Orioles Swim Past Bulldogs

The Bulldog Swimming & Diving Team continued their streak of taking on heavyweight competition, hosting the rising Avon Orioles on Tuesday night at the Bulldog Aquatic Center. The Dogs were game, but couldn't hold off the crosstown rivals, dropping a pair of decisions. The Bulldog girls fell 125-58 to drop to 3-3 on the season while the boys are still looking for their first win at 0-3, dropping a 110-60 decision to Avon.

"Our record doesn't tell the most accurate story about our team," Head Coach Josh Saylor said. "We've trained very well this season and our kids are tired, like they should be. It can be frustrating when you compete so hard and come up short, but we have great leadership and know our biggest goal is to be at our best at the end of the season."

The Bulldog boys were led by sophomore Vince Partlow, who was the lone winner on the evening. Partlow breezed to victory in the 200 and 500 Freestyle events and almost anchored the 200 Freestyle Relay team to victory, joining juniors Joe Ancel, Kyle Baney and Cameron Howard in a tight finish for second place.

Baney finished second in the 100 Freestyle as did senior Bradley Green in a pair of events. Green almost pulled off a "come from behind" victory in the 100 Butterfly, settling for second place, and was also the runner-up in the 100 Backstroke.

Ancel, Baney and Green teamed with junior Diego La Torre for second place in the 200 Medley Relay, while Green, Howard, La Torre and Partlow finished second in the 400 Freestyle Relay.

"The boys have had a hard luck start to the season but we have some guys swimming at a high level, and some contributors coming up through the ranks," Saylor said. "Senior Albert Turk, junior Chad Hale and freshman Frank Schoemer had big swims tonight and we have some real promise in freshmen Trent Bien and Riley Koester, who did a great job in JV competition."

Senior Grace Fulwider paced the Bulldog girls, picking up a pair of individual second place finishes in the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Breaststroke and teaming with senior Tia Scoggan, junior Kierra Watson and sophomore Madison Kehr for second in the 200 Medley Relay. Fulwider, Kehr and Watson were joined by senior Delaney Krug for second place in the 200 Freestyle Relay.

Kehr (100 Freestyle) and Scoggan (100 Backstroke) added individual runner-up finishes, and Scoggan teamed with senior Chloe Wittig, junior Brianna LaPaugh and freshman AJ Moll for second place in the 400 Freestyle Relay.

Freshmen Danielle LeClerc and Alli O'Leary turned in a strong 2-3 finish on the diving boards.

"The girls are motivated and unified under a common goal of winning Sectionals," Saylor said. "We had some rough spots tonight but it never dampens their enthusiasm. And we had some great performances tonight by senior Chloe Wittig and junior Ashly Kraatz, among others."

 

The Dogs will look to get back into the win column on Tuesday, December 17, welcoming the Pike Red Devils to the Bulldog Aquatic Center for a 5:30pm contest.