Tigersharks trump Tyler Lee

Norton+competes+in+the+Fly+during+the+Oct.+18+swim+meet+at+Texarkana+Colleges+Pinkerton+Center

Faith Rhone

Norton competes in the Fly during the Oct. 18 swim meet at Texarkana College’s Pinkerton Center

The Tigersharks placed first overall against Tyler Lee at the Pinkerton Center on Oct. 18. The girls and boys teams brought home the gold in 19 events, finishing with a girls overall score of 197, and a boys of 206.

“We are all working hard,” senior Zack Norton said. “We’ve put a lot of time into this so it’s paying off for all of us.”

In the 200 yard medley relay, seniors Brenna Moore and Lexi Watkins, sophomore Alex Jones and freshman Kristin Clayton placed first in the girls category with a time of 1:59.42. Meanwhile, senior Seth Ream, sophomore Reid Porter, juniors Conor Diggs and Zach Wolf won the boys event with a 1:45.78.

“I think our relay was exceptional at the meet,” Watkins said. “But if we want a record or to do well at the state meet, we will have to really step it up.”

Junior Tyler Snell was successful in two individual events and the 400 yard relay along with along with seniors Seth Ream and Norton and junior Zach Wolf.

“I was kinda disappointed when I started out,” Snell said. “After talking with the coaches for my later events I was able to do better than last weekend. The relays did a lot better too, and I think we are making progress.”

In the 100 yard fly, junior Kristin McCasland placed first for girls along, meanwhile Norton emerged victoriously in the boys event.

“It was not my fastest time but I won,” McCasland said. “Hopefully by the end of the season it will be a lot better. I still have a lot of work to do but, it’s getting there.”

Senior Calvin Lourens, with a score of 182.35, conquered the boys one meter dive, along with Freshman Perin Creek who had an overall score of 103.65 for the ladies.

“I feel like I did pretty good, I didn’t do as good as I had in practice,” Lourens said. “But a little more practice will help that.”

Clayton and Diggs medaled in the 100 yard breaststroke and finished with times of 1:11.61 and 1:08.09.

“I was excited about making a 1:11,” Clayton said. “It’s my fastest by far. It made me pretty happy. It’s pretty cool to see hard work pay off.”

Senior Oralia Basurto showed improvement from last season on the 100 yard freestyle and the 400 yard freestyle relay with Moore, McCasland and sophomore Cathryn Payne.

“Last year, I didn’t hit under a minute until the end of the year. This past meet, I actually hit under a minute,” Basurto said. “I feel like I will do better this year and will hopefully improve even more than before.”

With a time of 1:07.15 Jones placed top in the girls’ 100 yard backstroke.

“I was very excited, and also surprised because it was so close to my regionals time last year,” Jones said. “I dropped a lot of time so I did very good compared to our last meet.”

Porter and Moore both contributed to the win in the individual event of the 50 yard freestyle.

“My 50 free time dropped quite a bit. Coming out with first place in an individual event is a first for me with the 50,” Moore said. “I think my time will only improve and I hope to drop even more time at the next meet.”

For girls 200 yard individual medley, Payne added another victory to the Tigersharks list with a time of 2:29.30.

“I was really pleased with my time and the way the race went overall,” Payne said. “I hope to continue to drop time as the year progresses.”

Clayton, McCasland, Watkins and sophomore Linley Murdock won the girls 200 yard free relay with a time of 1:47.53.

“I was really happy with my time because it was my all time best,” Murdock said. “Being in an a relay pushed me to keep up with the faster girls.”

The Tigersharks were triumphant in their meet with Tyler Lee and hope to bring home many more gold medals as the season continues.

“I saw a lot of improvement on both the boys and girls side,” head Coach Carl Auel said. “Things that we have been working on the past week seem to kinda come to light this weekend and it looks like we took a step in the right direction.”