BLUEFIELD, WVA–Elkin Wet Lightning Swim Team made the long trek through the mountains to Bluefield State University to participate in the all-league Bluefield Invitational hosted by the Bluefield Dolphins. With only about one-fourth of the team able to make the long trip to West Virginia, EWL had a strong showing, placing in 2nd place overall.
In the rigorous individual medley event, where the swimmer must complete all four swim strokes, Elkin’s Matthew Gentry posted EWL’s first points of the day with a 1st place finish and a time of 1:47.14 in the boys 8 & under 100-yard event. Ellie Dimmete (1:48.58) and Ester Dickerson (1:56.15) took the top two spots in the girls 9-10 race while Myles Edwards (1:58.78) captured the second place finish for the boys. In the same race for the girls 13-14 age group, Mia Swaim brought home the gold with a time of 1:25.84. Troy Snow (1;03.54) and Michael Tragone (1:13.19) earned team points with a second and sixth place finish.
In the girls 6 & under 25-yard freestyle event, Ember Dobson (39.96) and Neely Grace Edwards (42.34) claimed the third and fourth place spots while teammate Jack Gentry (25.79) took gold in the same event for the boys. In the girls 7-8 year old race, Iselle Westra (22.97), Claire Sisoukrath (30.70) and Nora Corcoran (45.97) took the 4th, 8th and 13th place finishes. In the same race for the boys, Eli Royall (18.80) took the top spot while teammates Braxton Martin (34.34) and Alex Roberts (36.33) came in 7th and 8th places respectively. In the girls 9-10 age group, Lucy Willard (16.84) claimed a silver finish in second place while Hadley Gaddis (17.30) and Ester Dickerson (17.62) touched just behind Willard to take the 3rd and 4th place finishes. Inezleigh Westra (33.14) came in 14th place. In the boys 9-10 battle, Ricky Royall (16.63), following in his younger brother’s wake, took the top spot and Myles Edwards (18.15) earned precious points with a 4th place finish. In the girls 11-12 age group, Melia Orta (36.44) finished in 4th place while Mia Swaim (31.16), Layla Edwards (33.73) and Emma Waters (34.26) took the 4th, 6th and 7th spots in the girls 13-14 age group. Swimming for the boys, Dylan Zamudio took gold with a time of 28.09. In the oldest age group, the 15-18 race, Mya Brown (29.40), Maria Wilborn (34.31) and Kaylie Welborn (40.08) took 2nd, 4th and 8th place finishes. Troy Snow (23.77), Sawyer Poindexter (25.45) and Evan Baker (27.00) took 1st, 3rd and 8th places in the boy’s race.
In the backstroke events, Ember Dobson (46.95) took 3rd place in the girls 6 & under race, while Jack Gentry (33.32) finished in 2nd place for the boys. Claire Sisoukrath (30.56) posted valuable points for the team with a 6th place finish while Iselle Westra (33.03) and Nora Corcoran (45.47) took the 8th and 12th place finishes in the girls 7-8 race. Swimming for the boys, Matthew Gentry (23.38) took the top spot while Alex Roberts (43.34) came in 10th place. In the girls 9-10 race, Hadley Gaddis (23.32), Audrey Corcoran (25.13) and Inezleigh Westra (36.69) came in 2nd, 4th and 11th places. Ricky Royall (23.69) posted a 4th place finish for the boys. In the 11-12 age group, Melia Orta (52.06) claimed a third place finish for the girls while Layla Edwards (47.40) took 5th place in the girls 13-14 age group and Dylan Zamudio (36.73) took the top spot in the boys race. Mya Brown (38.92) and Kaylie Welborn (57.46) took 4th and 7th place finishes in the 15-18 age group while Sawyer Poindexter (39.36) took a 5th place finish for the boys.
Elkin Wet Lightning finished in 2nd place overall, only 35 points behind the Wytheville Waves. Coach Jack Zamudio commented, “we asked a lot of our swimmers to step out of their comfort zones today and to swim in some new events, or to swim up in age. We are incredibly proud of their determination. Everyone answered the call.”
Combined Team Scores:
Wytheville Waves 413
Elkin Wet Lightning 378
Galax Maroon Tide 282
Dobson Dolphins 214
CWC Tigersharks 206
Reeves Rapids 33
Bluefield Blue Dolphins 28
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