With the meet schedule in full swing, the Mount Gilead Barracuda Swim Team traveled to Bucyrus on June 21 to take on the White Sharks.
“This is a good meet for us — Bucyrus isn’t a large team, but most of their kids swim for Y all year,” said coach Dina Snow. “Some of their 12-13 year old girls are extremely fast. We pulled out the win thanks to the number of boys on our team and the older swimmers.”
The following relays earned first place: the 11-12 boys medley relay (Nate Rabun, Luke Fraizer, Joel Conrad and Bradley West); the 13-14 boys medley and free relay (Michael Snopik, Tyler Knight, Eric Mowery and Mason Kidwell); the 15-18 girls medley and free relay (Kylie Irwin, Erin Zmuda, Adrianna Tinch and Rachel Davis); the 15-18 boys medley relay (Logan Conrad, Evan Zmuda, Casey Conrad and Gavin Robinson); the 11-12 boys free relay (Luke Fraizer, Brice Haughn, Wesley Bush and Bradley West); and the 8-under girls free relay (Abigail Griffith, Anavey Jodrey, Alina Van Horn and Gabby Brinkman).
Scoring first in their individual events were Brice Haughn, Erin Zmuda, Madison Hack, Joel Conrad, Tyler Knight, Hawke Littell, Keana Littell, Logan Conrad, Michael Snopik, Ryann Brinkman, Grace Mowery, Casey Conrad, Gabby Brinkman, Connor Robinson, Nate Rabun, Evan Zmuda and Luke Fraizer.
Bringing in important second place points were the 11-12 girls medley relay (Kamry Grandstaff, Madison Hack, Keana Littell and Grace Mowery); Evan Zmuda, Ryann Brinkman, Grace Mowery, Adriana Tinch, Nate Rabun, Abigail Griffith, Rachel Davis, Gavin Robinson, Connor Robinson, Wesley Bush, Logan Conrad, the 9-10 girls free relay (Ellie Rhea, Ryann Brinkman, Morgan Staley and Kendall Neal); the 11-12 girls free relay (Grace Mowery, Madison Hack, Kaydence McKenzie and Kamry Grandstaff); the 13-14 boys B relay (Joel Conrad, Nate Rabun, William West and Josh Rhea); and the 15-18 boys free relay (Conrad, Zmuda, Conrad and Robinson).
Scoring additional points were Kaydence McKenzie, Adriana Tinch, Eric Mowery, Anavey Jodrey, Niles Bush, Kylie Irwin, Rachel Davis, Bradley West, and Sammie West.
Several swimmers also improved their times by several seconds, including Gavin Robinson, Tatum Neal, Michaela McGill, Connor Robinson, Sammie West, Samantha Sellers, Kasey Fiant and William West.
Later in the week, the swimmers got into their best Island mood as they competed in the Colonel Crawford Hawaiian Invitational on June 24.
“This meet is a fundraiser and the age groups are changed so swimmers are in different categories than they usually swim. This works well for the 11 year olds because they go back to doing 25s, but the 14 year olds aren’t happy because they have to move up with the oldest group and do 100s,” said Snow.
The team ended up with the first runner-up trophy but was disappointed not to receive the Aloha team spirit award.
“The kids went all out on dressing up and cheering, so I am not sure why they weren’t chosen. All in all, it was a fun day for them and the weather was perfect,” said Snow.
Top three finishers in each event earned medals. Luke Fraizer earned gold in the 25 breast, as did the 10-11 boys free relay (Fraizer, Hawke Littell, Niles Bush and Nate Rabun), and Nate Rabun, 25 free.
Silver medalists were the 15-18 boys medley and free relays (Logan Conrad, Evan Zmuda, Casey Conrad and Gavin Robinson); Logan Conrad in the 100 free; Hawke Littell in the 25 fly; Joel Conrad in the 50 fly; Evan Zmuda in the 200 free and 100 breast; and Casey Conrad in the 100 back.
Rounding out the count with bronze were Gabby Brinkman, 25 free and 50 free; Evan Zmuda, 200 IM; Josh Rhea, 50 free; Casey Conrad, 100 fly; Hawke Littell, 25 free; and Wesley Bush, 50 breast.
“At an invitational, scoring goes pretty deep, so it allows many of our swimmers to contribute to the totals,” said Snow. “I think nearly every swimmer added to our score.”
Also participating and scoring in the meet were Syntyche Black, Ryann Brinkman, Maizy Brinkman, Rachel Davis, Kamry Grandstaff, Abigail Griffith, Madison Hack, Kyndra Irwin, Kylie Irwin, Anavey Jodrey, Tyler Knight, Keana Littell, Grace Mowery, Eric Mowery, Kendall Neal, Tatum Neal, Addie Rhea, Ellie Rhea, Josh Rhea, Taylor Robinson, Rylee Simpson and Erin Zmuda. Samantha Sellers and Kasey Fiant also represented the Barracudas.
