla Robertson and Madison Demetry qualified in the girls’ 200 medley (2:03.93) and 400 freestyle (4:10.79) relays, along with the 200 freestyle relay team of Laupus, Robertson, Plowman and Elizabeth Gilbert (1:48.06).

The boys’ team qualified their 200 freestyle relay unit of Berry, junior Josh Stovall, senior Callum Lever and sophomore Justin Cohen (1:38.90) and the 200 medley relay quartet of Berry, junior Jackson Sanders, senior Will Rand and sophomore Sam Satterfield (1:50.80).

“That’s our goal, to qualify as many swimmers for state as we can,” Ferris said. “We’re not as deep as a lot of teams, so it’s hard for us to win meets. But, we have some talented swimmers who work hard to get better.”

North Springs went into the holiday break on a strong note with a fifth-place overall finish at the Wildcat Invitational in Adairsville Dec. 15.

The girls finished fourth, with Plowman winning the 50 freestyle (25.00) and teaming up with Demetry, Laupus and Robertson to take the 200 free relay (1:48.06)

The boys were fifth, with victories by Berry in the 100 backstroke (56.25), Lever in the 50 freestyle (25.02) and the 400 freestyle relay quartet of Sanders, Lever, Cohen and Berry (3:44.22).

North Springs returns to action at the Fulton County meet Jan. 12 at Marist.

For Ferris, competing against the likes of Class AAAAAA powerhouses Chattahoochee, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Northview, Centennial and Milton presents a big challenge for her team.

“It’s going to be a difficult meet for us to contend in,” Ferris said. “We’re going to be competing against a lot of AAAAAA schools who have a lot of year-round swimmers, since they’re closer to the swim clubs up there. We don’t have many year-round swimmers, so it’s hard to compete against those teams. But, we have some individual swimmers who can be competitive, so we’ll just do the best we can.”