by Mike Stirling
In their final meet of 2020, Tri-Valley swimmers hosted talented swim squads from Athens, Barnesville, Federal Hocking and Lakewood at the Muskingum County FY on December 19, 2020. Scottie athletes performed well and finished just behind the Athens team.
In the individual events, Senior Clare Waggle touched the pads first to capture the Girls 50 Free followed by teammate Seryna Mann in third. Other finishers for Tri-Valley were Katie Davis, Avery Dunn, Chloe Berry and Annika Lindsey. On the boys side, Hansel Holmes captured third place in the Boys 50 followed by Schawn McDonald and Arpen Parekh.
Larissa Lynch won the Girls 100 Free as teammates Emma Pratt, Abri Mallett came in second and third with Emma Lewis, Mia Fuhriman, Rhiannon Shaw, Anna Thomas and Annika Lindsey following. Mason McDaniel finished third for the Scottie boys followed by Ethan Ankrom, Gabe Lentz and Jonathan Barker.
Girls 200 Yard Free was captured by Senior Larissa Lynch as teammate Alex Dale finished fourth followed by Emma Pratt and Jesi Fuhriman. Blaine Cox was the top finisher for the boys in the 200 Free as he touched the wall in fourth place followed by Gabe Lentz.
Clare Waggle captured the Girls 500 Free with teammate Seryna Mann close behind in third followed by Sophomore Katie Davis. Hansel Holmes was the only entrant for the boys squad where he finished second.
As usual, Tri-Valley relay teams performed well. Alex Dale, Clare Waggle, Larissa Lynch and Seryna Mann swam a strong 200 Yard Medley Relay race to finish in second place just ahead of teammates Emma Pratt, Mazie Mallett, Emma Lewis and Mia Fuhriman who finished in the third spot. On the Scotty boys side, Mason McDaniel, Cyrus Dittmar, Hansel Holmes and Ethan Ankrom captured the top place followed by teammates Gabe Lentz, Arpen Parekh,, Schawn McDonald and Jonathan Barker.
Three relay teams represented the Scotties Girls in the 200 Free Relay. Second place finishers were Abri Mallett, Mia Fuhriman, Jesi Fuhriman and Larissa Lynch. A squad of all sophomores came in fourth place and was made up of Emma Lewis, Avery Dunn, Katie Davis and Emma Pratt. The third team of Anna Thomas, Annika Lindsey, Chloe Berry and Rhiannon Shaw followed and demonstrated the depth of the girls team.
One relay team swam for Tri-Valley boys in the 200 Yard Free Relay. The team of Blane Cox, Jonathan Barker, Ethan Ankrom and Cyrus Dittmar finished in second place in the event.
To cap the relays, Seryna Mann, Alex Dale, Abri Mallett and Clare Waggle swam the Girls 400 Yard Free Relay and finished in first place just ahead of teammates Jesi Fuhriman, Rhiannon Shaw, Avery Dunn and Mazie Mallet. For the boys, Mason McDaniel, Schawn McDonald, Blaine Cox and Hansel Holmes were second place finishers.
Specialty events for the girls included the 200 IM which saw Abri Mallett and Emma Lewis in almost a dead heat to finish third and fourth in the event (.08 apart). Mazie Mallett finished in third place in the 100 Yard Butterfly. Mazie Mallett returned to finish third in the 100 Breaststroke followed by Jesi Fuhriman. Last was the 100 Backstroke in which Alex Dale finished second with Mia Fuhriman and Avery Dunn coming in fourth
and fifth followed by Anna Thomas and Chloe Berry.
Boys results in the specialty events were highlighted by Cyrus Dittmar who finished second in the Boys 200 Yard IM. Teammate Blaine Cox finished fourth in the Boys 100 Yard Butterfly. Senior Mason McDaniel won the Boys 100 Yard Backstroke followed by Schawn McDonald and Jonathan Barker. Cyrus Dittmar wasn’t finished yet. In his final event the senior returned to capture first place in the Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke followed by teammates Arpen Parekh and Ethan Ankrom.
Although most students are on Christmas break, Tri-Valley swimmers continue to practice in preparation for the 2021 portion of the swim season which Coach Holmes expects to be very productive.