It’s hard to believe that we’re in the final week of regular-season action concerning the Chattanooga Area Swim League, but how time flies when we’re having fun.
Most league folks are aware that the Ooltewah Tidal Waves are far and away better than any other team and it’s just a matter of how many points they can score when the Bill Caulkins City Meet is held at Fort Oglethorpe next weekend.
The real battle might be for the runner-up spot and right now, it appears that the Stuart Heights Sharks have the inside track on that race.
The Sharks will host their final regular-season meet on Thursday and it will be against that same Tidal Wave team that posted a 77-point win on June 19, but they had to take care of first things first as they posted a 438-358 win over the Signal Mountain Green Giants at Stuart Heights on Tuesday evening.
The Sharks, now in second place in the CASL’s Blue Division with four wins in five meets, did what they had to do as they pulled away late to win after leading by only 38 points (238-200) following the individual medley races. The Green Giants gave them a run for their money for a while, but depth at the end made a difference as Signal Mountain dropped to 1-3 with the loss.
The Green Giants will host Dalton on Thursday in their final home meet of the season before facing off against that same Dalton squad next Wednesday at Fort Oglethorpe.
Stuart Heights coach Katie Sallee was just happy to see her team stretch that lead in the final few events.
“We line up well with them and that’s what makes this such an interesting meet, but a lot of these kids go to school with each other and it’s nice to see them get a chance to hang out together,” said coach Sallee while the freestyle relays were still in progress.
“It looked really close when I was putting our heat sheets together and close meets are always much more fun, but this has been a great atmosphere. The kids have done a great job and really raced hard. In a meet like this, it comes down to who gets the most second and third-place finishes as those add up in a hurry.
“We know what we’re facing when Ooltewah comes here on Thursday as they are solid from top to bottom. We’re interested to see just what we can do and see if we can close the gap a little bit,” she added.
Signal Mountain coach Tracy Daverson knows that her team is fully capable of challenging for a league top spot, but her biggest challenge to this point is making sure her best swimmers are available on meet days and not off on a family vacation.
“We were missing a few key swimmers today and I’m sure that Stuart Heights was too, but our goal was to just work on the small stuff that makes a big difference in a big meet,” she began while watching her kids compete near the end of the meet.
“The bottom line is that the kids had a lot of fun and that’s always the most important part, but we just have to keep working and continue fine-tuning as next weekend approaches. We really wanted to win this meet today, but we just didn’t have the numbers. But it’s always nice to see some of the newer swimmers improve from meet to meet.
“We face Dalton in our final two meets before the city meet and it would be nice to head into next weekend with a couple of wins. That would certainly boost our confidence, but I still feel like we have the team to win the city meet if the kids will just make it a priority to be there,” she added.
Scout Chapin, Max Shaw and Walker Sewell all maxed out with 19 points for Stuart Heights while Molly Mae Ransom, William Loveless, Sterling Sewell, Blaise Harris and Ava Gipson all finished with 17.
Nissa Ruth and Lily Vicknair both scored 19 points for the Green Waves while Hayden Vicknair was next with 18.
Stuart Heights had 21 swimmers who scored at least 10 points while Signal Mountain had 13.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Nissa Ruth, Lily Vicknair
18 – Hayden Vicknair
15 – Ryan Berry
14 – Sydney Gordon, Laine Arp
13 – Gavin McKenzie
12 – Marley Degenhardt, Noah Ennen, Keller Williamson
11 – Morgan Slattery, Natalie Ennen, Kallisti Callaghan.
STUART HEIGHTS HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Scout Chapin, Max Shaw, Walker Sewell
17 – Molly Mae Ransom, William Loveless, Sterling Sewell, Blaise Harris, Ava Gipson
16 – Jameson Halbert, Luke Waldrep
14 – Shepherd Sewell, Ellie Lydon
13 – Joseph Myers, Sage Sillery, Luci Hill
12 – Ridge Folmar
11 – Deacon Sewell, Olivia Loveless
10 – Stephen Myers, Atticus Kite, Will White.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)