Dalton sets records, Signal takes big lead in city meet

There are very few things that Mother Nature could throw at the 58th Annual Bill Caulkins City Meet at the Fort Oglethorpe pool that the organizers and participants can’t handle.

That includes a typical summer afternoon thunderhead that blew through the area right before the start of the final session Friday afternoon. But once the last bit of rainfall fell, after about an hour delay, it was back to work for the 13 competing teams and working officials.

But everyone was prepared for the weather because, well, that is just what happens at outdoor meets.

“We wait it out,” said Jeff Jones, head official of the meet. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow — it changes every day around here. We could come in with predicted storms. We made it through today, but we could have the same thing tomorrow, you just never know.”

Besides the weather, there was a lot about the competing teams that could be predicted as well, like the success of the Signal Mountain Green Giants and the Dalton Dolphins.

The Dolphins, who finished day one in second place with 928 total points, came out strong in multiple races, even breaking four city meet records.

“It was a good day. It was a really good day,” Dalton head coach Jason Meszaros said. “Everybody really stepped up. Boys, girls — there really wasn’t one standout, they all swam amazing. I am really excited with what they did today.”

And while Meszaros didn’t necessarily want to point out singular performances, he couldn’t ignore Henry Bethel’s day.

Bethel broke and re-broke the 13-14 boys’ 50-yard breaststroke city meet record. He broke the old standard in the preliminary race in the morning and finished even faster in the finals.

While the Dolphins were breaking meet records, it was Signal Mountain that came away from day one with 1,204 total points and a comfortable team lead.

The Green Giants piled up points from multiple second- and third-place finishes.

“We didn’t break any records, but we just have depth,” Signal Mountain head coach Jake Sosna said. “So we may not have number one but we have three, five, seven and then 14, 16.”

That was exemplified in the last event of the day, the senior boys’ relay. Dalton’s team pushed ahead early, giving the Dolphins the victory, but Signal Mountain got the most out of the race.

“The Dalton kids, they crushed everybody, but then we were sitting second, third and fourth,” Sosna said. “The girls got first and third, so having that many relays in there is quite the advantage really.”

And while teams can get away with limited depth in dual meets, city meets are a completely different competition when depth is thrown into the mix, according to Sosna.

“Without depth, I’m not saying you don’t have a shot, but it is really hard to win a city meet without top-to-bottom depth,” Sosna said. “Now, you can be strong in seniors, but if you don’t have those little kids you can get away in a dual meet maybe, but in a city meet you are going to be exposed.”

The meet will resume this morning at 8:30 with the finals set for 5:30 p.m., weather permitting.