Ringgold's James Stowers competes in the 9-10 year old butterfly event. Stowers picked up 10 points for his team as they picked up their first win for new coach Jackson barker.
photo by Dennis Norwood
RINGGOLD, Ga. -- Jackson Barker will probably never enjoy a summer swim league victory any more than the one he experienced here Thursday night.
Barker had served as an assistant coach for the Ringgold Tigersharks in the last two years before being promoted to the head coaching job this summer.
The host Tigersharks picked up their first win of the season and the first for Barker's short coaching career against the Country Club Wavemakers. The final score wasn't close as the Tigersharks prevailed by a 429.5-355.5 final score.
What makes Thursday's win even sweeter for the 20-year-old rising junior at Dalton State is that it came against his former high school coach, McCallie's Stan Corcoran.
But on a day when the skies were mostly clear and the temperatures hot, Ringgold led from the first race until the last as the Tigersharks evened their record at 1-1.
The Wavemakers are now 1-2.
"It went well for us tonight as we had a lot of kids posting their best times. That's a good feeling this early in the season," Barker said as the last freestyle relay race was concluding.
"We've been working hard on our technique trying to get things perfect and I saw a lot of improvement. We also had several individual records broken and that was nice as well. We'll definitely keep working on starts and finishes, but it was definitely a good meet for us.
"And it's really nice to get my first coaching win against the guy who coached me in high school," he concluded with a smile about the time Corcoran walked past and offered his congratulations.
Ringgold never trailed in the meet, leading by a 79-52 margin after the opening freestyle races. The difference was 49 points after the breaststroke while the advantage stretched to 60 after the individual medley before the Wavemakers rallied in the backstroke and butterfly events.
The Tigersharks put an exclamation point on the meet in the free relays as a 54-point lead was extended to the final of 73.
"We have about 100 kids on the team this year and most were here tonight, but we're always competing with travel and vacations," said Corcoran after his team's shortest road trip.
"Even with missing kids, we're still filling out a lineup and we've had trouble doing that in the past, but the kids have had a lot of fun and that's what it's all about. We made a lot of mistakes that we need to cut down on, but Ringgold was just a little better than we were tonight," he continued.
"That kid right there was in swim lessons this time last year, but he won the fly and he's the anchor on a winning relay. We have a bunch who have never swam competitively before, so it's fun watching them improve. I'm sure we'll get better as we go along," Corcoran smiled.
Regan Wingrove was the leading scorer for Ringgold with 19 points while Kale Davis was next with 18.
Saulye Nichols, Jon Lancaster, Easton Odonnell and Gabriel Johnson all contributed 14 points apiece to the winning effort.
CeCe Turner, Lisa Yates and Abigail Markey all had 17 points for Country Club while Margaret Ann Hudson was next with 15.
The Wavemakers will travel to Calhoun on Monday while Ringgold is off on Monday before hosting Calhoun on Thursday.
COUNTRY CLUB HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
17 -- CeCe Turner, Lisa Yates, Abigail Markey
15 -- Margaret Ann Hudson
13 -- Emelia Richey
12 -- Vivian Vetzel
10 -- Lee Schemel, Allison Royal.
RINGGOLD HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Regan Wingrove
18 -- Kale Davis
17 -- Saulye Nichols, Jon Lancaster, Easton Odonnell, Gabriel Johnson
14 -- Emma Bradford, Rylee Odonnell, Emma Pulliam, Alex Grayson, Will Riddell
13 -- Bennett Kolff
12 -- Pierce Lively
11 -- Alex Van Alstine
10 -- Isabella Sweat, Lindsay Hudson, Tori Rhinehart, Maggie Grayson, Anna Grace Parker, Dylan Browning, James Stowers.
