Swim season reaches half-way point

[KFDM COOP]

Swim season reaches half-way point

Tommy Mann, Jr. The Orange Leader

ORANGE — Area swim teams once again converged on the City of Orange Natatorium as the season reached its halfway point this past Saturday.

The Spindletop Swim team hosted the third meet of the season at the City of Orange Natatorium Saturday, which resulted in improved performances by the City of Orange Swim Team (COST) and Vidor Area Swim Team (VAST).

VAST swimmers and siblings Timothy and Zoe Bahl started the day off with victories in the 100 Yard Individual Medley. Timothy won the Boys 7-8 race in 1:56.30, while Zoe won the Girls 9-10 division in 1:37.99. Joel Schiesler added a second place finish in the Boys 9-10 division in 1:44.02. Carly Bessire of VAST claimed third in the Girls 11-12 race in 1:25.49.

COST member Rylan Odom won the Boys 11-12 100 Yard IM in 1:26.95, while Eddie Dyess of VAST finished in third place in 1:32.51. Michael Dupre of COST placed second in the Boys 13-14 age group with a blazing time of 1:17.45.

Carter Holmes finished in third place in the Boys 6 and Under 25 Yard Freestyle with a time of 40.91 seconds, while Ricki King of COST placed third in the Girls 7-8 division with a time of 23.92 seconds.

Alexander Jordan of COST roared to a first place win in the Boys 7-8 age group with a time of 18.63 seconds, while teammate Nicholas Anthony claimed second in the Boys 9-10 age group in 16.31 seconds.

Zoe Bahl of VAST added another victory, her second of four on the day, in the  Girls 9-10 50 Yard Freestyle race with a time of 36.46 seconds. Her brother Timothy did the same in the Boys 7-8 age group in 49 seconds.

VAST swimmer Joel Schiesler placed second in the Boys 9-10 division in 35.81 seconds, as did teammate Carly Bessire in the Girls 11-12 age group with a time of 31.19 seconds.

COST used the one-two punch of Rylan Odom and Blake LeBlanc to claim first and second in the Boys 11-12 division, as Odom won with a time of 33.03 seconds and was followed by LeBlanc in 34.70 seconds.

In the Girls 13-14 50 Yard Freestyle race, Tricia Newman of COST placed third in 30.66 seconds, while VAST’s Lucas Wolfe finished third in the Boys division in 30.28 seconds.

Victoria Richardson of VAST finished in second place in the Girls 15-16 age group with a time of 32.89 seconds, followed by Kaci Naquin of COST in third place with a time of 34.16 seconds.

In the Girls 13-14 100 Yard Freestyle race, Paige Perales of COST finished in first place with a time of 1:04.50, while Bailey Rogers of VAST claimed third in 1:17.36.

Kayla Lee of VAST finished third in the Girls 15-16 age group in 1:13.82, while teammate Cassey Brown finished in second place in the Girls 17-19 division with a time of 1:04.99. Jarrett Cameron, also of VAST, won the boys age group race in 1:01.86.

COST’s Kaghan Odom won the Boys 7-8 25 Yard Butterfly impressively in 31.16 seconds, while VAST’s Zoe Bahl won the Girls 9-10 age group decisively in 19.49 seconds. Nicholas Anthony of COST placed third in the boys division in 20.51 seconds.

Shelby Perales walked away victorious in the Girls 11-12 25 Yard Butterfly in 20.39 seconds, while teammate Joshua Howard placed second in the Boys division in 20.35 seconds. Lawson Flores of VAST claimed third in 23.41 seconds.

Carly Bessire of VAST place third in the Girls 11-12 50 Yard Butterfly in 37.44 seconds. In the Boys division, Rylan Odom of COST won with a time of 39.40 seconds, while Hunter Heidleberg of VAST was third in 42.89 seconds.

Paige Perales of COST finished in second place in the Girls 13-14 race in 32.99 seconds, while teammate Michael Dupre won the Boys bracket in 33.63 seconds.

