CHS Swim Team Qualifies Six for State Meet

By Coach Osborne

            The Central High School Boys and Girls Swimming Teams opened the 2011 swim season last Saturday at Crawfish Aquatics with a great performance.  The Wildcats posted 6 qualifying times for the state meet, and four other times were less than 2 seconds from qualifying.

            Leading the way for the Wildcats on the girls team was senior Mary Catherine Hodges.   Mary Catherine qualified for the state meet in two events.  She finished third in the 100 yard breastroke with a time of 1:24:81, and second in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 28:22.

            Jessica Hooper and Emerald Roney also had good meets on the girls side.  Jessica placed 7^th in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 7:47:80.  Emerald finished 9^th in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:20:85.   That time is less than a second away from the state meet qualifying time.

            For the boys, freshman Matthew Arnold had an outstanding meet.  Matthew qualified for the state meet in three events.  He placed 1^st in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:07:45, and finished 3^rd in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:26:40.  Matthew also swam a 26:14 over the first 50 yards of the 200 yard freestyle relay.

            Sophomores Daniel Parker and Sean Murphy also swam well for the Wildcats.  Daniel finished 7^th in the 100 yard breastroke with a time of 1:17:02.  That time is good enough to qualify for the state meet.  Daniel missed the state time by less than half a second in the 50 yard freestyle.

            Sean placed second in one of the most exciting finishes of the meet.  The 500 yard freestyle is 20 laps, but the race came down to the last yard as Sean finished .63 seconds behind the winner.  Sean’s time was 6:42:82.  Sean came back a short time later and swam well in the 100 backstroke where he finished 9^th with a time of 1:22:09.

            The Wildcats were very competitive in the boys relays thanks to the contributions of Kade McAdams, Blandyn Leblanc, Ben Curry, Cameron Brooks, and Tanner Stockton.  

            Everyone on the team contributed to the success of the meet by swimming on a relay or swimming personal best times.  Those other swimmers include: Becka Lizarraga, Shane Hernandez, Shelby Eisworth, Hollie Michelli, Tara Termini, and Breigh Allen.    

Coach Lagroue and Coach Osborne were pleased with the attitude, enthusiasm, and competitiveness of both teams for the first meet.  The swim teams are back in action, Saturday morning, September 24^th at Crawfish Aquatics.