CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Continuing to improve, the Cleveland Aqua Tigers once again had a much better showing in a second meeting with a Chattanooga Area Swim League opponent Thursday.
The Cleveland crew gave Big Ridge, which is tied atop the White Division with Red Bank, all it could handle before falling 408-360. The Raiders won the previous meeting in Chattanooga by a 409-287 tally.
The Aqua Tigers had a 103-point improvement between their first and second battles with Red Bank earlier this month.
"I'm really happy with our performance and team spirit tonight," remarked second-year CAT coach Trey Parris.
"A close loss at home, but a great showing from the Aqua Tigers.
"We had a lot of best times tonight and relays won across all age groups. We have a big meet Monday night at Cumberland where we look to bounce back."
The Aqua Tigers (1-3) will be traveling to Chattanooga looking to knock off the winless Currents (0-4) again, after a 407-326 win earlier this week.
Big Ridge will have a big rematch with Red Bank (4-1) on Monday, plus travel to Cumberland on Thursday, June 27.
While Big Ridge (4-1) notched just one less point than in the first meeting, Cleveland improved by 73 points at the Tinsley Park pool.
With a narrow 51-49 edge in swimmers, the Aqua Tigers won seven of the dozen age divisions, but it wasn't enough to prevail.
Of the 20 Raiders to reach double figures, three — Kate White, Quinn Young and Nathan Jungels — posted "Perfect 19s."
Jade Skiba, Lander Smith and Eli Haupert help out with 17 markers each in the victory, while Noah Keener added 15.
Haley Clark, Carling Smith and Sofia Mansueto collected 14 points apiece, while Big Ridge got a "baker's dozen" (13) from Millie Watson, Alex Guo, Benson Wright and Blakely Martin.
Camden Ross, Maci Haustein and May Kountz put up an even dozen, while Caroline Cody (11), Evan Schraff (11) and Megan Gill (10), rounded out the double-digit scorers for the visitors.
Only one of the 14 Aqua Tigers to reach the 10-point mark won all his races, with 12-year-old Elias Eldred had a "Perfect 19."
Abigail Parrish and Kevin Curley garnered 17 points apiece for the hosts, while Addie Taubert, Abby Anglin, Teddy Elliott and Reed Blackmon each collected 15.
Palmer Blackmon and Joseph Scully put 14 markers each on the scoreboard, while Jaxon Moseley had 13.
Rounded out the Aqua Tiger double-digit scoring was a dozen each from Ben Condo and Olivia Hughes, plus Andrew Rutledge had 11 and Carol Lynn Elliott 10.
(Contact Joe Cannon at joe.cannon@clevelandbanner.com)