Laken Coppinger, with a maximum of 19 points, helped lead Signal Mountain to a 434-373 win over the Tidal Waves Tuesday night as the Green Giants clinched the Blue Division championship in the Ooltewah pool.
photo by Dennis Norwood
The Signal Mountain Green Giants were on a mission when they left home Tuesday afternoon and headed for Ooltewah.
They can now say there mission has been accomplished as they beat the host Tidal Waves to clinch first place in the Chattanooga Area Swim League’s Blue division.
The Green Giants lost a close meet at Dalton in their first meet on June 9, but they’ve won five straight since and earned the top spot in the toughest and most competitive division with their 434-373 victory on Tuesday.
Ringgold and the Waterdogs were other winners on Tuesday in makeup meets from last Monday.
Ringgold snapped Fairyland’s winning streak at five with a 393-367 victory in the Red division while the Waterdogs put a solid hold on second place in the White with a 403-329 win at Fort Oglethorpe
Signal Mountain had prevailed by 59 points over Ooltewah on the hill on June 20, so Tuesday’s final score was almost identical.
“It’s nice to get that title back and not have to share it with anybody,” said Signal Mountain coach Jake Sosna toward the end of the meet when the outcome had already been determined.
“I’m always worried about who will show up when we travel, but give credit to the parents for getting them here today. The first half of the meet went much better than I anticipated.
“We could have done better, but we’re just glad to get this one behind us. It looked like rain when we first got here and I was worried we might have to come back, but I’m glad we don’t.
“Now we can focus all our effort on the city meet this weekend. I just hope we can carry over this same intensity to this weekend. If these kids can have the thought process of being on top, that helps them swim faster.
“But it’s going to be a fun final meet as we’ve come a long way since that first meet in Dalton. We’re deep across the board and that always helps at the end,” Sosna nodded.
The Green Giants never trailed in this one as their lead was 70-62 after the opening freestyle races. Perhaps the two events pertaining to point difference was the breaststroke and individual medley where Signal Mountain had a 49-28 advantage in the first and a 49-28 difference in the second.
The Green Giants were firmly in control at 250-295 when the midway break came and it never got any closer.
Ooltewah coach Todd Jones never finds fault with his kids effort, but he hopes they can correct some minor issues before the weekend.
“We’re doing better in butterfly and back, but I’m not sure it will be enough,” he said as the freestyle relays began.
“Breaststroke is our weakest event and we had several DQs in the IM, but I have no problem at all with what we’ve done here tonight. I thought it would be a lot closer. We’re slowly climbing the ladder and we seem to do a little better every year.
“I would have liked to have seen some harder finishes as we had several kids who just sort of floated into the wall. And we have to get better on the walls as we need solid touches and stronger push-offs. It’s easy to want to take a break when you approach a wall, but we can’t afford to do that,” he added.
Laken Coppinger, Peter Lochmaier, John Smith and Will Tippett all maxed out with 19 points apiece for the Green Giants while Leah Boyd was the only Ooltewah swimmer with 19.
Vincent Porter followed the Green Giant leaders with 17 points while Jewel Gordon finished with 16. Megan Hanson and James Johnson both had 15 points for the winners.
Elijah Martin and Brighton Smith were next for Ooltewah with 17 points each while Emma Scruggs, Jillian Cantrell and Merrin Allen all had 16.
The final dual meet of the season will take place Wednesday afternoon when the Dalton Dolphins come to Stuart Heights.
Second place in the Blue division will be on the line and the defending two-time City Meet champion Dolphins will have revenge on their minds after Stuart Heights pulled the 395-393 upset at Dalton on June 20.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Laken Coppinger, Peter Lochmaier, John Smith, Will Tippett
17 – Vincent Porter
16 – Jewel Gordon
15 – Megan Hanson, James Johnson
14 – Tian Bardoner
13 – KaraLin Hoover, Charlie Han, Chase Post
12 – Thomas Porter, Madeline Daverson
11 – Marley Harper, Owen Seymour
10 – Luke Smiley, Audrey Rackel, Hannah Laramore.
OOLTEWAH HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Leah Boyd
17 – Elijah Martin, Brighton Smith
16 – Emma Scruggs, Jillian Cantrell, Merrin Allen
14 – Jedidiah Holliman, Noah Holliman
13 – Taylor Reyes, Autumn Suchy
12 – Aidan Sims, Haley Grider, Hardy Jones
11 – Amber Isbell, Josie Martin, Anna Boyd
10 – Peter Dyr, Garet Gipson, Cameron Martin.
FAIRYLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Annie McBryar, Ellie Taliaferro, Anna Ward
18 – Ben Bevill
17 – Mae Garrett
15 – Jane Eiselstein, Ethan Bevill, Louisa Bohner
13 – Cameron Price, Frances Bohner, Mary Margaret Arrowsmith
12 – Barak Goren, Gabriel McBryar
11 – Hartley Workman, Colmore Hurst, Charlie Byrum
10 – Henry Wingfield.
RINGGOLD HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Cayman Hughey, Emma Pulliam
17 – Easton O’Donnell
16 – Julia Striker
15 – Emma Bradford
14 – Evan Wingrove
13 – Henry Webb, Bennett Kolff, Kale Davis, Russell Lively
12 – Evan Moeller, Abigail Dodd, Helen Webb
11 – Rylee O’Donnell, Cooper Chappelear, John Courtney
10 – Cameron Kolff, Kirill Lebed.
WATERDOG HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Caiden Cross
17 – Martin Shapoval, Davina Sharma, Macie Starr, Joseph Arnett
16 – Audrey Torchick
15 – Nikolai Shapoval, Anna Garner, Jessica Landberg
14 – Maddy Dauphinais
13 – Brendon Ruckman, Tanya Sharma, Justin Thompson
12 – Ashley Bryant, Keira Bundy, Kailey Ruckman, Katie Estes, Grace Dauphinais
11 – Haley Brock
10 – Elijah Bean, Jae Dauphinais, Maya Sharma.
FORT OGLETHORPE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Reece Gallagher
17 – Maddux Henry, Megan Easley
15 – Lily Marshall, Morgyn Easley, Timothy DeBord
13 – Brandon Edge, Lance Marshall
12 – Mariana Easley
11 – Brody Ervin
10 – Daniel Mottor, Mason Weaver, Ethan Madaris.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
The Tidal Waves' Brighton Smith earned 17 team points as Ooltewah fell to the Green Giants in a CASL Blue Division makeup meet Tuesday evening.
photo by Dennis Norwood