Ooltewah's Leah Boyd swims in the 11-12 year old butterfly heat. Boyd finished with 13 team points for the Tidal Waves in their 392.5-376.5 loss to CASL defending champions Dalton Monday night at the Ooltewah pool.
photo by Dennis Norwood
The Dalton Dolphins may be the defending champions in the Chattanooga Area Swim League, but they got pushed to the limit on Monday night at Ooltewah.
Facing the up-and-coming Ooltewah Tidal Waves, the visiting Dolphins had to fight for their lives from the first race until the last, but when the final race of the day had been completed – the senior boys freestyle relay – Dalton head coach Jason Mezaros could finally take a deep breath and relax, knowing that his team would be headed back to Whitfield County with a tense 16-point win.
The final score was Dalton 392.5 to Ooltewah’s 376.5.
It was a much closer meet than the final score might indicate as Dalton had a one-point lead after the opening freestyle races while the advantage was two points following the breaststroke event.
The Dolphins still had the upper hand at 175-173 after the medley relays before they stretched it to 223-213 after the individual medleys.
Ooltewah got back to within six points after the backstroke while Dalton had an eight-point spread following the butterfly event.
It was still anybody’s meet at this point, but the Tidal Waves had a couple of teams get disqualified in those final freestyle relays and that may have been the difference in the meet.
Mezaros was visibly tired when the meet ended just before sundown. He’s been in Indianapolis since Thursday with Ethan Young for the Pro Swim Series, the final tune-up for the Olympic Trials, which will be in Omaha at the end of the month and an event that Young has already qualified for.
The coach and his star swimmer, who has already committed to swim at Cal-Berkley next year on a full scholarship, got up at 4 a.m. Monday for the long trip home, but they were at Ooltewah Monday night and obviously happy with the way the final results turned out.
“Yeah, we’re doing pretty good, but we need to learn how to travel better. A lot of the newer families don’t realize how important these away meets are,” the veteran coach said while the freestyle relays were being contested.
“We don’t have as many kids as we’ve had in the past, but when it’s close, they know how to flip that switch and compete. We know what we have and we have a bunch of kids doing a lot of different stuff this summer, but we’re just trying to race hard and have fun at the same time.
“We want to make sure the younger ones have a good experience and it’s a kind of release for some of the older, more experienced kids as they’re not as much pressure here. It’s been a long day for me and I’m tired, but I’m proud of the resilience these kids showed today,” Mezaros added.
Ooltewah’s Todd Jones is starting his second season as the Tidal Wave head coach and he knew from previous experience that this would be a close meet. As a matter of fact, this same meet at Ooltewah last summer was the only loss on Dalton’s regular-season record.
“We had a couple of relay teams get disqualified in this last event and that basically killed our chances, but we came out here and competed with them today. We certainly didn’t just give it to them, that’s for darn sure,” Jones said while waiting for the final score to be announced.
“We have some strong swimmers, but we need to revisit the little details and just how important they are. Little things like turns and starts can make a big difference in a meet like this, so that’s what we need to work on right now.
“We’ve gotten more and more competitive with each passing season and we’re getting there. We just have to keep working hard,” Jones concluded.
Will Haley, Ross Valdez, Alexander Withrow and Young all scored the maximum 19 points for Dalton while Emma Scruggs also had 19 for Ooltewah.
Sophia Wagner and Franco Valdez added 17 and 16 points, respectively, for Dalton while next for Ooltewah was Anna Boyd with 16 points and Noah Holliman and Jillian Cantrell with 15 apiece.
Dalton returns to action on Thursday with a home meet against Signal Mountain while Ooltewah will go up I-75 a little ways to visit the Cleveland Aqua Tigers.
DALTON HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Will Haley, Ross Valdez, Alexander Withrow, Ethan Young
17 – Sophia Wagner
16 – Franco Valdez
15 – Orrin Withrow
14.5 – Bella Lee, Henry Bethel
14 – Reese Bingham, Carson Vaughn
13 – Josephine Conley
11 – Lucien Chenard, Oscar Chenard
10 – Gracison Saylors, Jonathan Shaheen, Brandt Hudson, Ava Whited.
OOLTEWAH HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Emma Scruggs
16 – Anna Boyd
15 – Noah Holliman, Jillian Cantrell
14 – Haley Grider, Lilian Parr, Merrin Allen
13 -- Leah Boyd, Amber Isbell, Brighton Smith
12 – Cameron Martin
11 -- Jedidiah Holliman
10 – Autumn Suchy, Elijah Martin, Josie Martin.
CLEVELAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Grayson Payne
18 – Jacob McDaniel
15 – Benjamin Cooper, Peter Falcone
14 – Anna Thompson, Trey Parris
13 – Ximena Martinez
11 – Cameron McDaniel, Devon Frakes
10 – Kaitlyn McDonald.
STUART HEIGHTS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Grant Cooley, Beatrice Davis, Gwennie Davis, Luke Waldrep
17 – Scout Chapin, Jon Pat Ransom
16 – Emma Saunders
15 – Jackson Sallee, Cooper Lehman, Elizabeth Lydon, Catherine Lynch
14 – Bella Lehman, George Von Canon
13 – Gerald Lydon, Audrey Barkeloo-Carter
12 – Avery Wilson, Reid Wilson
11 – Ellie Waldrep
10 – Maddux Clardy, Cayce Grall, Matthew McCoy, Johnny Von Canon.
COUNTRY CLUB HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Lydia Bohannon, Ben Griffith, Margaret Anne Hudson, Cecelia Turner
17 – Conor Kinley, Julia Quernemoen, Danyal Gork
15 – William Turner
13 – James Fuller, Caroline Schemel
12 – Zane Smith, Ward Richey, Sophie Workinger, Addison Margio, Robert Buntin
11 – Emelia Richey, Meghan Royal
10 – Madalyn Reichman.
BIG RIDGE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Nathan Jungels, Hunter Shaw
18 – Evan Simpson
17 – Sam Powe
15 – Caleb Aslinger
13 – Abigail Austin, Nathaniel Farnham, Sierra Haberhern, Liam Runkle, Mae Mae Powe, Aidan Shaw
10 – Caleb Sievers, Adelyn Simpson, Hannah Schmidt, Abigail Keener, Christopher Farnham.
CUMBERLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Liliana Hatch, Lydia Mizutani, Jeremiah Morris
16 – Kari Morris, Chloe Vernon
15 – Esther Morris
13 – Zachary Schurr
12 – James Schone, Lauren Alexander
11 – Mattison Keur, Antonio Hatch, Avery Tisdale
10 – Kimberly Morris, Tory Lewis, Seth Broadous, MaKenzie Henry.
FORT OGLETHORPE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Mariana Easley, Carson Cloud
15 – Reece Gallagher, Morgyn Easley, Reese Miller, Timothy DeBord
14 – Camden Cloud
13 – Brandon Edge
12 – Brody Ervin, Sawyer Ervin, Liliana Roloff
11 – Mason Weaver, Lance Marshall
10 – Chaise Maynor, Savannah DeBord.
RINGGOLD HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
16 – Emma Pulliam
15 – Easton O’Donnell
14 – Cooper Chappelear
12 – Anna Parker, Emma Bradford
11 – William Riddell, Noah Scott, Russell Lively
10 – Helen Webb, Natalie Scott.
FAIRYLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Barak Goren, William Jackson, Ellie Taliaferro, Anna Ward
18.5 – Nathan Jackson
18 – Benjamin Bevill
15 – Ethan Bevill, Frances Bohner, Louisa Bohner
14.5 – Andrew Horne
14 – Avery Ball
13 – Gabriel McBryar, Alexander Grande, Carley Braman
11 – Morton Wingfield, Annie McBryar
10 – Samuel Jackson, Richard Holsonback, Charlie Byrum, Jane Eiselstein, Kylie Eiselstein, Elizabeth Wilson.
RIDGESIDE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Madeline Bond
17 – Adelaide Bond
16 – Beccan Fitzsimmons
15 – Ella Wiley, Owen Eastman
13 – Brandon Lowry, Finnegan Fitzsimmons, Andrew Bond,
12 – Jack Fitzsimmons, Elizabeth Hall
11 – Mercer Murphy, Walter Staszewski, Owen Williamson, Wyatt Williamson
10 – Fiona Eastman, Thomas Bauer, Isabella Blankenbaker.
WATERDOGS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Juliet Bryant, Davina Sharma
17 – Anna Garner
15 – Martin Shapoval
14 – Kailey Ruckman, Maya Sharma, Mason Cross
13 – Brendon Rickman, Emilie Thompson, Joseph Arnett
12 – Maddy Dauphinais, Katie Estes, Keira Bundy, Caiden Cross.
11 – Ridge Asble, Grace Dauphinais, Audrey Torchick
10 – Christian Fetzner, Connor Browand.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
The Tidal Waves' Lillian Parr enters the water as she starts her heat in the 13-14 free style event. Parr ended up with 14 team points for Ooltewah.
photo by Dennis Norwood