Spectators and a judge watch a butterfly swimmer with the Ooltewah Tidal Waves.
photo by M.A. Locke
The Ooltewah Tidal Waves won their fourth straight team championship in the 64th Annual Bill Caulkins City Swim Meet Saturday evening at the Arlene Crye Municipal Pool at the Gilbert-Stephenson Park in Fort Oglethorpe, but the final margin of victory was a bit closer than most folks expected.
We all know that team depth in a meet like this is extremely important as those secondary points really add up, so that was probably the difference in this meet.
The Tidal Waves had a dozen event wins on Saturday to just eight for Stuart Heights and finished in first place with 2,637.5 points to 2,356.5 for the Sharks.
Signal Mountain was a strong third with 2,045.5 points while Country Club and host Catoosa completed the top five teams with 969 and 965.5 points, respectively.
Ooltewah had a scant 122-point lead following Friday’s events and slowly pulled away on Saturday. The Tidal Waves might not have been quite as attentive to details as coach Stephen Jones would have liked and that made the first-year head coach bit on the nervous side as the meet progressed.
“I really don’t know right now as my team made a bunch of goofy mistakes we normally don’t make. We had a couple of disqualifications that hurt, but we also had some younger kids who stepped up and that saved the day for us,” Jones said before the final scores had been announced.
“I think I lost some hair during these final races, but a lot of our kids had their best times of the season. It was a tense meet to be sure as Stuart Heights really gave us a battle. We had a few kids who left before it ended and we had to call them back, but it was right down the wire it seemed like in every race,” Jones added.
Stuart Heights coach Katie Sallee has never experienced the joy of winning this meet, but the Sharks keep creeping closer and closer. One of these days, they’re gonna prevail.
“It was a great meet as we always enjoy the relays, but everyone did their part from the youngest to the oldest and I don’t think we could have done any better,” she said while gathering her team’s personal items as teams started heading for the parking lot after the meet ended.
“I wish we had a few more kids, but I’m really happy with what we did as they totally put forth their best effort. We may not have the biggest team, but we cheer hard for each other and we always have fun and that’s the main goal.
“Ooltewah has a great team and we always enjoy competing with them. One of these days, we’re going to win it all,” she smiled.
There were five individuals who maxed out with 100 points over the two days, including two from Ooltewah and Signal Mountain and one from Red Bank.
Easton Daniel and Makayla McInnes both had outstanding meets for Ooltewah as did Signal’s Lily Vicknair and Hayden Vicknair. Red Bank’s Noah Blake also hit the century mark as they all totally dominated their respective age groups.
Carmyn Watkins and Madelyn Orth both scored 85 and 83 points, respectively, for Ooltewah while Stuart Heights got 93 points from Ava Gipson. Scout Chapin was next with 89.5 while Molly Mae Ransom and Walker Sewell both finished with 88.
Certainly one of the highlights for this meet is the awarding of the Jennifer Fugate Scholarships, which are worth $1,000 for each recipient.
Fugate was an outstanding swimmer for the Ringgold Tiger Sharks back in the mid 80s, but got sick and died unexpectedly shortly before the city meet. Her parents have kept her memory alive with these scholarships.
This year’s winners are Benjamin Jungels from Big Ridge and Madelaine Bond from Fairyland.
Jungels is a three-sport athlete who graduated from Notre Dame where he was captain of both the cross country and track teams. He’ll be going to Princeton in the fall where he will benefit from a Naval ROTC scholarship where he plans to major in mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Bond was home-schooled, but is planning to attend Lee University in the fall where she plans to become a school counselor. She’s been a member of the GPS-McCallie Aquatics Club and has been a very well-liked coach for the younger members of the Fairyland team.
The other five Fugate nominees included Signal Mountain’s Jenny Daverson, Catoosa’s Helen Webb, Reese Skiles of Stuart Heights, Madelyn Weathers of Ooltewah and Caroline Schenck of Country Club.
FINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Ooltewah 2,637.5; 2. Stuart Heights 2,356.5; 3. Signal Mountain 2,045.5; 4. Country Club 969; 5. Catoosa 965.5; 6. Dalton 752; 7. Fairyland 666.5; 8. Ridgeside and Big Ridge tied with 610; 10. Red Bank 584; 11. Calhoun 473.5; 12. Waterdogs 414; 13. Cleveland 244; 14. Cumberland 108.
HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
6 & UNDER GIRLS: 1. Gabby Oswald (Ooltewah) and Ren Jones (Ooltewah) tied with 37.
6 & UNDER BOYS: 1. Eli Mickelson (Dalton) 40; 2. James Bentley (Country Club) 32.
7-8 GIRLS: 1. Layla Brackett (Dalton) 97; 2. Madelyn Orth (Ooltewah) 83.
7-8 BOYS: 1. Easton Daniel (Ooltewah) 100; 2. Henry Curtis (Ridgeside) 83.
