CJ Staff Report
The Somerset-Pulaski-YMCA Sharks Aquatics Club hosted Russell County at the YMCA and were defeated with a final score of 795-706.
Taking the top overall meet scoring honors were 12-year-old Valerie Gregory and 16-year-old Callie Garner winning all five of their individual events; each posting 35 points. Gregory swam the 50 freestyle in 29.06,the 100 freestyle in 1:06.00,50 backstroke in 33.39, the 12 and under 100 Individual Medley in 1:16.77, and 50 butterfly in 34.34. Garner swam up in the 17-18 year old division and recorded a 25.27 in the 50 freestyle, 30.68 in 50 backstroke, 1:06.81 in 100 Individual Medley and a 29.22 in the 50 yard butterfly. Garner broke her previous YMCA pool record of 56.96 in the 100 freestyle clocking a personal best time of 56.15.
12-year-old Hunter Shults had great swims winning first place finishes in 4 of 5 events scoring 33 points. Shults won the 50 freestyle with a time of 29.53, 100 freestyle in 1:09.66, 50 backstroke in 35.94 and the 50 yard butterfly clocking a 39.33. 10 year old Summer Frost had a big night posting 100% personal best times. Frost scored 29 points for the Sharks with two golds and three silver place finishes.
Sam Hamilton delivered a strong showing posting 29 points for the SPY Sharks. Other top scorers for the Sharks were Shelby Stevenson; 27 points, Tesa Hamilton; 26 points, Austin Duck; 25 points, Hannah Isaacs; 24 points, Nowelle Altman; 23 points, Grant Kerns and Thomas Duck both with 22 points, McKayla Miller; 20 points, Breanna Bogle and Austin Shults each posted 20 points. Trey Newell, Aaron Crubaugh and Jase Bruner all posted 19 points for the Sharks.
Coach Brandon Daulton said that “Overall, the meet was a huge success for our team. We had a ton of swimmers who achieved personal best times against Russell County. We only lost the meet by 89 points — very close in a swim meet. Each team has a maximum of 16 points possible in each race if they take the top three spots- so an 89 point margin could only be a matter of a few races. I try not to focus on the outcome of the meet. Everyone wants to win- but more importantly, I just want our swimmers to improve each time and strive to beat their own personal bests. That's the best measure of success in a sport like swimming, and that's what I tell my swimmers. A meet like this one, where you have nearly 175 local swimmers participating is great for the sport. It's just great to see that the interest in competitive swimming has become so widespread. It's exciting for the community, it's exciting for me to just be a part of it, and it's really exciting for the swimmers to challenge themselves competitively and to have fun at the same time!”
The SPY Sharks will be back in the pool at the Lake Cumberland YMCA against Laurel County Barracudas on Tuesday July 21 at 6 p.m.
