SSA Narrowly Falls to Defending State Champ Madison

The county elections moved Scottsboro’s opening meet of the summer season up to Monday night, a highly-anticiptated contest against the perennial state champs from Madison.  72 Wet ‘n’ Wildcats were unable to match the depth of their opponent, but they were able to give Madison its closest brush with defeat in years.  Scottsboro’s swimmers won 31 of 80 events while scoring 268 points and sending a message to the teams seeking to dethrone them from their current status as 2-time defending District runner-up.

          Scottsboro’s 12 and Under swimmers actually outscored Madison by 4 points, with the 8-Under Boys and 9-10 Girls having particularly strong showings.

          Kyle Vosen swept the 100 IM, 25 Fly and 50 Free on his way to a team-high 15 points.  Logan Anderson pitched in 11 points along with a win in the 25 Back, and Curtis Cooper added 4 points.   Ben Gossett, Warren Carlile and Jonathan Bell all swam well.  The squad of Vosen, Anderson, Cooper and Gossett took first in the Medley and Free Relays  as well.

          The 8-Under Girls were led by Kristin Copeland, who tied for team-high honors with 15 points by sweeping the 25 Free, 25 Breast and 50 Free.  Maryann Jones added a victory in the 100 IM while scoring 11 points.  Claire Megehee and Kyla Reichle each added a point, and combined with Copeland and Jones to narrowly win the 100 Free Relay.  12 additional girls from Scottsboro had personal best times, many in their first career meet, including Paige Megehee, Grace Butler, Anna Leigh Gossett, Courtney Bell, Shelby Latham, Taylor Welch, Mohymina Amjad, Victoria Keller, Erin Valentine, Wimberly Haston, Savannah Latham, and 5 year-old Lilly Green.

          The 9-10 Boys had the dubious honor of swimming against Madison’s best group.  Drew Butler nonetheless pulled out a victory in the 50 Free, scoring 9 points overall.  Crossan and Cole Cooper each added 2 points, and along with Jacob Megehee were able to snare first place in the 100 Medley Relay.  Dalton Parks, Stephen Jackson, Blake Welch and Cole Johnson flirted with the scoring column.

          As if SSA’s 9-10 Girls weren’t already dominant enough, they introduced a new threat Monday night- Maggie Pierce- who scored 11 points and placed first in the 50 Back.  Mary-Margaret Green led the group with 13 points, including victories in the 50 and 100 Free.  Mary-Catherine Gossett’s wins in the 50 Breast and 50 Fly were worth another 10 points, and Alexis Heaton added 6 points with 2^nd place efforts in the 100 IM and 50 Back.  Elizabeth Rains, Jessica Duncan, Emma Stewart, Carli Johnson, Amanda Albin and Anna Richard gave the group excellent depth.  The Medley Relay team of Heaton, Pierce, Green and Gossett shattered the old team record in the 200 Medley Relay, and also took first in the 200 Free Relay.

          The 11-12 Boys were paced by Mark Richard’s 11 points.  Richard placed first in the 50 Back.  Zach Reichle added 7 points, and combined with Clayton Houser, John-Paul Stolz and Richard to win the 200 Medley Relay by .04 seconds.  Parker Kerce swam well in his first-ever meet.

          The 11-12 Girls received first place finishes from Karah Kirkland (50 Breast) and Amelia Adkins (50 Free).  Adkins totaled 11 points, while Kirkland added 9 and Emily Albin pitched in 1.  Celia Venable, Pooja Gohil and  Madison McAllistar all did well in their first career meet, as did veterans Nina Stewart, Meghan Travis and Samantha Hastings.

          The 13-14 Boys came away with three individual wins.  Michael Rossmeier (13 points) took first in the 50 Free and 50 Breast, while Craig Cleaver (6 points) won the 50 Back.  Jeremiah Keller added 1 point, and Phillip Klepper narrowly missed the scoring column.

          Kelsey Kokes claimed the only victory for the 13-14 Girls, winning the 100 IM on her way to 11 points.  Makalea Kirkland added 4 points, Shannon Bradbury 2 and Laura Serrano 1.  Christina Richard achieved a state qualifying time.  The 200 Medley Relay squad of Kokes, Kirkland, Bradbury and Serrano set a new team record as well.

          Matt Brewer led the 15-18 Boys with 9 points, including a hard-fought win in the 50 Fly.  Benton Reed added 4 points, and Rylee Powell and Carlos Serrano each chipped in with 1.

          Haley Abril took first place in the 15-18 Girls 50 Free, and scored 7 points overall.  Hannah Thompson (2) and Ashley Carter (1) also scored, and Caitlin Chitwood achieved a state qualifying time.  In her first meet for SSA, Mindy Didier proved to be a keeper.

          Head Coach Diane Richard was very pleased with the team’s performance, noting that 23 different swimmers achieved a total of 40 state qualifying times, and that 33 swimmers scored.  “To match up that well with a powerhouse such as Madison shows the potential that this team has,” said Richard.  Assistant Coaches Marcos Abril and Steve Hamlet expect the team to shake off some rust and look even better when they host Decatur this Tuesday.