It’s been a rough go in recent seasons for the Cumberland Currents as wins have been hard to come by, but veteran coach Julie Thornburg has never lost the faith as she’s been the team’s leading cheerleader and has convinced her kids to believe when that wasn’t always an easy thing to do.
The Currents have worked hard this summer to increase team numbers and they have continued to work hard during those early-morning workouts, despite not having much to show for their dedication.
But things changed just a little bit at the Cumberland pool Monday night as they captured their first win of the season by a 377-354 margin over the Cleveland Aqua Tigers.
There were lots of happy faces and a ton of wet bodies after the entire team – including coaches – celebrated with a post-meet jump into the pool.
Cleveland had won last Monday’s meet by a 407-326 final at home, but the Currents were able to turn the tables the second time around.
It was really close at the start before Cumberland took the lead at 135-131 following the medley relays. The difference was 211-168 after the individual medleys before the Aqua Tigers made it interesting to trail by only 251-231 after the backstroke races.
The Currents had a 25-point lead after the butterfly races at 318-293 before hanging on to win for the first time this season.
Thornburg had an idea that her team was on its way to victory toward the end of the meet and long before the final score had been announced.
“Do you think I should take off my shoes?” she said, knowing that she was going to get wet if they hung onto their lead.
“We did it,” she blurted after exiting the pool by the starting blocks.
“These kids really wanted it tonight as they swam really hard. We made a few mistakes and had a few hurdles to clear, but they seemed to swim even harder when they figured out what was happening.
“We had a good week of practice and were able to turn things around as we finally got a win. We showed up and swam like we’re capable and I’m so proud,” she said with an emotional tone.
Trey Parris has been the Cleveland coach for the past four summers. He knows that every meet is competitive and that the challenge is even bigger for away meets.
“It’s gonna come down to the wire,” he said long before the final race had been completed.
“I thought we started off really well with a lot of great races, but we had a lot of DQs and that hurt. We just wanted to swim hard and to cheer each other on. We were able to do that for the most part. Meets are won at practice. We had some good ones leading up to today and I thought we were ready, but I think that Cumberland won the meet,” he concluded with a smile.
Zach Schurr, Jillian Schuster, James Chatard and Kymiri Turner all scored the maximum 19 points for Cumberland while Lola Phipps followed with 17. Rosey Honeycutt and Carter Young both finished with 16 points each.
Addie Taubert scored 19 points to lead the Aqua Tigers while Kevin Curley and Reed Blackmon both scored 17.
Cumberland will be at home again on Thursday to face Big Ridge in its next big meet. The Raiders also had a big win by a 403-398 margin at Red Bank to clinch the White division. Cleveland travels to Big Ridge for its next meet next Monday.
Other winners on Monday included Ooltewah, Fort Oglethorpe and Country Club.
MONDAY’S HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
CLEVELAND:
19 – Addie Taubert
17 – Kevin Curley, Reed Blackmon
15 – Nathan Jossart, Ashley Pesterfield
13 – Maddie Peterson, Jaxon Moseley, Sophia Hildebrand, Carol Lynn Elliott
12 – Joseph Scully, Elias Eldred
11 – Teddy Elliott, Palmer Blackmon
10 – Caroline Kate Elrod, Lee Elliott.
CUMBERLAND:
19 – Zach Schurr, Jillian Schuster, Kymiri Turner, James Chatard
17 – Lola Phipps
16 – Rosey Honeycutt, Carter Young
15 – Jude Carpenter, David Davenport
14 – Everett Michael
13 – Ingrid Michael
12 – Landry Hubbard
10 – Marin Bennett.
FAIRYLAND:
19 – Ari Bond
17 – Frances Bohner
16 – Maxwell Ball
15 – Ben Bevill
14 – Carson Gaither
13 – Millie Sharplin, Lily Cole, Madison Cole
12 – Adelaide Bond, Millie Elkins
11 – Caroline Johnson
10 – William Gaither.
COUNTRY CLUB:
19 – Zeki House, Evie Ranalli
18 – Monna Yu
17 – Cooper Brooks, Nicholas Johnson, Zoe Feher
15 – James Bentley, Miles Kirksey
14 – Margaret Stinnett
13 – Hannah Tasker
12 – Blaire Card, Hampton Tate, Dru Grant IV
11 – Eliana Tabibiazar, Ryan Ellis, Callie Dake
10 – Gio Janini, Lucinda Ranalli.
CALHOUN:
19 – Jonah Ogas
17 – Cassidy Gray, Jacob Bateman
16 – Jack Brown
15 – Atticus Stephens
14 – Keegan Carter
12 – Grayson Howell, Landon Travis
11 – Annie Eickman
10 – Jocelyn Chance, Corbin Lawson, Caylon Trundle.
OOLTEWAH:
19 – Makayla McInnes, Keilah Holliman, Jed Holliman
17 – Nora Pace, Zack McInnes
16 – Gunnar Corvin
15 – Calynn Daniel, Anna Boyd, Carmyn Watkins, Julia Leite
14 – Kaci Lambeth, Wilder Erhard, Luke Oliver
13 – Bryson Lake, Norah Peticord
12 – Estella Salera
11 – Ella Cooper, Ella Garcia, Luke Combs, Noah Holliman, Leah Perrel.
BIG RIDGE:
19 – Ashton Conibear, Noah Keener, Logan Carroll
18 – Jade Skiba
17 – Millie Watson, Lander Smith
16 – Benson Wright
15 – Megan Gill, Gracin Smith
14 – Eli Haupert
13 – Bryson Young
11 – Addi Crowe
10 – Luke Scharff, Benji Wamuhiu, Caroline Coode, Rowan Garver.
RED BANK:
19 – Audrey Mayo, Addilyn Mayo
18 – Noah Blake, Madelaine Ellis
16 – Caleb Ross, Allie West
15 – Arya Clinebell
14 – Natalie Emerson, Jem Robertson
13 – Adalia Ross, Avalie Bilbrey
12 – Reid Corder, Luke Blake, Lilly Robertson
11 – Ben Meagher, Benton Bilbrey, Lilah Blanchard.
10 -- Alyssa Granberry.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN:
19 – Evie Nazor, Kaylee Greene
17 – Luke Russell, Jake Holmes
16 – Vincent Porter
15 – Mimi Hanning Dmitrievskaya
14 – Claire Williams
13 – Marydee Barnett
12 – Jacob Greene, Klein Boyd
10 – Faith Callagan.
FORT OGLETHORPE:
19 – Foster Stevens, Addison Rievley, Sully Foster
18 – Katelyn Holman
17 – Ari Motter
15 – Aubrey McCarthy, R.J. Partain, Colson Chappelear
14 – Wade Christopher, Oliver Webb
13 – Ruby Oswald, Audrey Chatfield
12 – Tyler Brady, Jett Stevens, Noah Currie, Reese Rawls
11 – Amy Lynn Hoeng
10 – Allie O’Donell, Lilly Cappellazzo, Maya Colbert, Avary Kadetz, Zeke Rawls.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
10 – Alyssa Granberry.
10 – Cheyenne Carver, Gabby Oswald.