The Carthage Tigers competed in the Southwest Championships, held at the John Foster Natatorium in Springfield, October 26 and 27. The boys first competed in the preliminaries Friday, with the top 24 swimmers in individual events, and top 18 teams in relay events, qualifying to swim in the finals on Saturday. The boys finished the meet in seventh place out of a field of 22 teams.
“I was so pleased how everyone swam, especially for a two-day meet,” Coach McBride said. “The team set over 30 personal bests and the boys competed hard.”
A new school record was set by junior Brayden Cole for the 100-yard breaststroke. He set a new personal best time of 59.66 in the Friday preliminaries, unseating Micah Osborne’s previous record of 1:00.28, set in 1999.
“I’m very excited about having the new record,” Cole said. “It’s awesome to break a 20 year-old record! I’m glad to see everything coming together, but I don’t feel like I’ve reached my full potential. I am very excited to see what the state meet has in store for me.”
In the 200-yard Medley Relay, Carthage placed seventh with a new best time of 1:47.54 for Alex Dahl, Brayden Cole, Colby Cox, and Ben Prince.
During the 200-yard Freestyle, Ezekiel Ramierez placed 15th and Cole Smith placed 19th with times of 2:05.85 and 2:06.13, both of which were new personal bests.
“I cut time in my 200 Free and it feels awesome to compete in such a large event with over 20 teams,” Ramierez said.
For the 200-yard Individual Medley, Carthage saw a second-place finish for Cole, with a time of 2:04.34, and thirteenth and fourteenth place finishes for Spencer Dolon and Robbie Sager, with times of 2:29.71 and 2:31.29, with all three boys earning new best times in this event.
In the 50-yard Freestyle, Dahl placed ninth with a time of 23.45 and Ben Prince placed 20th with a time of 24.60.
Competing in the 100-yard Butterfly, Cox placed 23rd with a time of 1:11.39 and Dolon placed 24th with a time of 1:11.87
The 100-yard Freestyle saw a ninth-place finish for Dahl, with another new best time of 52.63, and Prince placed 16th with a time of 55.02. Ben Darrow racked up another personal best time with an 18th place finish and a time of 56.75.
In the 500-yard Freestyle, Cole Smith set a new best time of 5:50.08 for a 11th place finish, Sager placed 15th with a time of 6:01.90, and Darrow placed 15th with a time of 6:10.93.
The 200-yard Freestyle event saw a fourth-place finish for Dahl, Cole, Cox, and Prince, finishing with a 1:37.27.
In the 200-yard Breaststroke, in which Cole set the new Carthage High School record, Ramierez and Lance Johnson placed 16th and 20th with times of 1:14.35 and 1:15.44.
The 400-yard Freestyle relay team of Smith, Ramierez, Cox, and Darrow placed ninth with a time of 3:54.15.
“This was the last meet of the season for most of our team,” Coach McBride explained. “The boys competed hard. Brayden Cole moved from a consideration time in the IM to an automatic qualifying time and both 200-yard medley relays improved their state standings. This ended the season for many of my boys and you just like to go out on such a great note.”
Final point standings for the teams competing were Glendale (630), Monett (288.5), Joplin (248), Kickapoo (213), Ozark (213), Nevada (209), Carthage (203), Logan Rogersville (193), Springfield Central (183), Webb City (150), West Plains (148.5), Camdenton (95), Marshfield (88), Waynesville (69), Thomas Jefferson (56), Lamar (51), Nixa (45), Lebanon (45), Hillcrest (43) and Parkview (17).
The state swim meet will be held in St. Peters on November 8-10.
