State up next for many city swimmers

Dalton’s Taylor Dale is making a habit of rewriting record books.

Dale, who recently competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials and won two individual state championships during his junior season at Dalton High, set new meet records in both the 50-yard backstroke and the 50-yard butterfly to lead the City of Dalton team during Saturday’s Georgia Recreation and Parks Association’s Fifth District swim meet in Cartersville.

Competing against teams from Carters-ville, Cherokee County, Paulding County, the City of Smyrna and Douglas County, Dalton had 13 swimmers claim 18 individual titles and also finished with eight relay titles in the meet.

In the 15- to 18-year-old division, Dale won the 50 backstroke in a time of 24.02 seconds to eclipse the old record set in 2010 by Dalton’s Stephen Jones by more than a second and a half. In the 50 butterfly, Dale topped the old record set in 2009 by a full second with a time of 23.71.

Dale had company as a dual-event winner at the meet.

Raul Valdez won the 100 freestyle and the 50 backstroke in the 11 to 12 boys division, setting a new meet record in the 50 backstroke with a time of 30.40, finishing nearly three-tenths of a second ahead of the record set in 2006. His time in the 100 freestyle was 58.82. Younger brother Ross Valdez was a dual winner as well, taking the 50 freestyle (32.57) and the 100 individual medley (1:22.59) in the 9-10 division. In the 7-8 boys, Roman Valdez won the 25 butterfly with a time of 15.76, the 25 freestyle (17.01) and finished second in the 100 individual medley and the 25 backstroke.

Ethan Young (13-14 boys) and Reese Bingham (11-12 girls) also had dual individual titles for the city. Young blew the field away, winning by more than four seconds in both the 50 backstroke (25.67) and the 50 butterfly (25.04). Bingham was equally impressive, sweeping the 50 freestyle (26.95) and the 50 butterfly (30.33).

Other individual champions for Dalton were Rebecca Davis (15-18 girls, 50 freestyle, 27.64), Romina Mendoza (13-14 girls, 50 freestyle, 28.39), Tyler Stephenson (11-12 boys, 50 breaststroke, 36.31), Ninive Arriola (15-18 girls, 50 butterfly, 29.82), Alex Mashburn (11-12 boys, 50 butterfly 30:85), Patrick Calderon-Schuler (7-8 boys, 25 butterfly, 20.57) and Oscar Chenard (9-10 boys, 25 butterfly, 15.76).

In the relay events, both the boys 9-10 and boys 11-12 teams won a pair of events. The 9-10 team of Ross Valdez, Henry Bethel, Nash Bingham and Chenard won the 100 medley relay in 1:11.46 and the 100 freestyle relay in 1:02.14. Raul Valdez, Jonathan Shaeen, Mashburn and Stephenson teamed up to win the 11-12 200 medley relay (2:11.66) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:58.92). The girls 15-18 relay team of Ninive Arriola, Rebecca Davis, Stephanie Saad-Naguib and Mary Pike captured the 200 medley (2:08.99) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:54.17.

Other relay winners were the 7-8 boys team of Roman Valdez, Bruno Valdez, Patrick Calderon-Schuler and Elijah Lyles (100 medley relay, 1:27.82) and the boys 15-18 team of Taylor Mathis, Matthew Pipkin, Michael O’Brien and Dale (200 freestyle relay, 1:35.76.

The top three finishers in each event earn a spot in the GRPA state meet to be held in Carrollton on July 28 and 29.

Finishing second in girls events for Dalton were: Mary Pike (15-18, 100 freestyle), Lindsey Mulkey (9-10, 50 freestyle and 25 breaststroke), Abby O’Ferrall (9-10, 100 individual medley and 25 backstroke), Mendoza (13-14, 50 breaststroke) and Davis (15-18, 50 breaststroke).

Finishing second in boys events for Dalton were: Jonathan Shaheen (11-12, 100 freestyle), the 15-18 200 medley relay team (Michael O’Brien, Dale, Taylor Mathis, Matthew Pipkin), the 13-14 200 medley relay team (Trey Davis, Alex Spivey, Ethan Young, Lee Sean), Tyler Stephenson (11-12, 50 freestyle), Henry Bethel (9-10, 25 breaststroke), Bruno Valdez (7-8, 25 breaststroke), Taylor Mathis (15-18, 50 backstroke), Chenard (9-10, individual medley) and Mashburn (11-12, 50 breaststroke).

Third-place girls finishers for Dalton were: Andrea Arriola (7-8, 25 freestyle), Mary Pike (15-18 50 breaststroke) and Stephanie Saad-Naguib (15-18, 50 breaststroke).

Third-place boys finishers for Dalton were: Michael O’Brien (15-18, 50 freestyle), Ross Davis (11-12, 50 freestyle), Sean Lee (13-14, 50 breaststroke), Jonathan Shaheen (11-12, 50 breaststroke), Bruno Valdez (7-8, 100 individual medley), Henry Bethel (9-10, 25 backstroke), Taylor Mathis (15-18, 50 butterfly), Jake Russell (11-12, 50 butterfly) and the 13-14 200 freestyle relay team (Trey Davis, Alex Spivey, Lee Sean, Ethan Young).

Sports

Search Results

Discussion

State up next for many city swimmers

Site Map

Contact Us