D-B Wins Highlight Stellar Day for Area Swimmers at 30th East Tennessee Classic
by STEVE WILMOTH
TriCitiesSports.com
December 2, 2017
KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Dobyns-Bennett swam to team titles across all three scoring disciplines Saturday morning at the 30th East Tennessee Classic held at the Kingsport Aquatic Center.
The Lady Indians piled up 488 points while the D-B boys went just higher at 493 points to finish with a combined tally of 981, easily outpointing runner-up Tennessee High in each.
“We are getting better,” said Dobyns-Bennett coach Nathan Love. “It’s December now, so we are trying to hit our best times from last year.”
Grace Allen and Hayley Kirk both notched a pair of individual wins for the Lady Indians. Allen touched first in the 100 backstroke (1:01.63) and the 100 fly (1:00.56). Kirk was first in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.64) and the 200 individual medley (2:25.46). Both were also part of two relay wins, teaming with Natalie Bates and Blakely Gamble to win the 200 freestyle relay (1:50.60) and with Bates and Madalyn Thayer in the 200 medley relay (2:00.28).
“Grace had her best time in the 100 back and beat her time by a second from last year at this time,” added Love.
Freshman Shane Estes picked up victories in the 100 free (51.49) and the 200 free (1:53.49) and was part of relay wins in the 200 free relay (1:37.90) with Jed Ratliff, Marcus Taylor and Evan Loyd and the 200 medley relay (1:50.56) with Loyd, Elijah Manship and Khristian Shockley.
“Shane coming in as a freshman has really been strong,” noted Love. “We were really beat up from a tough meet on Monday against Science Hill, so to come in here and swim so well, it was fun to watch.”
Loyd was also first in the 50 yard free (23.46) while Taylor also touched first in the 100 fly (1:00.02), adding another state qualification time for the Tribe.
“We are slowly getting there in building that state team and seeing best times is always a lot of fun,” Love said. “We are doing a lot better as far as the depth goes. Next year, we will be even deeper.”
Tennessee High sophomore Lakelyn Ziegler continued her stellar season in leading the charge for the Vikings. Already, Ziegler is a seven-time state qualifier this year alone. Ziegler swept the distance swims for the Lady Vikings, winning the 200 meter free in 2:04.62 and the 500 meter free in 5:28.75.
“I like how you can go out and have more time to think about your race on the longer events,” said Ziegler. “Today was decent. They weren’t my best races. Today was my first time this season swimming the 500 so I’ll go from there.”
Volunteer finished third overall with 225 points. The Lady Falcons tallied 135 of those to place fourth and the Falcon boys compiled 90 points to finish fifth, but were just one point out of fourth and four points out of third.
“Volunteer swam really well today, really well, the best we’ve ever done in this meet,” said Jim Whalen, who co-coaches both Volunteer and Cherokee with wife, Robin. “We had a lot of point-getters today.”
Whalen’s youngest daughter, Tinsley, a sophomore, has backed up her freshman season that saw her became the first-ever Volunteer swimmer to qualify for the state meet, with two state qualifications this year.
Having already earned a spot in the 50 free, Tinsley swam a personal-best 59.74 to qualify in the 100 free, finishing runner-up to Halls’ Isabell Loy (59.40).
“I was hoping to get under a minute, but I was surprised to get the time I did,” said Tinsley, who won the 50 free by over two seconds in 26.14. The last turn were the difference in potentially winning a second event.
“I tried to push myself and pace with her (Loy) because she had a better time coming in,” explained Tinsley. “I took an extra breath there before the turn.”
Older sister, Tieran is closing in on state qualification as well. The junior broke a collar bone playing basketball for the Lady Falcons and missed the rest of both seasons.
Saturday, Tieran was eighth in the 50 free and sixth in the 100 free.
“I did a lot better, I cut a bunch of time down and I’m only a few seconds away from state,” said Tieran.
The sisters also teamed with Skylar Dykes and Ellie McLain to finish second in the 200 free relay (1:53.39) and third in the 200 medley relay (2:09.43).
Jonathan Newland held the mantle for the Volunteer boys, placing second in the 50 free (24.56) and sixth in the 100 free (56.38).
