DALTON, Ga. -- The Dalton Dolphins took a road trip to Signal Mountain on June 12 and headed back to Whitfield County with an impressive 30-point win over the Green Giants.
The Dolphins proved that earlier result wasn't a fluke as these same two teams meet Monday afternoon here at the Dalton Recreation Park.
It wasn't nearly as close the second time as the Dolphins dominated from start to finish, improving to 6-0 in the Chattanooga Area Swim League's Blue Division with the impressive and lopsided 448-316 victory.
The Green Giants concluded their regular season at 6-2 while Dalton travels to Stuart Heights next Monday before finishing the regular season at Ooltewah on Thursday, July 10 where they will conclude the meet that was suspended by storms on June 5. The Tidal Waves had a seven-point lead before the break.
Signal Mountain was leading Cleveland by 137-80 on June 5, but it will not be made up as Cleveland elected to let that be the final score and chose to not make the return trip to Signal Mountain.
But on a night when both teams were a little tired from a big weekend meet at Auburn and when the Green Giants were missing a host of normal high-point scorers, this meet was never in doubt.
Dalton raced to a 66-44 lead after the 10 freestyle races and it only got worse from that point on. The difference was 246-182 at the mid-meet break before the Dolphins enjoyed their biggest advantage with a 71-39 difference in the backstroke.
Both coaches were aware of the situation long before the meet started, so they were both more relaxed than normal as they let the meet just run its course.
"This isn't the score I'd like to see, but we have a lot of kids on the blocks tonight who are not regulars," said Signal Mountain coach Stephanie Cohen while the freestyle relays were taking place.
"I knew we'd be missing a lot of good kids tonight, but this is a great chance for some of the others to step up and get some valuable experience. I appreciate them as all I was asking for was their best effort. I got it across the board.
"But give a lot of credit to Dalton as they have a fantastic team. Now we just have to focus on getting ready for the City Meet," she concluded, knowing that her team will be right in the thick of the race as hey defend their title at Warner Park on July 11-12.
Dalton coach Charles Todd didn't get back home until the middle of the afternoon. Early morning showers cancelled most of the Dolphins practice, but they were more than ready when the first race began.
"I know that some of my kids are tired from a long weekend, but I'm really pleased with how we swam tonight," he began while talking to some Dalton parents.
"We really put the hammer down in some of the relays, but I feel like we made a statement tonight. It seems like we've been winning most of the dual meets with them for the last five or six years, but they always come back to win the City meet. I'm just hoping that we respond in a positive way as we get ready for it.
"This is a fun summer league, but there are a lot of highly-competitive swimmers. The key for us tonight was depth and numbers as we had both quality and quantity. We didn't have a single hole in our lineup.
"We try to gear up for our meets with Signal, but we're normally pretty tough at home. And I know that they are missing a bunch of their best kids, so that final score is really misleading," Todd nodded.
Alexander Withrow, Payton Woodring, Roman Valdez, Ross Valdez and Ethan Young all scored the maximum 19 points for the victorious Dalton team.
Jewel Gordon, Laken Coppinger and Maggie Stovall all had 19 for the Green Giants.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Jewel Gordon, Laken Coppinger, Maggie Stovall
15 -- Stephanie Xian, Susanna LaRochelle
13 -- Jess Vargo
12 -- Ellie Mitchum
11 -- Jamee Mitchum, William Trombley
10 -- Maggie Boggs.
DALTON HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Alexander Withrow, Payton Woodring, Roman Valdez, Ross Valdez, Ethan Young
17 -- Alex Mashburn
16 -- Raul Valdez
15 -- Will Haley
14 -- Alexis Vaughn, Reese Bingham, Carlin Hudson, Tyler Stephenson, Tanner Storey
13 -- Lucien Chenard
12 -- Franco Valdez, Andrea Arriiola, Bruno Valdez, Shawn Bailey, Henry Bethel, Hannah Smith
11 -- Abby O'Ferrall, Oscar Chenard
10 -- Gracison Saylors, Ava Whited, Kaylin Woodring, Mary Pike.
