New Records Made at Ned Reeb Memorial Invitational

by Mike Stirling

Ohio State University’s McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion was the site for the 25th Annual Ned Reeb Memorial Invitational held Saturday, December 8.  Tri-Valley swimmers joined over 1,500 others from all across central Ohio to showcase their aquatic skills in the beautiful OSU facility.

Participants in the A-flight (the first portion of meet) had to meet qualifying time requirements in order to compete.  Tri-Valley qualified a total of five Lady Scotties to represent the Dresden based swimmers in this annual event.  The balance of the squad swam in the B-flight portion of the meet which took place in the afternoon.

In individual events, Junior Caroline Holmes was the top finisher for the Scotties as she placed 2nd in an exciting race in the Girls 100 Backstroke event.  Holmes also finished 7th in the Girls 200 Freestyle.  Also, in the top 20 finishers, Sophomore Larissa Lynch touched as number 16 in the Girls 100 Freestyle.

Tri-Valley’s entry in the Girls 400 Freestyle also broke into the top 20 as the team of Larissa Lynch, Mariah Clark, Clare Waggle and Caroline Holmes put together a very good relay to capture 17th place in the A-flight event. Overall, the Dresden based swimmers finished 18th out of 38 teams in the A-flight portion of the meet.

As a notable mention, Caroline Holmes established new Tri-Valley school records in both the 100 Backstroke as well as in the 200 Freestyle.

Moving to the B-flight portion of the meet, the Scotty’s were also well represented.  Senior swimmers Keegan Bumpus, Ben Jacoby, Eric Allen and Chad Bell combined to finish in 8th place in the Boys 200 Freestyle Relay.  In the Boys 200 Medley Relay, Mikal Blackstone combined with Allen, Bell and Bumpus to lock up 6th place overall.

Sophomore Clare Waggle was back in the water in the afternoon session to finish 6th in the Girls 500 Freestyle.  Teammate Chad Bell swam the Boys 200 Individual Medley where he finished 12th as well as finishing 13th in the Boys 100 Breaststroke.  Not to be outdone, Keegan Bumpus touched the pad in 13th place in both the Boys 200 Freestyle as well as the Boys 100 Butterfly. 

As the meet came to an end, Coach Christi Holmes was pleased with the efforts of the entire team.  Experience was gained and times were dropped as the swimmers took the next step in their overall progress.