Tigersharks rout teams at district

Senior+Luke+Calhoon+swims+the+200+yard+individual+medley+at+the+district+meet+on+Saturday.

Rachel Lewis

Senior Luke Calhoon swims the 200 yard individual medley at the district meet on Saturday.

Story by Tyler Snell, Print editor-in-chief

The Tigersharks and Lady Tigersharks began their championship meets on Saturday while hosting the District 15 meet. The boys overpowered runner-up Longview High School with a score of 643-390. The girls also dominated Longview with a score of 667-256.

District records were broken throughout the meet, but they began with the first place winning girls and boys 200 yard medley relays. The girls consisted of sophomore Kristen Clayton, juniors Ohemaa Barnes and Linley Murdock, and senior Kristin McCasland. The boys relay was composed of junior Reid Porter and seniors Luke Calhoon, Conor Diggs and Jacob Shaw.

“The guys performed very well at district. Many of our guys did great and will be continuing on to regionals where they will drop even more time,” Diggs said. “A lot of them have been training extremely hard since day one, and I think all of that work is going to pay off in the next two weeks.”

Clayton went on to win the 200 yard individual medley with juniors Cathryn Payne and Alex Jones capturing the silver and bronze, respectively.

“I think we’ll be ready for regionals,” Clayton said. “The start of taper is always rough because we feel slower, but it will help us in the long run.”

The girls and boys both had top three sweeps in the 50 yard freestyle. McCasland, freshman Kaylee Norton and Murdock were the top three for the girls. On the boys side, sophomore Casey Williams won the event with Porter and senior Zack Wolf finishing second and third.

“I think the team will do good at regionals, and we will swim fast,” Porter said. “We did great for district. We just need to break regional and state records so [we can] have a record in every meet.”

Junior Hunter Burt also broke the boys diving meet record and placed first. McCasland, Payne and Kaylee finished top three for the girls 100 yard butterfly while Porter won gold in the boys, and sophomore Will Norton got the bronze.

“I think regionals will be really competitive,” interim head coach Eric Vogan said. “But I think we should win it, both girls and boys.”

Both the girls and boys 200 yard freestyle relays placed first. Clayton, Murdock, Kaylee and Payne made up the girls relay, and Porter, Wolf, Williams and senior Dylan Gray competed on the boys.

“I honestly believe at regionals the guys team will be shocked,” Diggs said. “They are going to swim fast. Everyone is going to swim fast, [and] we’re going to kill it.”

Barnes finished first in the girls 100 yard backstroke with sophomore Abby Hill a close second. The Tigersharks won both the boys and girls 100 yard breaststroke with Clayton and Diggs as the top finishers. The girls won the 400 yard freestyle relay with a team of McCasland, Jones, Payne and Barnes. The boys placed second with a relay consisting of Wolf, Calhoon, junior Giovanni Basurto-Ruiz, and senior Tyler Snell.

“We are resting and getting ready to swim real fast,” Vogan said. “[Regionals] should be a fun, fast meet where lots of swimmers will have their best times.”

The Tigersharks and Lady Tigersharks will compete in Lewisville for the Region 4 Championships on Feb. 5 and 6.