STUART HEIGHTS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Emmaline Goldberg
18 -- April Forsthoffer
17 -- Gwennie Davis, Jon Pat Ransom, Sam Rutledge
14 -- Mary Katheryne Shumaker, Dennis Sohn
13 -- Missy Karman
12 -- Alex Smith, Chris Butler, Noah Dzik
11 -- Amelia Bustamante, Brayden Walker, Luke Cockerham, Cooper Lehman, Sam Raiford
10 -- Max Ransom
OOLTEWAH HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Leah Boyd, Ellie Waldrep, Peter Dyr, Joby Nash
17 -- Brighton Smith, Jacob Kiemeyer, Aidan Sims, Reid Wilson
16 -- Luke Waldrep
15 -- Avery Wilson, Emma Scruggs
14 -- Haley Grider
13 -- Kenzie Campbell
12 -- Jillian Cantrell, Cameron Martin
11 -- Jonathan Boyd
10 -- Julia Dergunov, Garet Gipson.
RIDGESIDE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Sophia Albarakat, Harold Danks III, Adams Robinson
17 -- Jack Fitzsimmons
16 -- Madison Tumblin, Finnegan Fitzsimmons
15 -- Janelle Wigal, Jane Anne Haywood
13 -- Joseph Danks
12 -- Kathryn Zeglen, Maxwell Wiley, Rowan Fitzsimmons, Max Milam
11 -- Noah Akins
10 -- Sarah Barringer, Aidan Parks, Thomas Sell, Taylor Clarke.
BIG RIDGE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Alyssa Slater, Julia Quernemoen
17 -- Aiden Shaw
16 -- Robert Alford
15 -- Emily Thomson, Abbey Vernon, Amelia Hunt, Evan Simpson
12 -- Catherine Alford
11 -- Reagan Bullington, Caleb Sievers
10 -- Molly Calhoun, Alana Ratchford, Ava Bourn, Christopher Tate.
RINGGOLD HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Regan Wingrove, Sarah Beth Moore, Emma Pulliam, Easton Odonnell, Jon Lancaster
17 -- Tori Rhinehart, Will Gurley, Evan Wingrove, Gabriel Johnson
15 -- Saulye Nichols, Dylan Browning
14 -- Isabella Sweat, Evan Moeller, Owen Eastman
13 -- Pierce Lively
12 -- Julia Striker, Alex Van Alstine, Jacob Stanley, Kale Davis
11 -- Will Riddell
10 -- Rylee Odonnell.
RED BANK HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Dallas Woods
17 -- Amelia Harris
15 -- Luke Massey
14 -- Bri Rabon, Catherine Lynch
13 -- Michaela Massey, Chase Garner
12 -- Linsy Devlin, Macie Meyners.
11 -- Kate Schlegel.
CALHOUN HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Kailey Klingbeil, Bryant Mathis, Cal Parker, Micah Klingbeil, Alice Workman
17 -- Cecilia Swine, Cassandra Workman, Kathryn Russell, Bryn Anderson, Daniel Sullivan, Jacob Tolson
16 -- Brandon Webb, Luke Driscoll
15 -- Emily Driscoll, Ethan Sullivan
14 -- Bryce Bates
12 -- Laney Holsomback, Joshua Tolson, Cody Workman
11 -- Caitlyn Clardy, Reese Hood, Ryan Hood, Micah Fromm
10 -- Katherine Sullivan.
CUMBERLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Abi Austin
16 -- Lauren Alexander
15 -- Essie Morris, Liam Carpenter
14 -- Emma Pack
10 -- Brendan Greene
FAIRYLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Frances Bohner, Simon Parker, Benjamin Bevill, Andrew Horne, Ethan Bevill
17 -- Mary Margaret, Carley Braman, Ellie Taliaferro, David Horne, Colmore Hurst, Dean Magat
15 -- Kylie Eiselstein, Gabriel McBryar
14 -- Madeleine Frierson
13 -- Natalie Lopez-Durel
12 -- Kristen Myers, Anna Ward, Ryan Chalverus
11 -- Katherine Ward
10 -- Caroline Barnes, Anne Dassow.
WATERDOGS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Tanya Sharma
15 -- Brian Lineberry
14 -- Brendon Ruckman
13 -- David Hunt
12 -- Davina Sharma
11 -- Mark Moshensky.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)