The Lady Tigers started the swim season with 20 team members competing in two different meets in their first week. The first meet, the Carthage relays, was held at the Fair Acres YMCA on November 27. For this event, nine teams were able to practice the logistics of a meet before competing in Springfield over the weekend.
“This was a great opportunity for our girls to get in the water and to test out our relay teams,” Coach Braden McBride said. “Whether they are new to the team and have never competed in a meet, or haven’t been in a meet since last year, this was a good chance for them to get in there and see how a meet goes.”
The ladies competed in the Valkyrie Invitational, hosted by Parkview in Springfield, on December 1. The girls took third place in a field of 15 teams.
In the 200-yard Medley Relay, the team consisting of Karsen Dininger, Carrie Wallace, Nadya Housh, and Cassidy Smith placed second with a time of 2:09.50.
In the 200-yard Freestyle, Hope Fultz placed sixth with a 2:30.47, while Gracie Huelat placed eleventh with a time of 2:36.09. Elena Wright placed 16th with a time of 2:54.23 and Hadley McBride finished 25th with 3:07.04.
In the 200-yard Individual Medley, Housh placed fifth with a time of 2:40.93. Wallace placed eighth with a time of 2:49.98. Eryn Wagoner placed ninth with a time of 2:56.80.
For the 50-yard Freestyle, Juliana Smith swam a 31.79 for 13th place, while Mackenzie Polley finished 17th with a 32.62 and Erica Shaner placed 27th with a 36.96.
Housh placed fifth in the 100-yard Butterfly with a time of 1:14.24 and Dininger placed seventh with a time of 1:24.71.
In the 100-yard Freestyle event, Juliana placed seventh with a time of 1:02.85. Fultz placed eighth with a time of 1:05.89. Cassidy placed 19th with 1:15.35, and Grace Lewis placed 25th with a time of 1:24.96.
In the 500-yard Freestyle, Carthage had three girls place, with Huelat taking ninth with a 7:07.53, Wright taking 11th with a 7:41.77, and Genesis Sibal taking 17th with a time of 8:05.52.
For the 200-yard Freestyle Relay, the team of Housh, Fultz, Cassidy, and Julianna, placed third with a time of 2:00.62.
Dininger took seventh in the 100-yard Backstroke, while Sibal took 18th with a time of 1:29.44.
In the 100-yard Breaststroke, Wallace placed fourth with a time of 1:19.80. Cassidy took seventh with a time of 1:22.28, and Wagoner took tenth with a time of 1:29.41. Wright came in twenty-third with a time of 1:44.85.
In the 400-yard Freestyle Relay, the team of Fultz, Wallace, Dininger, and Huelat came in at fifth place with a time of 4:27.35.
“I was very impressed with the way our underclassmen performed. We have a couple of new additions with Cassidy Smith and Hope Fultz,” Coach McBride said. “They both got medals in this meet and placed in the top six and Alaina Wright took 12th to earn points for the team. The fact that those freshman girls scored for the team in their first high school meet is impressive.”
