Braves near perfect in sweep of Giants
In what became an exceptional night for both swim teams at Bellmont, the Braves won all but one of their events against the Marion Giants at home on Thursday, and both the boys and girls were victorious.
The Bellmont girls recorded a 104-64 win. The boys were victorious by a 103-57 count.
The only two diving competitors came from Bellmont.
Bella Ashley accumulated 156.05 points. Logan Whitacre scored 148.85.
Even when the Giants did get in the water, the Braves continued to pile up victories.
In spite of competing against a pair of Marion teams, Shaylin McCray, Madison Witte, Brooklyn Brownlow and Bella Ashley won the girls 200 yard medley relay by close to nine seconds.
Ella Hockmeyer won the first individual swimming event of the evening. Her final time of 2:20.10 won her the 200 yard freestyle by 5.74 seconds.
Emma Howell of Bellmont placed third in the same event.
Molly Steenbergh of Marion led the 200 IM by nearly a second at the end of the first lap, but McCray took control on the second lap and cruised to the win. McCray beat Steenbergh by 11.21 seconds.
Ashley and Morgan Brames pulled away from the rest of the field in the 50 yard freestyle. Ashley won the event with a time of 29.31 seconds. Brames took second for the Braves with 6.36 seconds to spare.
The only Marion victory of the night came from Steenbergh in the 100 butterfly. Brownlow was the runner-up.
Witte enjoyed a healthy lead throughout the 100 free, eventually winning the race by 9.78 seconds. Brames earned third place.
Hockemeyer held off a tough challenge from Marion swimmer Emma Miller to win the 500 yard freestyle. 6:20.36 was the winning time for Hockemeyer. Miller touched the wall 3.27 seconds later.
The team of Brames, Hockemeyer, Ashley and Witte clocked a time of 1:58.77 to take home first place in the 200 yard freestyle relay.
Third place went to Howell, Langley Murray, Bridget Juengel and Martina Brodnanska.
First, second and third in the 100 backstroke all went to the Braves.
McCray timed a 1:11.76 to finish first. Brownlow was second, and third place was claimed by Murray.
Witte beat three Marion swimmers to win the 100 yard breaststroke.
Brames, Brownlow, Hockemeyer and McCray enjoyed a comfortable victory in the 400 yard freestyle relay.
Howell, Juengel, Murray and Brodnanska finished the race in third.’
The Bellmont boys were every bit as dominant as the girls were.
Their 200 yard medley relay team- Oliver Werling, Hudson Krull, Zayne Roop and Logan Whitacre- got the squad off to a tremendous start. They completed the relay 20.08 seconds before Marion.
Oliver Goble was victorious in the 200 free. Goble led by almost two seconds at the first turn. From there, he spent the remaining three laps gradually expanding his lead. Third place went to Samson Owens of Bellmont.
When Oliver Werling completed his swim in the 200 yard IM, his two opponents from Marion were only beginning the final lap. Werling ended with a time of 2:22.15.
Hudson Krull finished first in the 50 free by 1.9 seconds. Taufeeq Ally clinched third place for the Braves.
Werling swam alone in the 100 butterfly, timing a 1:10.85.
Roop swam the 100 free in 57.73 seconds to earn first place.
Goble was first in the 500 free.
The biggest challenge for the Bellmont boys came in the 200 yard freestyle relay. Goble, Ally, Owens and Krull edged out one of the two Marion teams by 0.64 seconds for top spot.
Roop won the 100 backstroke after he built a sizable lead on the first lap. Whitacre placed second.
Krull was the winner of the 100 yard breaststroke. He was followed by Ally in second place.
Bellmont teams placed first and second in the 400 yard freestyle relay.
A time of 4:12.50 gave Whitacre, Goble, Roop and Werling the win.
James Miller, Taahir Ally, Samson Owens and Taufeeq Ally finished 23.58 seconds later to place second.
The Braves will return to the pool on Tuesday when they host South Adams at 5:30 p.m. They will compete at the Northeast 8 Swimming and Diving Championships at Norwell on January 13th.