The Mount Gilead Swimmers started the new year with a variety of swim meets. The team started off with a 5-way meet against Marion Harding, Newark Catholic, Mansfield Senior, Jonathan Alder and Ridgedale. The boys tied for first with Harding. “
Ties don’t happen much in swimming,” said coach Dina Snow, “but coming off our Christmas break and lots of illness, I was delighted with a tie. We had some good swims. The teams were pretty well-matched, and that makes it a lot more fun to get in and compete.”
First place finishes were earned by the 200 Medley Relay A team of Logan Conrad, Evan Zmuda, Casey Conrad and Kyle Landes; by Evan Zmuda in the 200 IM and Casey Conrad in the 100 fly. Taking second place were the 200 Free Relay A team of Conrad, Zmuda, Conrad and Landes; Colton Long in the 200 IM, Erin Zmuda in the 100 free and 100 breast; Marion McGill in the 500 free; and Evan Zmuda in the 100 breast. Bringing home third place finishes were Logan Conrad in the 50 free; Dylan Knight, 100 free; Jay Stratton, 100 back; and the 400 Free Relay A team of Logan Conrad, Dylan Knight, Jay Stratton and Aaron Evans.
Also scoring additional points were the 200 Medley B team of Jay Stratton, Colton Long, Aaron Evans and Kurtis Brown; Tyler Jones in the 200 free and 100 back; Gavin Robinson in the 200 free; Shelby West in the 50 free and 100 breast; Marion McGill, 50 free; Kyle Landes, 50 free; Aaron Evans, 100 fly; Colton Long, 100 breast; the 200 free B relay team of Kurtis Brown, Tyler Jones, Dylan Knight and Andrew McFarland; and the 400 Free Relay B team of Gavin Robinson, Andrew McFarland, John McGill and Spencer Faux.
Personal bests were earned by Colton Long, 200 IM; Jay Stratton, 100 back; Aaron Evans, 100 fly, Gavin Robinson and John McGill, 100 free.
Next up for the Indians was the Division II Public School Invitational, hosted by MG at the Marion Y on Jan. 9.
“We started this invitational last year to give smaller public schools a chance to compete on a more level field,” said Snow. “We go off to sectionals and districts against Columbus Academy, Columbus School for Girls and other strong private schools. These schools have so many advantages that we don’t have, so this meet has been fun for the swimmers and we hear a lot of positive feedback from the visiting teams. We allowed for deep scoring and several relay entries, so kids that often don’t even swim at sectionals or score points throughout the year get the chance at this meet. Of course, it worked against us this year with a smaller team, but all in all, the Indians did well.”
Participating schools in addition to Mt. Gilead were Upper Sandusky, Bexley, Marion Pleasant, Marion Harding, Mansfield Madison, Galion, River Valley, Elgin and Ridgedale. Trophies were given to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers for both girls and boys teams. For the girls, Upper Sandusky took first, Bexley was second and Marion Pleasant third. The boys winner was also Upper Sandusky, followed by Galion in second and Marion Harding third. The Mount Gilead boys team was fourth—coming in just 28 points behind Harding.
Scoring in the top three were Evan Zmuda: second in the 200 IM and 100 breast; Erin Zmuda, second in the 50 free; Casey Conrad, 2nd in the 100 fly; and the 200 Medley Relay A team of Logan Conrad, Evan Zmuda, Casey Conrad and Kyle Landes, 3rd.
Also scoring for the Indians were the 200 Medley Relay B team of Jay Stratton, Dylan Knight, Kurtis Brown and Aaron Evans; the 200 Medley Relay C team of Tyler Jones, Gavin Robinson, Colton Long and Trenton Ball; Jay Stratton in the 200 free and 100 back; Gavin Robinson in the 200 free; Colton Long in the 200 IM and 100 breast; Tyler Jones in the 200 IM and 100 back; Spencer Faux in the 200 IM; Shelby West in the 100 breast; Logan Conrad in the 50 free and 100 breast; Kyle Landes in the 50 and 100 free; Kurtis Brown in the 50 free; Erin Zmuda, 100 free; Marion McGill, 500 free; Casey Conrad, 500 free; Aaron Evans, 100 fly; Dylan Knight, 100 breast; the 200 free relay A team of Logan Conrad, Evan Zmuda, Casey Conrad and Kyle Landes; the 200 free relay B team of Noah Arrington, Dylan Knight, Aaron Evans and Kurtis Brown; the 200 free relay C team of Andrew McFarland, Gavin Robinson, Colton Long and Trenton Ball; the 400 free relay A team of Noah Arrington, Jay Stratton, Kurtis Brown and Aaron Evans; and the 400 free relay B team of Gavin Robinson, John McGill, Spencer Faux and Andrew McFarland. Personal bests were earned by Shelby West in the 50 free and 100 breast; Andrew McFarland in the 100 back; Marion McGill in the 100 back; and Colton Long in the 200 IM.
On Saturday, Jan. 16, the team traveled to Circleville to compete in the Teays Valley Viking Invitational.
“The travel time was worth it. In past years, we were lucky to score any points, but the combination of teams that were there last year and this year set us up to compete well. At the end of the day, the boys came home with the high point trophy!” reported Snow. “Several swimmers were able to take home medals or ribbons as well, which is unusual for a high school meet. It was fun to hand out the hardware!’”
Gold medal winners were Erin Zmuda in the 50 free, Casey Conrad in the 100 fly and the 200 free relay A team of Logan Conrad, Kurtis Brown, Kyle Landes and Evan Zmuda.
“This relay had the crowd going, with Evan giving it all he had to pull from behind and hold onto the lead. We had to check the scoreboard to find out Evan had out-touched the competition by just a hair. It was a great boost for the guys!” said Snow.
Silver medals were earned by Evan Zmuda in the 200 IM and 100 breast; and by Erin Zmuda in the 100 free. Relays did not earn medals, but the 200 medley relay A team of Logan Conrad, Evan Zmuda, Casey Conrad and Kyle Landes scored important second place points.
The 400 free relay B team of Casey Conrad, Gavin Robinson, Colton Long and Noah Arrington also added important third place points to the team total.
“Having the manpower to have 2 relays in each relay event was crucial to our victory,” said Snow. “I have to thank Spencer Faux for being willing to step up and fill a spot left by an ill teammate. Because of that, our 400 free relay B team of Andrew McFarland, John McGill, Trenton Ball and Faux brought in the 4th place points.”
Earning other individual awards were Jay Stratton, 5th place ribbons for the 200 free and 100 back; Aaron Evans, 5th place ribbon for the 100 fly; Colton Long, 5th place ribbon for the 200 IM; Logan Conrad, 4th place ribbon for the 100 breast; Casey Conrad, 4th place ribbon for the 500 free; and Kyle Landes, 5th place ribbon for the 100 free.
Also scoring for the Indians were Tyler Jones in the 200 free and 100 back; Evans in the 200 free; Gavin Robinson in the 200 IM; Logan Conrad, 50 free; Kurtis Brown, 50 free and 100 free; Kyle Landes, 50 free; Noah Arrington, 50 free and 100 free; Dylan Knight, 100 breast; Andrew McFarland, 100 back; the 200 Medley Relay B team of Stratton, Knight, Brown and Evans; and the 200 Free Relay team B of Arrington, Knight, Evans and Jones.
Information received from Dina Snow.