“Jonathan is a half-second away from qualifying in the 50 and about three seconds away in the 100,” noted coach Whalen. “I’m thinking he’s going to get it,”
Cherokee’s Lindsey Knox is headed back to state as well in two events. Knox was second in the 100 back (1:05.03) and third in the 100 fly (1:06.09).
“I’ve struggled a little bit this season and I’m just now getting it back,” said Knox. “I dropped six seconds combined from last week.”
Sullivan Central senior Dylan Powell is state-bound for a third straight year. Powell won the 100 breast (1:06.23) and placed third in the 100 fly (1:01.87).
“I really like the pool at this facility,” said Powell. “It’s a fast pool, I always get my best times here.”
Powell battled with close friend Elijah Manship of D-B in the breast, winning by just 0.26 seconds.
“We’ve been racing together since we were freshman and it’s been back and forth every single year,” added Powell. “I knew if I beat him I’d probably qualify for state. He gives me that little bit extra incentive.”
Piper Floyd had the best effort of the day for Sullivan South. The Lady Rebel senior finished fifth in the 100 free (1:04.61) and seventh in the 200 free (2:36.64).
30th East Tennessee Classic
Kingsport Aquatic Center
Saturday, December 2, 2017
Combined Team Scoring – 1. Dobyns-Bennett 981, 2. Tennessee High 616, 3. Volunteer 225, 4. Knox Halls 181, t-5. Sullivan Central 147, Morristown East 147, 7. Morristown West 125, 8. Sullivan South 73, 9. West Henderson 59, 10. Chuckey-Doak 53, 11. Cherokee 25.
Girls Team Scoring – 1. Dobyns-Bennett 488, 2. Tennessee High 252, 3. Knox Halls 156, 4. Volunteer 135, 5. Sullivan Central 66, 6. Sullivan South 57, 7. Morristown East 53, 8. Morristown West 34, 9. West Henderson 32, 10. Chuckey-Doak 26, 11. Cherokee 25.
Boys Team Scoring – 1. Dobyns-Bennett 493, 2. Tennessee High 364, 3. Morristown East 94, 4. Morristown West 91, 5. Volunteer 90, 6. Sullivan Central 81, t-7. Chuckey-Doak 27, West Henderson 27, 9. Knox Halls 25, 10. Sullivan South 16.
Girls Event Results
50 Free – 1. Tinsley Whalen, Volunteer, 26.14; 2. Natalie Bates, Dobyns-Bennett, 28.29; 3. Grace Greenhill, Dobyns-Bennett, 28.55.
100 Free – 1. Isabell Loy, Knox Halls, 59.40; 2. Tinsley Whalen, Volunteer, 59.74; 3. Skylar Dykes, Volunteer, 1:01.67.
200 Free – 1. Lakelyn Ziegler, Tennessee High, 2:04.62; 2. Melody Ottinger, Chucky-Doak, 2:14.43; 3. Emalee Abbott, Knox Halls, 2:22.74.
500 Free – 1. Lakelyn Ziegler, Tennessee High, 5:28.75; 2. Melody Ottinger, Chuckey-Doak, 5:59.17; 3. Abigail Caveness, Dobyns-Bennett, 6:26.95.
100 Back – 1. Grace Allen, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:01.63; 2. Lynsey Knox, Cherokee, 1:05.03; 3. Isabell Loy, Knox Halls, 1:05.07.
100 Breast – 1. Hayley Kirk, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:11.64; 2. Morgan Lounds, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:13.76; 3. Ellie McLain, Volunteer, 1:17.48.
100 Fly – 1. Grace Allen, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:00.56; 2. Rebekah Littauer, West Henderson, 1:03.06; 3. Lynsey Knox, Cherokee, 1:06.09.
200 IM – 1. Hayley Kirk, Dobyns-Bennett, 2:25.46; 2. Rebekah Littauer, West Henderson, 2:27.19; 3. Morgan Lounds, Dobyns-Bennett, 2:30.09.
200 Free Relay – 1. Dobyns-Bennett (Natalie Bates, Hayley Kirk, Blakely Gamble, Grace Allen), 1:50.60; 2. Volunteer (Skylar Dykes, Tieran Whalen, Ellie McLain, Tinsley Whalen), 1:53.39; 3. Tennessee High (Hannah Powers, Maggie Johnson, Cameron Shelley, Lakelyn Ziegler), 1:56.45.
