Jan. 24 was Senior Night for the Mount Gilead swim team. The team hosted a sprint meet and honored not only their seniors, but those from the visiting teams of Wynford, Willard, River Valley, Pleasant and Elgin.
“This is fun meet because the swimmers get to swim short events and maybe try something new since the events are the usual high school events,” explained coach Dina Snow.
The Indians came in 2nd behind River Valley.
Top finishers for Mt. Gilead:
First place: Abby Griffith, 50 free and 50 back, Luke Fraizer, 50 breast.
Second place: Boys Medley Relay: Hayden McClelland, Luke Fraizer, Josh Davis and AJ Newson; Hayden McClelland, 50 free; Boys 200 free relay (AJ Newson, Niles Bush, Luke Fraizer and Hayden McClelland).
Third place: Hayden McClelland and Kendall Neal, 50 breast; Adriana Hershner, 50 fly; the boys 400 free relay (Carson Mowery, Nolan Hershner, Wyatt Mowry and Owen Hershner).
Many other swimmers scored in this meet as well, including Jillian Jones, 100 free; Camryn Travis, 100 IM and 50 breast; Kendall Neal and AJ Newson, 50 free; Niles Bush, 50 fly; Nolan Hershner, 100 IM and 50 fly; and Cassady Irwin and Josh Davis, 50 back.
“I was proud of several swimmers for trying new events, and was excited by Nolan Hershner’s PR in the 100 IM and by AJ Newson’s PR in the 50 breast,” said Snow. “Several swimmers swam some events for the first time, such as Nolan Hershner and Adriana Hershner in the 50 fly, Jillian Jones in the 50 breaststroke and Camryn Travis in the 100 IM.”
On Saturday, Jan. 27, the swimmers travelled to Colonel Crawford High School to compete in the NCOSL Championships. “The abbreviation stands for North Central Ohio Swim League”, explained Snow. “The KMAC has no other swimming teams, so in order to have a championship, we are part of a group of schools that created their own league meet. These schools are Colonel Crawford, Wynford, Fostoria, Upper Sandusky, Bluffton, Ada, McComb and Mount Gilead.”
“The swimmers did pretty well. We have been dealing with illness and injuries, so it is hard on team morale when you find out the day of the meet that a key swimmer won’t be participating or another needs to scratch a relay,” remarked Snow. “I was proud of the swimmers that were willing to fill in the gaps and swim just so a relay could compete.”
Mt. Gilead was fifth overall. “I think we could have moved up into 4th if everyone would have been 100%. We only missed that spot by 7 points. We also had too many unfilled events, so that is a little bit painful,” said Snow.
MG’s highest finisher was Luke Fraizer, who placed third in the 100 breaststroke.
“This earns Luke honorable mention in the NCOS,” said Snow. “First place earns first team, and second place earns second team honors. We did have some swimmers make the podium, which featured the top 6 in each event.”
Podium finishers: The girls’ 200 medley relay (Cassady Irwin, Camryn Travis, Abby Griffith and Kendall Neal), 6th place; the boys 200 medley relay (Hayden McClelland, Luke Fraizer, Niles Bush and AJ Newson); Hayden McClelland, 5th in the 50 free; Abby Griffith, 4th in the 500 free with a new PR and 6th in the 100 back; the girls 200 free relay (Gabby Mowry, Cassady Irwin, Kendall Neal and Abby Griffith), 4th; the boys 200 free relay (Niles Bush, Luke Fraizer, AJ Newson and Hayden McClelland), 5th; Luke Fraizer, 3rd in the 100 breast; and the boys 400 free relay (Josh Davis, Wyatt Mowry, Luke Fraizer and Niles Bush), 4th.
Many other swimmers scored, including Nolan Hershner in the 200 free and 100 breast; Wyatt Mowry in the 200 free and 100 free; Carson Mowery in the 200 IM; Kendall Neal in the 50 free and 100 breast; Gabby Mowry in the 50 free and 100 back; Jillian Jones, Niles Bush and Josh Davis in the 50 free; Adriana Hershner in the 100 free; Owen Hershner in the 100 free and 100 breast; and Emma Kincaid in the 100 back.
The swimmers will finish the regular season on Jan. 31 against Galion and will compete in the Central District Sectional Tournament on Feb. 10.
Information received from Dina Snow.
