The Marion YMCA Keith Davis Natatorium was filled to capacity for Mount Gilead’s multi-team home meet on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

“The Y is gracious in allowing us to host ‘home meets’ several times a season,” said coach Dina Snow. “We invited a number of teams and got a great response.”

Teams participating with the Indians were Marion Pleasant, River Valley, Marion Elgin, Kenton, Upper Sandusky, Wynford, Lima Senior, Ridgedale and Jonathan Alder.

“We limited the entries to keep the meet from lasting too long since MG still had school the next day. It went well and the coaches all expressed compliments on it being a fun meet. Upper Sandusky won both the men’s and women’s meet. They had some very fast swimmers as well as a very large team, so they could fill all the events,” said Snow.

The Mount Gilead boys came in fourth out of eight, while the girls finished seventh out of 10. The combined scores ranked MG fifth out of 10.

“We had an injury, so once again, our girls could not field a relay,” said Snow. “When you only have four girls and one can’t compete, it is really disappointing. All in all, we had some great swims — not an easy job mid-season on a school night and during finals to boot! I am very proud of our swimmers.”

Top finishers for the boys were the 200 medley and free relay (Logan Conrad, Evan Zmuda, Casey Conrad, Kurtis Brown), second place; Casey Conrad, third in the 200 free and fourth in the 100 fly; Evan Zmuda, first in the 200 IM and 100 breast; Logan Conrad, third in the 50 free; Kurtis Brown, fourth in the 100 free; and the boys 400 free relay (L. Conrad, K. Brown, Gavin Robinson and Zack Clark), third place.

Also scoring were Colton Long, 200 free and 100 free; Gavin Robinson, 200 IM and 100 back; and Zack Clark, 50 free.

For the girls, Erin Zmuda was first in the 50 free and third in the 100 back. Shelby West also scored in the 50 free, as did Cassandra Snopik in the 100 free and 100 breast.

“I was very impressed by how many swimmers achieved personal bests at this meet. We typically don’t see drops like this until later in the season. They have been focusing on their technique, which really helps a lot when our practices are too short to get a lot of yardage in,” emphasized Snow.

These swimmers were Colton Long, 200 free and 100 free, Cassandra Snopik, 100 free and 100 breast; Logan Conrad and Kurtis Brown, 100 free; Casey Conrad, 200 free; and Gavin Robinson, 200 IM.

The swimmers will continue to practice over Christmas break, with their next meet on Jan. 4, hosted by Marion Harding. The team is also hosting a Division II public school invitational on Jan. 7. Supporters and volunteers are encouraged to participate to help the team.

Information received from Dina Snow.