Impressive Dalton Wins Caulkins City Swim Meet Again

Signal Mountain Finishes Second With Stuart Heights Third

  • Sunday, July 12, 2015
  • John Hunt
Dalton's Franco Valdez was instrumental in helping the Dolphins swim away with the 2015 Bill Caulkins City Swim Meet team championship. Valdez was responsible for 91 points in the 9-10 year old boys classification, taking a first here in the butterfly finals heat,
Dalton's Franco Valdez was instrumental in helping the Dolphins swim away with the 2015 Bill Caulkins City Swim Meet team championship. Valdez was responsible for 91 points in the 9-10 year old boys classification, taking a first here in the butterfly finals heat,
photo by Dennis Norwood

They saved the best for last Saturday night at Fort Oglethorpe’s Arlene Crye Pool.

The 2015 Bill Caulkins City Meet wrapped up the season for the Chattanooga Area Swim League and they literally saved the best for last.

Defending City Meet champ Dalton won for the second-straight year as the Dolphins more than proved they're the best team in the league by scoring 2,528.5 points, almost 400 more than runner-up Signal Mountain, which finished with 2,132.5.

Stuart Heights was third with 1,969 while Ooltewah and Fairyland rounded out the top five teams with 1,261 and 1,192.5 points, respectively.

Only one meet record was broken during Friday’s finals, but a whole bunch more fell on Saturday night, including half of the ones in the freestyle relays that wrapped up the exciting two-day event.

Molly Mae Ransom of Stuart Heights and Wilder Wingfield of Fairyland both set a pair of records, but those were easy as they both came in the 25 free and 25 back for those youngsters six and younger.  This was the first year for those events, thus the reason for the records.

Four individual marks were broken, including two by Ellie Waldrep of Stuart Heights, who was one of four individual who finished the meet with 100 points.  Waldrep rewrote the mark in the 50 fly and later put her name on the top of the 50 back.

Cleveland’s Grayson Officer erased a 17-year-old record in the 9-10 50 fly while Dalton’s Carlin Hudson won the 50 back for 13-14 girls in record time.

There was a two-hour weather delay late Saturday afternoon, which caused the finals to be swam after the sun went down.  But it was a great atmosphere as the pool was filled to capacity with swimmers, parents and other lovers of competitive swimming.

Those youngsters didn’t disappoint, especially in the ever-exciting freestyle relays that wrapped up the action.  Dalton’s boys broke records in the 9-10, 11-12 and 13-14 races while Fairyland set a new standard for 11-12 girls and the Signal Mountain senior girls did the same.

Dalton’s first-year coach Jason Mezaros, who served as the Meet Director in addition to his coaching duties, was visibly exhausted when the final race had been contested.  But he had a smile on his face that was the perfect description for a young man who was happy and extremely proud of the way things turned out.

“It was a good meet all the way around,” he began as volunteers were stacking chairs, moving temporary bleachers and removing tents that had been erected along the pool deck.

“I’m sure that we won, but I don’t know the scores right now.  I just know we were up by more than 300 points in the middle of the backstroke races.  We were expecting to have a meet like this and I knew we were capable of scoring a bunch of points, but I didn’t know we’d break that many records.

“We also set another record that wasn’t announced and that was Jonathan Shaheen’s leadoff leg on the 200 free relay.  He had a time of 22.61 seconds, which beats the old record of 22.69, and that opening leg counts for records. 

“I’m really tired, but it’s been worth it.  I know it’s late now, but that weather break this afternoon was a blessing for us as it gave us a chance to rest a little bit.  But we just wanted to win this year by a greater margin than last and I’m sure that we accomplished that goal,” he said before the individual and team awards were presented.

Signal Mountain coach Stephanie Cohen had nothing but praise for Dalton’s team and the way they swam this weekend.

“This has been quite an eventful evening,” she said as things wrapped up.

“I couldn’t be any more proud as I had several kids who really surprised me.  They swam faster today than I’ve ever seen them swim.  Dalton has an outstanding team and they pushed us to swim that much faster in every race.

“I felt like we had a shot at the start of the day, but it was just a matter of how bad we wanted it.  And regardless of how the final scores turn out, they swam their best from left to right and were really phenomenal tonight,” she concluded with a smile.

FOUR MEMBERS of the Chattanooga Barbershop Chorus sang the National Anthem for the second-straight day and were quite impressive with their acappella presentation.  Members of the group were Benny Malone, Dave Fleury, Chuck Wilson and Paul Blazek.

BLAZEK STAYED busy the entire weekend as he served as the public address announcer for the 26th year.

THE JENNIFER FUGATE AWARD winners included Ringgold’s Jon Lancaster and Ooltewah’s Jack Marshall.

The award, which includes a scholarship worth $1,000, has been given since 1987 in memory of a young lady who was a member of Ringgold’s team.  She died at the age of 14 in the summer of 1986, just weeks before the City meet. 

The award recognizes two individuals who have a winning spirit, show strong leadership skills on their teams and are dedicated to the sport of swimming.

Lancaster, who graduated from Heritage High School this spring and is the reigning 500 freestyle Georgia state champ, will be attending Carson-Newman in the fall where he’ll swim for the Eagles while majoring in Exercise Science as he hopes to one day be an athletic trainer.

Marshall graduated from Ooltewah this spring and was voted Best All Around in the senior superlatives.  He ran cross country and track for the Owls and was president of both the National Honor Society and the Key Club.  He plans to attend UT-Knoxville where he plans to major in Audiology and Speech Pathology with a minor in German.

Other nominees included April Forsthoffer, Ryan Smith and Will Raines of Stuart Heights, Kristen Myers of Fairyland, Liz Johnson and Jess Vargo of Signal Mountain, Dalton's Mary Pike and Calhoun's Bryant Mathis.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

 

Grayson Officer of the Cleveland Aqua Cats set a new meet record in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 30.14. Officer accounted for 86 individual points.
Grayson Officer of the Cleveland Aqua Cats set a new meet record in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 30.14. Officer accounted for 86 individual points.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Latest Headlines
Sports
UTC Sofbtall Hosts ETSU In Friday Doubleheader
  • 3/28/2024

The Chattanooga softball team returns to Frost Stadium for a seven-game home stand that begins Friday afternoon against East Tennessee State in Southern Conference action. The Mocs are 21-8 ... more

Covenant Men's Tennis Loses 6-3
  • 3/28/2024

The Covenant Scots looked to boost their nonconference tennis resume with a win on the road at Oglethorpe. Covenant was unable to get the job done, as it fell 3-6. Final: Covenant 3, Oglethorpe ... more

7 Football Mocs Participate In Annual Pro Day
  • 3/28/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs had a 7-man contingent go through their paces in front of NFL scouts at the annual Pro Day. It started in the Wolford Family Strength & Conditioning Center before shifting ... more