Sharks finish ninth at GRPA state swim meet
A large contingent of the Catoosa Great White Sharks swim team traveled south to Tifton on the weekend of July 14-15 to compete in the Georgia Recreation and Parks Association (GRPA) Class B/C State Meet in Tifton and several of the team members returned with Top 8 finishes.
The Great White Sharks earned one state championship over the weekend. That title came in the girls’ 14-under 200-yard medley relay as the team of Abby Dodd, Emma Bradford, Morgyn Easley, Maggie Grayson and Kailey McCormick touched the wall first in the finals, clocking in at 2:08.16. Easley, Dodd, Grayson and Bradford also took second in the girls’ 14-under 200 freestyle relay.
Individually, Bradford went on to place third in the 13-14 division of the 50-yard breaststroke and the 100-yard individual medley. Dodd took fifth in the 50 backstroke, while Easley was seventh in the 50 butterfly.
In the girls’ 15-18 division, Alex Van Alstine was eighth in the 50 freestyle, Isabella Sweat was eighth in the 50 breaststroke and Lexi Easley was eighth in the 50 backstroke. That trio joined with Sydney Wilson to place eighth in the 18-under 200 medley relay and the group also placed eighth in the 200 freestyle relay.
Julia Striker was fourth in the 100 freestyle and the 50 backstroke in the girls’ 11-12 division, while Mariana Easley was third in the 50 breaststroke and seventh in the 100 individual medley. Striker and Easley partnered up with James Stowers, Jordyn Browning and Hunter Hickman to place fifth in the 12-under mixed 200 free relay, while Striker, Easley,
Hickman, Browning, Chipper Grayson and Mackenzi Francis placed sixth in the 12-under mixed 200 medley relay.
In the girls’ 10-under 100 medley relay, Lexi Fogtman, Jayden Jones, Lily Marshall, Anna Bradford, Lisa Afonshina and Natalie Scott placed fifth, while Fogtman, Bradford, Afonshina and Jones was sixth in the 100 freestyle relay. Jones also was runner-up in the 9-10 girls’ 25 breaststroke.
In the girls’ 7-8 division, Keeley Mountjoy was third in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 25 butterfly. Lulu Parkhill was eighth in the 25 breaststroke. Mountjoy and Parkhill joined Dawson Hughes and Noah Scott to place sixth in the 7-8 mixed 100 freestyle relay and eighth in the 100 medley relay. Scott also was fourth in the 7-8 boys’ 25 butterfly.
William Riddell took third in the 9-10 boys’ 100 individual medley and fifth in the 25 freestyle. Alex Grayson was sixth in the 25 breaststroke. Hayden Scheeler was seventh in the 25 butterfly. Seth Roberson was fifth in the 25 backstroke, while Grayson was eighth in the same event.
In the 10-under relays, Roberson, Grayson, Riddell and Scheeler were second in the 100 medley relay and the quartet was third in the 100 freestyle relay.
In the 11-12 boys’ division, John Courtney was fifth in the 50 backstroke, James Stowers was seventh in the 50 breaststroke and Daniel Patouga was eighth in the 50 butterfly. Kale Davis was sixth in the 100 freestyle and seventh in the 100 individual medley.
And finally, Patouga, Courtney, Davis, Chipper Grayson and Damon Jones was third in the 12-under 200 freestyle relay, while Courtney, Stowers, Patouga, Davis and Jones was fourth in the 200 medley relay.
Catoosa finished seventh in both the girls’ and boys’ standings, while the team finished ninth in the overall standings with 213 points in the 24-team field. Calhoun, another Chattanooga Area Swim League squad, won the team state title with 548 points, followed by Oconee County Parks and Rec (523) and the Douglas Stingrays (459).