Damien Kirkland of VAST placed second in the Boys 15-16 50 Yard Butterfly in 29.43 seconds, while teammate Kayla Lee won the Girls 15-16 100 Yard Butterfly in 1:29.10.

Kaghan Odom of COST added another victory to his tally by winning the Boys 7-8 25 Yard Backstroke in 23.04 seconds. Teammate Nicholas Anthony placed second in the Boys 9-10 race in 21.52 seconds.

COST member Rylan Odom was victorious in the Boys 11-12 50 Yard Backstroke in 40.38 seconds, more than 4 seconds ahead of runner-up Eddie Dyess of VAST. Carly Bunch of VAST finished third in the Girls 11-12 50 Yard Backstroke in 45.57 seconds.

Page Perales of COST won the Girls 13-14 50 Yard Backstroke in 34.69 seconds, while teammate Tricia Newman finished second in 37.82 seconds.

Michael Dupre of COST won the Boys division in 35.52 seconds, while teammate Jordan Dodson was third in 38.27 seconds.

Victoria Richardson of VAST placed third in the Girls 15-16 50 Yard Backstroke in 40.23 seconds, and teammate Cassey Brown won the Girls 17-19 100 Yard Backstroke in 1:12.37.

Ricki King and Whitely Hoyland of COST placed second and third, respectively, in the Girls 7-8 25 Yard Breaststroke. King finished in 35.46 seconds, while Hoyland was right behind in 37.54 seconds.

Timothy Bahl of VAST edged out Kaghan Odom of COST in the Boys 7-8 division. Bahl finished first in 31.13 seconds, while Odom claimed second in 32.04 seconds. Zoe Bahl added another win to her daily total by finishing first in the Girls 9-10 25 Yard Breaststroke in 26.49 seconds.

VAST swimmer Carly Bessire won the Girls 11-12 50 Yard Breaststroke in 42.50 seconds, while teammate Eddie Dyess claimed his first victory of the year in the boys division in 49.90 seconds. COST swimmer Chase LeDoux placed third in the same race in 51.23 seconds.

Tricia Newman of COST finished third in the Girls 13-14 50 Yard Breaststroke with a time of 43.67 seconds, while Chase Bunch of VAST placed third in the boys division in 45.43 seconds.

Kayla Lee of VAST outpaced Kaci Naquin of COST to claim second in the Girls 15-16 50 Yard Breaststroke with a time of 44.49 seconds. Naquin finished third in 45.57 seconds.

Bailey Rogers of VAST won the Girls 13-14 100 Yard Breaststroke in 1:34.02, and teammate Jessica Cameron won the Girls 15-16 race in 2:05.63.

Michael Dupre of COST won the Boys 13-14 100 Yard Breaststroke in 1:32.35, and Lucas Wolfe of VAST placed second with a time of 1:38.36.

COST’s Joshua Howard, 11, opted to participate in the Boys 17-19 100 Yard Breaststroke and won with a time of 1:54.61.

COST swimmers Kaghan Odom, Whitley Hoyland, Ricki King and Jordan Alexander won first place in the Mixed 8 and Under 100 Yard Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:29.73. The VAST relay team of Grace Dean, Nikki Eads, Jaimee Cameron and Zoe Bahl won first in the Mixed 10 and Under Freestyle Relay in 1:18.92.

The COST relay team of Blake LeBlanc, Shelby Perales, Chase LeDoux and Rylan Odom won first in the Mixed 12 and Under 100 Yard Freestyle Relay in 1:01.28, and the COST relay team of Jordan Dodson, Ivy Casteel, Tricia Newman and Paige Perales won the Mixed 14 and Under 100 Yard Relay in 54.52 seconds.

The Golden Triangle Swim Association will take this week off from competition in observance of the Fourth of July holiday. The next swim meet will be held at the City of Vidor Swimming Pool at the corner of South Street and OId Highway 90 near Interstate 10.