by Mike Stirling
Tri-Valley swimmers, once again, hosted high school swim teams from around the Columbus area and invited six neighboring squads to test their skills at the Muskingum Recreational Center (MRC) last Monday evening.
As the meet came to a close, the Scotties had recorded an overall combined win for the meet as well as individual wins against all six of their competitors which included Union Local, Bloom-Carroll, River View, Barnsville, Licking Valley and Columbus Hamilton.
In head-to-head competition (Tri-Valley against each school individually) the Dawgs boys team racked up a total of 61 first place finishes, 50 seconds and 43 thirds. On the girls side, they were also very impressive as they amassed a total of 53 first place finishes, 36 seconds as well as 43 thirds. A very productive evening for the Scotties when you consider that the Tri-Valley swimmers technically swam a total of eleven events against each of their six competitors.
Overall, the girls were once again let by Caroline Holmes, Clare Waggle, Mariah Clark and Marissa Sees as the speedy foursome captured the girls 200 Medley Relay and established a new personal best time in the process. A second girls relay team of Caitlynn Wriston, Star Jacobs, Kayley Harper and Allie Noman also dropped nearly 14 seconds in the same event. Waggle and Sees were joined by Seryna Mann and Larissa Lynch as they touched first in the 200 Free Relay followed by the team of Wriston, Norman, Harper and Jacobs and a third team of Emma Robinson, Rhiannon Shaw, Macy Felumlee and Eve Davis who established a new best time.
To kick-off the meet for the boys squad, the team of Mikal Blackstone, Chad Bell, Keegan Bumpus and Mason McDaniel dropped eight seconds as they set the tone for the Dawgs and won the boys 200 Medley Relay followed by the team of Will Kline, Sean Lacy, Jacob Merry and Blaine Cox. This second squad also managed to drop nearly 20 seconds in spite of the fact that Freshman Cox preceded his swim by “pounding” 3 hotdogs. Who knows, without the “dogs” they may have set a new Tri-Valley school record.
In the boys 200 Free Relay, Seniors Benjamin Jacoby, Mikal Blackstone, Chad Bell and Eric Allen continued to chase a school record but came up short of the record in spite of their first place finish in the event. A second team of Will Kline, Nathan Sauerbrey, Brady Jacob-Bell and Cyrus Dittmar also swam the relay and were followed by a third team of Jacob Merry, Tracy Beale, Sean Lacy and Blaine Cox.
Eric Allen and Clare Waggle represented TV in their respective 50 Free events and each finished first. Allen was followed by Blackstone who dropped time and Waggle, who dropped time, was followed by teammates Wriston and Norman. Allen returned to swim the 100 Free where he and teammate Ben Jacoby finished an exciting first and third place about .50 apart followed by Jacob Merry. Marissa Sees finished fourth for the girls in the 100 Free followed by Star Jacobs and Allie Norman. Norman dropped time in her effort.
Junior Mariah Clark proved to be about 1.5 seconds faster than her competition as she won the girls 200 Free followed by Marissa Sees and Eve Davis while Ben Jacoby finished third in the boys 200 Free and dropped .37 seconds for a new personal best time. Mason McDaniel was the second Scotty to touch.
Some familiar names took the blocks in the 500 Free. Clare Waggle followed by Seryna Mann and Macey Felumlee represented the girls. Waggle notched another first place while Keegan Bumpus finished first for the boys followed by Jacobs-Bell and Cox. Cox had another personal best.
Individual Medley events are always exciting. A swimmer must be proficient in all four strokes to be competitive. Tri-Valley has two swimmers who are always competitive. For the girls, Caroline Holmes is a standout. Once again she swam very well and finished in first place by 32 seconds and was followed by teammates Mann and Shaw both of whom dropped time. On the boys side, Chad Bell was the first place finisher by about 6 seconds and was followed by Will Kline and Jacobs-Bell. Chad Bell’s time was a new personal best.
Larissa Lynch was the first place finisher for the girls in the 100 Butterfly with a new personal best time followed by Mariah Clark and Kayley Harper. Nathan Sauerbrey and Cyrus Dittmar finished 3rd and 4th respectively in the boys 100 Butterfly. Sauerbrey dropped time in this event.
Caroline Holmes returned to outdistance all swimmers in the 100 Backstroke by about 7 seconds and setting the pace for teammates Wriston, Davis and Robinson. All the latter three dropped time in their swims. Keegan Bumpus dropped time in his 100 Back as he finished in second place followed by Blackstone and Kline.
In the last of the specialty events, the 100 Breaststroke, Sophomore Larissa Lynch finished third for the Scotty girls followed by Jacobs, Harper and Felumlee. Harpers time was a new personal best for her. Taking the blocks for the Dawgs was Senior Chad Bell where he bested the second place swimmer by about 4 seconds to capture another first for the Scotties. He was followed by Dittmar and Lacy.
To cap the meet, the girls 400 Free Relay ran away to capture first place by over 30 seconds as Clark, Mann, Lynch and Holmes put together a very impressive effort. For the boys, Bumpus, Dittmar, Jacoby and Allen were able to capture first place by about 1.5 seconds over a strong team from River View High School.
When the meet had ended, Coach Holmes was pleased and impressed with the efforts of the Scotty swimmers and their ability to establish new personal best times.
