Fairyland's Ellie Taliaferro swims in the 13-14 50-yard butterfly for the Flash. Taliaferro swam to a first place finish, as she did in all her heats, and finished with a perfect 19 points for her team. Fairyland defeated Calhoun by 452-332 to remain undefeated at 5-0 and clinch first place in the Red Division of the Chattanooga Area Swim League. The Blue Barracudas dropped to 3-2.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Members of the Calhoun swim team were set and ready to compete on the pool deck at the Fairyland Club Monday night, but they never got wet as the meet was postponed by lighting, thunder and the overall threat of stormy weather.
They made the long trip back about 24 hours later and the second time around wasn’t nearly as productive as 21 less swimmers made the trip to the top of Lookout Mountain.
Fairyland had beaten Calhoun by a comfortable 48-point margin on June 9, but many folks were expecting a much closer meet the second time as the battle for first place in the Chattanooga Area Swim League’s Red division was on the line.
With almost half of Calhoun’s manpower not present on Tuesday, the meet wasn’t very close.
The Flash had a decided edge in every event, including a commanding 68-44 edge in the medley relay before finishing the meet with a 72-40 dominance in the free relays.
Tuesday’s meet was never in question as Fairyland stayed unbeaten after five meets with the 452-332 victory.
“Anna Nicely is doing great and has only been swimming competitively for the last four weeks. She wouldn’t even put her face in the water at the start, but look at her now,” said Alice Revenig, the Fairyland head coach, after watching her team win another free relay.
“It’s been so hard for Calhoun with so many kids missing. We were expecting a really close meet, but those missing kids really hurt them and I feel sorry for them.
“Our decrease in DQs was huge as we just had one tonight and that’s what I’m most excited about. We’ve really worked hard on our technique in recent weeks and it’s good to see that hard work paying off. It’s been a fun meet,” she said, knowing that her team will be on the road Thursday at Ringgold for their final dual meet of the season.
“I think we’re good,” said longtime Fairyland assistant Caroline Caulkins during the second half when the outcome had already been determined.
“I feel really bad for Calhoun as this would have been a really close meet last night, but they’re an up-and-coming team. We’ve only had one disqualification so far and that’s great as we’ve been working hard on the smaller details,” she added.
Calhoun coach Mike Beeler remained upbeat despite knowing ahead of time his team was at a distinct disadvantage.
“It’s been a crazy week so far, but for us to only have about half of our team here tonight, we’ve swam really well,” he began, admitting that his top four senior boys were all absent among others.
“We got a lot of extra effort from kids who normally don’t swim for points and that was nice, but we knew we didn’t have much of a chance coming in. We’ve given up a lot of points, but the ones who came have really hung in there.
“They’re cheering each other on as the older kids are pulling for the younger ones and that doesn’t happen often, but it was tough having to make this trip two days in a row,” Beeler concluded.
Take a quick look at the individual scoring and those absences really come into play for the Blue Barracudas.
Calhoun had only one swimmer – William Eickman – with the maximum 19 points compared to six for the Flash, including Ethan Bevill, Frances Bohner, Louisa Bohner, William Jackson, Annie McBryar and Ellie Taliaferro.
Jeremiah Petty and Matthew Petty both scored 17 points each for the Blue Barracudas while Anna Ward, Anne Dassow, Caroline Barnes and Harrison Barnes were next on the scoring chart for Fairyland with 17 points apiece.
The Flash finished with 20 swimmers who scored at least 10 points while the Blue Barracudas had only 14.
While Fairyland hopes to wrap up a perfect season on Thursday at Ringgold, Calhoun will be back in town to face the Country Club Wavemakers.
CALHOUN HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – William Eickman
17 – Jeremiah Petty, Matthew Petty
14 – Brandon Webb, Lila Mullinax
13 – Luke Driscoll, Zoe Tibbs
12 – Brayden Webb, Bryce Bates, Andrew Gallman
11 – Alice Workman
10 – Ryan Hood, Joe Kauffman, Spencer Brown.
FAIRYLAND HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Ethan Bevill, Frances Bohner, Louisa Bohner, William Jackson, Annie McBryar, Ellie Taliaferro
17 – Anna Ward, Anne Dassow, Caroline Barnes, Harrison Barnes
16 – Ben Bevill
15 – Richard Holsonback
13 – Jane Eiselstein, Elizabeth Wilson, Kennedy Ball
12 – Emrick Garrett, Gabriel McBryar
10 – Avery Ball, David Horne, Morton Wingfield.
RINGGOLD HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Emma Bradford, Regan Wingrove
16 – Cooper Chappelear, Emma Pulliam, William Riddell
15 – Rylee O’Donnell
14 – Abigail Dodd
13 – Easton O’Donnell, Victoria Rhinehart
12 – Saulye Nichols, Timothy Grayson
11 – Kale Davis, Helen Webb, Henry Webb
10 – Evan Wingrove, Julia Striker, Cayman Hughey, Maggie Grayson, Christopher Browning.
BIG RIDGE HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
19 – Caleb Aslinger, Sam Powe
18 – Abigail Austin
17 – Caroline Carpenter, Aidan Shaw, Hunter Shaw
16 – Austin Rawlins
15 – Christopher Tate
14 – Christopher Farnham, Nathan Jungels
13 – Mae Mae Powe, Robert Alford, Evan Simpson
12 – John Blakely
11 – Liam Runkle
10 – Adelyn Simpson.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
William Eickman was the only Calhoun swimmer to earn a maximum of 19 points. Eickman is shown swimming the 11-12 50-yard Breaststroke for the Blue Barracudas.
photo by Dennis Norwood