Ooltewah boys transition in the 9-10 200 meter medley relay.
photo by M.A. Locke
The Signal Mountain Green Giants took a big road trip across Hamilton County late Wednesday afternoon for a big swim meet against the Ooltewah Tidal Waves with first place in the Chattanooga Area Swim League's Blue division on the line.
That battle never really materialized as the Green Giants were missing a substantial number of swimmers. That fact in itself took Signal Mountain out of contention in a meet that was never really close.
The Tidal Waves remained unbeaten after five meets with Wednesday’s 115-point win as the final score was 455.5 to 340.5.
Ooltewah has won those five meets by an average of 104.8 points with Monday’s 27-point win at Dalton being its closest meet to date.
Signal Mountain coach Jake Sosna knew a pretty good whipping was on the horizon when he was filling out his lineup card early Wednesday morning. It wasn’t quite as bad as other Signal Mountain supporters might have thought, but it still a humbling experience for a team that has probably won more championships through the years than the rest of the teams in the league combined.
“We were missing a lot of kids, but for whatever reason, there’s a lot of other activities going on and many parents just aren’t committed to driving this far for a meet,” Sosna explained matter of factly during the butterfly races.
“I just hope it will be a different story when they come to our place on July 1. We had a lot of disqualifications, which is a little unusual, so I’m not sure what was really going on. I knew it wouldn’t be pretty when I was putting our lineup together this morning as we were missing just too much fire power.
“But on a positive note, we had kids who swam tonight who might not otherwise get that opportunity and that can only help us on down the line. We did the best we could with what we had. We’re better suited for a larger meet as that gives a bunch of kids a chance to score points, but we’ll have to be ready when they come up the mountain.
“This is just a summer activity for most of these kids and I can’t really say a whole lot, but I just wish they were more committed to this team in a key meet like this,” Sosna concluded.
Ooltewah coach Todd Jones could only smile when asked about the performance of his kids against a team with a background of greatness in this league.
“I’m really proud of these kids as all of their hard work is starting to show and they’re being rewarded for their dedication to the sport,” he said at the start of the freestyle relays.
“We just try to focus on the things we have control over like working to make sure our technique is good and our effort is the best it can be. We can’t afford to get overconfident as we have to stay humble. We know that nothing is given in this sport as everything has to be earned, but we dig deep in every meet, regardless of who the opponent is or what the score might be.
“The final score is an afterthought for most of them, but we just have to keep working hard to chip away at our times. It’s a good wholesome experience for the most part, but we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing and the results will take care of themselves,” Jones concluded.
Noah Holliman, Anna Boyd and Madelyn Weathers all won three events and were part of two winning relays to max out with 19 points for the Tidal Waves.
Ava Grace Gipson and Garet Gipson were next with 17 points each while James Bechtol and Makayla McInnes had 16 points apiece for the winning Tidal Waves.
Hannah Laramore was tops for the Green Giants with 17 points while Jamee Mitchum was next with 16.5. Ben Flasch, Sydney Gordon and Nolan Bernard all scored 16 while Ben Hardin finished with 15.
WEDNESDAY’S OTHER meet saw Stuart Heights beat Dalton, 416-348.
Roee Chapin and Johnny Von Canon both had 19 points for Stuart Heights while Alexis Vaughn and Roman Valdez had 19 apiece for Dalton.
All four of these teams will be at a big meet this weekend at Auburn.
Signal Mountain will be at home on Monday to host Dalton while the Tidal Waves will be off on Monday before hosting Catoosa next Thursday.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
17 – Hannah Laramore
16.5 – Jamee Mitchum
16 – Ben Flasch, Sydney Gordon, Nolan Bernard
15 – Ben Hardin
12 – Henry Flasch, Will Tippett, Aidan Sims, Jake Holmes
10 – Laken Coppinger.
OOLTEWAH HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Noah Holliman, Anna Boyd, Madelyn Weathers
17 – Ava Grace Gipson, Garet Gipson
16 – James Bechtol, Makayla McInnes
15 – Savannah Inman, Kian Bontrager, Jaxon Thurman, Kyle Powroznik
14 – Alejandro Garcia, Seth Dimmer, Leah Boyd
13 – Beck Seang, Cheyenne Carver
12 – Sofia Kim, Bryson Lake
10 – Hardy Jones, Blake Taylor, Susannah Inman, Piper Merritt.
DALTON HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Alexis Vaughn, Roman Valdez
15 – Georgia Grace Brackett, Franco Valdez, Henry Bethel
14 – Luc Chenard, Jonathan Shaheen
13 – Kelly Mashburn
12 – Carlin Hudson, Rebecca Rios
11 – Micah Slemons, Gavin Ollis, Bella Lee, Grace Pleasant, Brynlee Chlebisch
10 – Francis Cuaresma, Amy Lynn Hoeng,
STUART HEIGHTS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Roee Chapin, Johnny VonCanon
18 – Scout Chapin, Ellie Waldrep
17 – Luke Waldrep
16 – Margaret Daniel
15 – Reese Skiles, Kai Chapin
14 – Parker Johnston, Sage Sillery
13 – Sam Flack, Stephen Myers, Avery Wilson, Emma Rucker
12 – Max Ransom
11 – Charlie Hon
10 – Ben Sallee, Cori Hill, Sam Powe.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)