LC-M duo lead OC swimmers at Region V meet

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LC-M duo lead OC swimmers at Region V meet
Tommy Mann, Jr.
The Orange Leader

MAGNOLIA — The 2009-2010 UIL swim season has come to an end for swimmers representing three Orange County schools.

The Region V Championship swim meet was held in Magnolia over the weekend as nearly 300 contestants from 21 school districts participated, including 14 swimmers from Little Cypress-Mauriceville, West Orange-Stark and Vidor High Schools.

The first place winner of each race advances to the State meet in Austin later this month. No Orange County swimmers qualified for the state meet, but several managed to set personal records this past weekend.

Leading the way for Orange County were LC-M swimmers Alex Dorman and Cassey Brown.

Dorman, a junior, placed ninth at the Region V meet in the Boys 100 Yard Backstroke with a personal best time of 1:00.16. Dorman also finished in 11th place in the Boys 200 Yard Freestyle and set another personal record by breaking the 2 minute mark with a time of 1:59.55.

Brown, also a junior at LC-M, finished in ninth place in the Girls 500 Yard Freestyle with a personal best time of 6:13.44, a five second improvement over her qualifying time in the preliminary round. Brown added an 11th place finish in the Girls 100 Yard Backstroke in a time of 1:13.40.

The Vidor Pirates swim team had three individuals and two relay teams qualify for Saturday’s final round despite several members of the team battling stomach flu.

Leading the way was junior Jarrett Cameron who, appearing in his first Region V finals, placed 13th in the Boys 200 Yard Individual Medley (IM) with a time of 2:26.31 and 14th in the Boys 100 Yard Backstroke in 1:05.82.

Representing the Lady Pirates in Saturday’s finals were Victoria Richardson and Kayla Lee.

Richardson, a sophomore, placed 16th in the Girls 200 Yard Freestyle in 2:51.83. She also placed 19th in the Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke in 1:35.18.

Lee, a freshman, placed 16th in the Girls 500 Yard Freestyle in a personal best time of 7:23.25. Lee also finished 20th in the Girls 200 Yard IM in a time of 3:06.50.

Senior Ashley Mann was swimming in the final meet of her high school career and fell just short of reaching the finals in both of her individual events.

Mann missed Saturday’s finals by .01 seconds with a 17th place finish in the Girls 200 Yard IM in 2:54.37 and by .26 seconds with a 17th place finish in the Girls 100 Yard Freestyle in 1:09.07.

Jessica Cameron, a sophomore, placed 20th in the Girls 100 Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:38.20 and finished 21st in the Girls 200 Yard Freestyle in a time of 3:13.28.

Swimmer Stephani Dyess improved her personal best time in the Girls 50 Yard Freestyle by 1.38 seconds and claimed 21st place.

Tim Brown, a third year Region V qualifier, placed 22nd in the Boys 200 Yard Freestyle in 2:31.00 and 24th in the Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke in 1:22.20.

Damien Kirkland placed 22nd in the Boys 100 Yard Freestyle with a personal best time of 1:05.74, while teammate Damian Mann was scratched from Friday’s preliminary round of the Boys 500 Yard Freestyle with a bout of the stomach flu.

The Lady Pirates relay team of Mann, Cameron, Richardson and Lee set a team record time of 2:34.83 in the Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay and claimed 12th place overall, while the same team earned 13th place in the Girls 200 Yard Freestyle Relay in 2:18.13, a .80 second improvement over the team’s previous best time.

The Boys relay team of Brown, Cameron, Kirkland and Mann snagged a 13th place finish in the Boys 200 Yard Medley Relay and a 15th place finish in the Boys 200 Yard Freestyle Relay in a team best time of 1:52.79.

West Orange-Stark swimmers Will Cowart and Timothy Morrow also attended the Region V meet in Magnolia.

Cowart qualified as the 16th seed in Friday’s preliminary round of the Boys 50 Yard Freestyle with a time of 24.44 seconds to advance to Saturday’s final, but did not attend Saturday’s final competition and was scratched from the race.

Morrow, a sophomore at West Orange-Stark High School, placed 21st in the Boys 50 Yard Freestyle in 28.48 seconds and 23rd in the Boys 100 Yard Freestyle in 1:10.26.