by Mike Stirling
Dover, Licking Valley, Granville, Mt Vernon and Fairfield provided some stiff competition for host Tri-Valley swimmers last Saturday at the MCFY in Zanesville. Scotties came out ahead of three of their competitors but fell short against Dover and Granville in combined scores.
Freestyle events began with the 50 Free as the boys sent Mason McDaniel, Nathan Sauerbrey, Gabe Lentz and Schawn McDonald to the blocks where McDaniel was the top Scottie finisher in seventh place. Senior Caroline Holmes captured first place for the girls followed by Alex Dale, Allie Norman, Katie Davis and Rhiannon Shaw.
Clare Waggle was the top finisher for the girls (seventh place) ahead of Emma Lewis, Rhiannon Shaw and Jade White in the 100 Free. Nathan Sauerbrey finished fifth for the Dawgs ahead of Bret Mohler in the boys event.
Next came the Girls 200 Free where Mariah Clark finished fifth followed by Emma Lewis and Macey Felumlee. Cyrus Dittmar captured third for the boys followed by Tracy Beale. Coming back to swim the 500 Yard Free, Marissa Sees finished fifth as she set a new personal best time in the marathon event. Alex Dale and Katie Davis came in seventh and eighth. Mason McDaniel dropped time in the boys 500 Free as he dropped 33 seconds from his previous best time in the 500.
Larissa Lynch nailed down second place in the Girls 200 Yard Individual Medley where she was joined by Scotties Seryna Mann and Emma Meadows. Senior Bret Mohler was the lone entry for the boys in the 200 IM.
Mariah Clark, Seryna Mann and Marissa Sees all swam the Girls 100 Butterfly where they finished fourth, sixth and eighth. Sophomore Blaine Cox swam the Boys 100 Butterfly for the first time. In the 100 Breaststroke, Larissa Lynch and Clare Waggle finished fourth and fifth followed by Macey Felumlee. For the boys, Cyrus Dittmar touched in third place followed by teammates Blaine Cox and Gabe Lentz.
To the surprise of no one, Caroline Holmes captured the Girls 100 Yard Backstroke by nearly five seconds and was joined by teammates Allie Norman and Jade White. Both Norman and White improved their previous times in the event. Schawn McDonald took fifth place for the boys team followed by Tracy Beale.
Always exciting, the 200 Yard Medley Relay did not disappoint. The boys squad of McDaniel, Dittmar, Sauerbrey and Cox finished third while the girls team of Holmes, Waggle, Lynch and Sees nailed down second place followed by the team of Felumlee, Lewis, Mann and Dale. Tri-Valley was also represented by the third team of White, Davis, Meadows and Norman.
Lynch, Clark, Waggle and Holmes impressed as they finished in second place in the Girls 200 Free Relay followed by a second team of Davis, Norman, Felumlee and Lewis. Boys top finisher in the event were Scotties McDaniel, Sauerbrey, Cox and Dittmar. Teammates Lentz, Beale, Mohler and McDonald completed the field for Tri-Valley.
Capping the evening, the girls squad of Mann, Dale, Sees and Clark finished fifth in the Girls 400 Yard Free Relay while the boys team of Mohler, Beale, Lentz and McDonald finished the meet for the boys.
While it is the Christmas break of the Tri-Valley students, Coach Holmes has scheduled regular practices and continues to work on swimmers skills as the team continues to improve.