RIDGESIDE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Nicole Blohm
18 -- Elizabeth Hall
17 -- Madison Tumblin, Max Milam
15 -- Burke Murphy, Rowan Fitzsimmons, Brendan Gaffney
14 -- Noah Akins
13 -- Jane Anne Haywood, Finn Fitzsimmons
11.5 -- Becc Fitzsimmons
11 -- Lilah Dorn
10 -- Tyler Staszewski, Aidan Parks, Clark Danks, Nick Robinson.
BIG RIDGE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Mae Mae Powe, Sierra Haberhern, Robert Alford
17 -- Hunter Shaw
16 -- Sam Powe
15 -- Aiden Shaw, Christopher Tate
12.5 -- Liam Runkle
12 -- Pamela Avendano Rubi, Anna Thompson
11 -- Elizabeth Allen, Ciana Medonis
10 -- Annika Desai, Julia Anna Harris, Ethan Runkle.
FORT OGLETHORPE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Joshua Carney, Reece Gallagher, Timothy DeBord
17 -- Brayden Carney, Brandon Edge
16 -- Adelyn Tysz, Camden Cloud
15 -- Lance Marshall
14 -- Alexis Fogtman
13 -- Marianna Easley, Sky Kim, Carson Cloud
12 -- Megan Easley
11 -- Maddox Weaver, William Stoner
10 -- Arilyn Lee
CUMBERLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Brianne Holsonback
18 -- Esther Morris
16 -- Lauren Alexander, Evelyn Click
15 -- Kimberly Morris, Chloe Vernon, Kari Morris, Jonas Taylor
14 -- Juliana Acosta
13 -- Keanu Tun
12 -- Jeremiah Morris, Liam Carpenter
10 -- Liliana Hatch, LeRonnie Ervin.
FAIRYLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Ellie Taliaferro, Kristen Myers
17 -- Frances Bohner
15 -- David Horne, Anne Dassow
14 -- Carley Braman
13 -- Chase Holsonback
12 -- Harrison Barnes, Kylie Eiselstein
11 -- Jane Eiselstein, Ethan Bevill
10 -- Ben Bevill, Meredith Bevill.
DALTON HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Lucien Chenard, Henry Bethel
18 -- Kelly Mashburn
17 -- Jonathan Shaheen
16 -- Alexis Vaughn, Roman Valdez
15 -- Carson Vaughn
14 -- Hannah Smith, Carlin Hudson
12 -- Casey Mashburn, Abby O'Ferrall, Will Haley, Alex Mashburn
11 -- Oscar Chenard, Brandt Hudson, Ethan Young
10 -- Gracison Saylors, Gavin Ollis, Julian Hernandez, Ernest Morales, Josephine Conley.
WATERDOGS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Kailey Ruckman
17 -- Davina Sharma, Julie Bryant, Jae Dauphinas
14 -- Elizabeth Andrews
13 -- Anna Garner, Caiden Cross, Noah Torchick
12 -- Tanya Sharma
11 -- Christian Fetzner, Isaiah Gill, Brendan Ruckman
10 -- Kalei Baine.
CALHOUN HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 -- Cassie Workman, Brody Bushong
17 -- Allie Workman
16 -- Micah Klingbeil, Bryant Mathis
15 -- Kathryn Russell, Kailey Klingbeil, Matthew Petty, Cal Parker, Keegan Fortenberry, Ryder Hood
14 -- Bryn Anderson, Rucker Reeves
12 -- Reagan Fortin, Luke Driscoll
11 -- Katherine Nesbitt, Jacob Layson
10 -- Ryan Hood.
OOLTEWAH HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
17 -- Jillian Cantrell
15 -- Leah Boyd, Peter Dyr
14 -- Aidan Sims
13 -- Cameron Martin
12 -- Jacob Kiemeyer
11 -- Lilian Parr, Haley Grider
10 -- Emma Scruggs, Madelyn Weathers, Garet Gipson.
STUART HEIGHTS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
None reported.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)
Country Club swimmer Meghan Royal swam the 25-yard breaststroke in the 8 & under heat.
photo by Dennis Norwood