Arnold Leads Wildcats at State Meet with Championship

By Coach Osborne

            What could senior Matthew Arnold do to top his 2nd and 4th place finishes as a junior at last year's State Meet? 1st and 3rd place of course!

            After the preliminaries, Matthew had the second best time in the 100 butterfly at 55.36 seconds.  Matthew started the final race strong as he turned at the first wall tied for first.  He was barely in second at the second wall, half way through the race.  That is when Matthew made his move.  Matthew used his speed under the water to overtake first place and pulled well ahead in the last 25 yards to win the State Championship in the 100 butterfly in 53.86 seconds!

            After only a 15 minute break, Matthew swam the 500 freestyle in a personal best of 5:10.26.  While that time was third in the state this year, it should be noted that his time was 24 seconds better than the best time in last year's State Meet.

            Sophomore Matthew Usher also had a strong showing with two 10th place finishes.  Matthew swam his best time of the year in the 200 freestyle at 2:05.24.  Matthew swam another season best time in the 100 backstroke at 1:06.66. 

            One year after finishing 4th in the state, the Central Boys swim team finished 9th with 90 points despite returning only two swimmers and having only five boys on the team.  If the team had a sixth member the team could have competed in all three relays and assuredly would have finished higher.  Freshmen Jack Way and Geremy Porch combined with junior Devin Avery to complete the relays that contributed to the strong showing.

            The girls team also swam well at the meet.  Coach Osborne is excited by the potential of the girls team that had no seniors this year.  Freshman Tejah Scott, sophomores Acacia Porch and Emily Hollier, all swam times within a second of the state cut at one stage of the year.  Juniors Lyndee Debetaz and Stephanie Pourciau overcame late season illnesses to swim considerably faster than they did at the beginning of the year.  Junior Brooke Demoulin also improved and stepped in anywhere she was needed.

            As for Arnold's State Title, the entire team was rooting hard for Matthew and showed their excitement after the race.  Coach Mary Hodges, whose family is friends with the Arnold family, said, "Matthew is humble, extremely hard working, and motivated.  He has been the energizer bunny since he was five and he started swimming."  As for his parents, "They are very supportive as they have gone to all those hot summer meets that last all day.  Even with six kids, Ms. Karen would drive Matthew all over for swimming including across town to Crawfish Aquatics where Matthew trains year round."

            The swim team will conclude their season with their banquet on December 2nd.  Anyone interested in joining the swim team for next year should contact Coach Osborne by calling Central High School or emailing him at [email protected].