9-10 GIRLS: 1. Lily Vicknair (Signal Mountain) 100; 2. Carmyn Watkins (Ooltewah) 85.
9-10 BOYS: 1. Charlie Schrader (Ridgeside) 94; 2. Christian Chai (Waterdogs) 90.
11-12 GIRLS: 1. Makayla McInnes (Ooltewah) 100; 2. Nissa Ruth (Signal Mountain) 85.
11-12 BOYS: 1. Noah Blake (Red Bank) 100; 2. Walker Sewell (Stuart Heights) 88.
13-14 GIRLS: 1. Ava Gipson (Stuart Heights) 93; 2. Molly Mae Ransom (Stuart Heights) 88.
13-14 BOYS: 1. Hayden Vicknair (Signal Mountain) 100; 2. Shepherd Sewell (Stuart Heights) 82.
SENIOR GIRLS: 1. Scout Chapin (Stuart Heights) 89.5; 2. Ellie Lydon (Stuart Heights) 79.5.
SENIOR BOYS: 1. Ryan Berry (Signal Mountain) 88; 2. Luke Waldrep (Stuart Heights) 76.
INDIVIDUAL EVENT WINNERS:
6-UNDER GIRLS
25 FREE: 1. Ren Jones (Ooltewah) 22.05.
25 BACK: 1. Gabby Oswald (Ooltewah) 27.22.
6-UNDER BOYS
25 FREE: 1. Eli Mickelson (Dalton) 21.05.
25 BACK: 1. Eli Mickelson (Dalton) 25.23.
7-8 GIRLS
25 FLY: 1. Madelyn Orth (Ooltewah) 18.31.
25 FREE: 1. Layla Brackett (Dalton) 15.45.
25 BACK: 1. Madelyn Orth (Ooltewah) 19.86.
100 FREE RELAY: Country Club 1:14.63.
7-8 BOYS
25 FLY: 1. Easton Daniel (Ooltewah) 18.11.
25 FREE: 1. Easton Daniel (Ooltewah) 16.22.
25 BACK: 1. Easton Daniel (Ooltewah) 20.33.
100 FREE RELAY: Dalton 1:17.33.
9-10 GIRLS
50 FLY: 1. Lily Vicknair (Signal Mountain) 31.24.
50 FREE: 1. Carmyn Watkins (Ooltewah) 30.96.
50 BACK: 1. Lily Vicknair (Signal Mountain) 34.79.
200 FREE RELAY: 1. Ooltewah 2:14.01.
9-10 BOYS
50 FLY: 1. Christian Chai (Waterdogs) 34.73.
50 FREE: 1. Charlie Schrader (Ridgeside) 30.85.
50 BACK: 1. Charlie Schrader (Ridgeside) 38.28.
200 FREE RELAY: 1. Ridgeside 2:30.12.
11-12 GIRLS
50 FLY: 1. Makayla McInnes (Ooltewah) 30.11.
50 FREE: 1. Makayla McInnes (Ooltewah) 27.31.
50 BACK: 1. Nissa Ruth (Signal Mountain) 31.44.
200 FREE RELAY: 1. Ooltewah 1:57.52.
11-12 BOYS
50 FLY: 1. Noah Blake (Red Bank) 28.15.
50 FREE: 1. Noah Blake (Red Bank) 25.13.
50 BACK: 1. Noah Blake (Red Bank) 29:03.
200 FREE RELAY: 1. Stuart Heights 2:02.09.
13-14 GIRLS
50 FLY: 1. Ava Gipson (Stuart Heights) 27.08.
50 FREE: 1. Ava Gipson (Stuart Heights) 25.31.
50 BACK: 1. Molly Mae Ransom (Stuart Heights) 29.98.
200 FREE RELAY: 1. Stuart Heights 1:44.78.
13-14 BOYS
50 FLY: 1. Hayden Vicknair (Signal Mountain) 23.73.
50 FREE: 1. Hayden Vicknair (Signal Mountain) 22.35.
50 BACK: 1. Hayden Vicknair (Signal Mountain) 25.95.
200 FREE RELAY: 1. Calhoun 1:42.30.
SENIOR GIRLS
50 FLY: 1. Ellie Lydon (Stuart Heights) 26.77.
50 FREE: 1. Adelaide Bond (Fairyland) 25.07.
50 BACK: 1. Scout Chapin (Stuart Heights) 28.21.
200 FREE RELAY: 1. Fairyland 1:40.73.
SENIOR BOYS
50 FLY: 1. Gunnar Corvin (Catoosa) 23.78.
50 FREE: 1. Luke Waldrep (Stuart Heights) 21.58.
50 BACK: 1. Franco Valdez (Dalton) 24.76.
200 FREE RELAY: 1. Signal Mountain 1:28.13.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)