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For the third straight year, Lambert’s swimmers held aloft the two trophies honoring the county’s best.

Hosting the Forsyth County Championships at the Cumming Aquatic Center for the first time, the Longhorns boys and girls squads both took their respective titles by sizeable margins. The girls finished first, second or both in 10 of 13 events, and the boys’ depth — at least two top finishers in every race — ensured that “Lambert High School” remained the only inscription on the event’s current hardware.

“The kids just had an amazing spirit about them tonight,” Horns coach Brandi Kamp said. “They were really cheering each other on, and I think that’s the biggest thing. I keep telling the kids there’s a culture in swim where it’s about the individual, and when we start putting it together for a team, we’re not just making our best time to make our best time, we’re doing it for each other.”

The final boys and girls standings mirrored each other: West Forsyth second, North Forsyth third, South Forsyth fourth, Pinecrest fifth and Forsyth Central sixth. The Longhorns boys totaled 897.5 points to West’s 527, and Lambert’s girls tallied 784 to the Wolverines’ 630.

Three Lady Longhorns tied for first in points with 48. Megan Bestor won the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles, Aubrey Jones won the 200 free and 100 backstroke, and D-1 prospect Ellen Johnson took first in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.

Bestor and Johnson raced on the first-place 200 medley relay team with Ellie Sills and Amanda Ray, while Jones handled the first leg for the second-place squad in that event.  Jones was also part of Lambert’s first-place 400 free relay team with Kaitlin Sensenbrenner, Gentry Anderson and Ashley Mallon.

Johnson worked the last leg of that race for the Horns’ second-place squad. Bestor closed up shop on Lambert’s 200 free relay victory after Ray, Sensenbrenner and Sills gave her a healthy lead to work with.

The Lady Longhorns won every relay.

“It’s awesome,” Bestor said. “As a new school, we’re going out there and just dominating.”

Lambert had 40 state-qualifying times entering the meet and picked up several more Friday night. That number alone is rooted in the team’s sheer numbers advantage, which allowed the boys to win convincingly despite finishing first in just three events.

“You always swim faster when you have someone fast beside you or behind your heals that you know you don’t what to catch you,” Kamp said. “Because we have so many kids that are able to swim at high levels, they’re pushing to get to those higher relays or individual events that they might not otherwise be able to swim.”

Central’s Brandon Gross and North’s Ryan Mahoney were the top boy point-getters with 48 apiece. Gross won the 200 free and 100 free, and Mahoney took first in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.

Longhorn Scott Langley edged teammate Jackson Palmer in the 100 butterfly by .08 second — 56.19 to 56.27 — and teamed up with Tyler Webb, Brian Duffy and Brad Richards to claim first in the 200 free relay. Langley, David Mattingly, Duncan LeBlond and Duffy won the 400 free relay in 3:34.81.

David Barnes had the best night for West, finishing with 45 points and winning the 50 free in 22.51, finishing second in the 100 free and helping the Wolverines earn a first-place, 1:44.97 mark in the 200 medley relay with Cameron Van De Velde, Ocean Nickel and anchor Trevor White.

Barnes had already qualified for state in every individual event this season, but that didn’t stop him from giving it his all at a meet with so much meaning to its participants, he said.

“This was my whole coup de grace as a senior,” said Barnes, who set personal records in the 50 free and his split in the 400 free relay. “This just really topped it off for my last year.”

Madison Taylor, who plans to swim at either India University-Purdue University Indianapolis or North Florida, finished second in the girls 100 free and raced on West’s third-place 200 medley relay team.

Wolverines coach Asheley Franklin wasn’t at all disappointed with her teams’ runner-up finishes.

“I think we competed very well,” Franklin said. “I told my kids to go out and give 110 percent, and that’s what they did.”

North’s Kaylyn Thomas won the 500 free with a time of 5:20.59, and South swimmer Jake Brown’s 5:12.81 in the same event earned him first place as well. The War Eagles got one other victory when Blake Atmore finished first in the 100 backstroke, sneaking past Lambert’s Richards by .06 second (57.10).

Pinecrest participated in its first county meet. The Paladins’ 200 free relay squad of Andrew Wilborn, Sean Klooster, Christopher Birozes and Christian Marchione finished second behind Lambert, and Marchione was the 50 free runner-up.

During a break in the action, each senior swimmer was honored over the PA system. Mahoney and the North squad delivered a memorable performance during their turn, with the boys sporting Robin Hood-style hats with purple feathers and brandishing swords, while the girls wore tiaras.

But the Longhorns stole the show Friday night, further asserting their aquatic supremacy since the school opened in 2009.

Lambert’s girls finished sixth at last year’s state meet, where its 200 medley relay team came in fourth. Johnson, Bestor and Sills were on that relay team, and Johnson also took fourth in the 100 breaststroke. Kamp said she thinks the Lady Longhorns can place in the top three this time around.

The boys have yet to experience that high of a level of success, but with more making a commitment to spending time in the pool this year, Kamp said a top-15 state finish is within reach.

“The kids have been working really hard in practice,” the coach said. “They show up, and again, they just really push each other.”

And they don’t expect the run to end this year. While Langley and Johnson — a prospect eyed by the likes of Auburn, Vanderbilt and South Carolina — are seniors, the Horns return a host of underclassmen next year, including Bestor, Anderson, Sills, LeBlond, Mattingly, Richards and Palmer.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” assistant coach Fred Eggert said, smiling.