400 Free Relay – 1. Dobyns-Bennett (Abigail Caveness, Kaitlin Adams, Morgan Lounds, Madalyn Thayer), 4:22.46; 2. Knox Halls 4:27.69; 3. Tennessee High (Kenzie Starling, Grace Brooks, Audrey Moseley, Cameron Shelley), 4:44.01.
200 Medley Relay – 1. Dobyns-Bennett (Grace Allen, Hayley Kirk, Madalyn Thayer, Natalie Bates), 2:00.28; 2. Knox Halls 2:05.40; 3. Volunteer (Tinsley Whalen, Ellie McLain, Skylar Dykes, Tieran Whalen), 2:09.43.
1 Meter Diving – 1. Madeli Morawski, Dobyns-Bennett, 342.80; 2. Kynadi Lane, Dobyns-Bennett 341.34; 3. Madison Peltier, Tennessee High, 261.80.
Boys Event Results
50 Free – 1. Evan Loyd, Dobyns-Bennett, 23.46; 2. Jonathan Newland, Volunteer, 24.56; 3. Marcus Taylor, Dobyns-Bennett, 24.61.
100 Free – 1. Shane Estes, Dobyns-Bennett, 51.40; 2. Alek McRae, Tennessee High, 52.49; 3. Evan Loyd, Dobyns-Bennett, 53.17.
200 Free – 1. Shane Estes, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:53.49; 2. Alek McRae, Tennessee High, 1:54.66; 3. Blake Webb, Morristown East, 2:06.09.
500 Free – 1. Zachary Anguish, Chuckey-Doak, 5:32.68; 2. Anthony Walker, Dobyns-Bennett, 5:34.26; 3. Payton Hammond, Dobyns-Bennett, 6:11.44.
100 Back – 1. Blake Webb, Morristown East, 1:02.47; 2. Khristian Shockley, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:03.64; 3. Cole Craddock, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:07.94.
100 Breast – 1. Dylan Powell, Sullivan Central, 1:06.23; 2. Elijah Manship, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:06.49; 3. Tucker Couch, Tennessee High, 1:12.47.
100 Fly – 1. Marcus Taylor, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:00.02; 2. Jonathan Lai, Dobyns-Bennett, 1:01.35; 3. Dylan Powell, Sullivan Central, 1:01.87.
200 IM – 1. Elijah Manship, Dobyns-Bennett, 2:17.39; 2. Jonathan Lai, Dobyns-Bennett, 2:27.10; 3. Logan Dillow, Tennessee High, 2:29.60.
200 Free Relay – 1. Dobyns-Bennett (Shane Estes, Marcus Taylor, Jed Ratliff, Evan Loyd), 1:37.90; 2. Tennessee High (Dillon Busby, Zay Taylor, Levi Cross, Alek McRae), 1:39.23; 3. Dobyns-Bennett (Khristian Shockley, Ian Boldea, Jett McReynolds, Cole Craddock), 1:46.00.
400 Free Relay – 1. Tennessee High (Tucker Couch, Logan Dillow, Joe Riley, Lexi Cross), 4:02.11; 2. Dobyns-Bennett (Anthony Walker, Duncan Harker, Payton Hammond, Ian Boldea), 4:10.73; 3. Tennessee High (Caleb Archer, Braden Lay, Matthew Manno, Colby Bland), 4:20.64.
200 Medley Relay – 1. Dobyns-Bennett (Khristian Shockley, Elijah Manship, Evan Loyd, Shane Estes), 1:50.56; 2. Dobyns-Bennett (Cole Craddock, Ryan Le, Jonathan Lai, Jef Ratliff), 1:54.62; 3. Tennessee High (Alek McRae, Tucker Couch, Zay Taylor, Dillon Busby), 1:59.09.
1 Meter Diving – 1. Jack Forsyth, Tennessee High, 320.15; 2. Seth Miller, Dobyns-Bennett, 262.55; 3. Gavin Clouse, Tennessee High, 220.05.