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SSA swims to second
Published July 14, 2009
After a subpar showing in Day 1 earned the Wet ‘N’ Wildcats a “pep talk” from assistant coach Marcos Abril, SSA came out blazing in Day 2, ultimately cruising to their third consecutive runner-up finish behind perennial power Madison.
Butterfly was the opening event, one that in the past has not been kind to SSA. However, 6-year-old Curtis “Sooper” Cooper immediately ignited his team by swimming to the gold medal for the 8-Under Boys, an almost unheard of feat for a swimmer of his age. Teammate Kolton Clark was close behind to claim silver, giving the Cats a quick 12 points.
Megan Vosen made an state qualifying time for the 8-Under Girls, and then brother Kyle Vosen snared his third medal of the weekend with silver for the 9-10 Boys. Drew Sims added a point with a sixth-place effort.
The 9-10 Girls continued the run as Jessica Duncan took bronze. Mark Richard matched her with a bronze for the 11-12 Boys and Cole Cooper added points by placing fourth.
The 11-12 Girls saw Amelia Adkins come away with bronze, while Hannah Altonji and Mary Catherine Gossett each made an SQT.
The Cats continued their string of scoring in seven consecutive events when Craig Cleaver earned the silver medal for the 13-14 Boys.
MaKalea Kirkland closed out the Cats’ 40 point haul in Fly by taking fifth place for the 15-18 Girls. Haley April added an SQT.
Fired up by their surprising showing in Butterfly, Scottsboro’s momentum carried over into the Backstroke event, in which they amassed 43 more points.
An inspired Curtis Cooper was not to be denied, taking his second gold medal for the 8-Under Boys. Logan Anderson added the bronze medal and Ben Gossett earned an SQT. Emily Garner then brought home the bronze for the 8-Under Girls, and teammates Lily Green and Madison Cole each made their first SQT.
Drew Sims swam up all the way from ninth seed to earn fifth-place points for the 9-10 Boys.
The 11-12 Boys then delivered a mighty blow as Zach Reichle, Drew Butler and Mark Richard went 2-3-5 to combine for 11 points.
The 11-12 Girls were almost able to duplicate this performance, as Maggie Pierce, Hannah Altonji and Alexis Heaton went 3-5-6.
Craig Cleaver lost his first backstroke race of the summer in a photo finish, but still took home the 13-14 Boys silver medal.
Shannon Bradbury came away with a sixth-place finish for the 13-14 Girls.
Senior Rylee Powell, swimming in his final district meet, came away with fifth place. Girls' 15-18 swimmers Ashley Carter and Christina Richard each made an SQT.
The final individual event was Long Freestyle. Kyla Reichle opened strongly with silver for the 8-Under Girls.
Drew Sims had another personal best to take fifth for the 9-10 Boys, and then Jessica Duncan, an unheralded success story all summer, earned her third bronze medal for the 9-10 Girls.
Drew Butler took silver for the 11-12 Boys, his third medal of the weekend, and Crossan Cooper added points by placing fifth.
Amelia Adkins and Maggie Pierce went 3-4 for the 11-12 Girls. For Adkins, it was her second bronze medal.
Craig Cleaver completed his silver medal hat trick for the 13-14 Boys, and sidekick Phillip Klepper came away with bronze. This duo, team stalwarts all summer, combined for 28 points overall.
The meet concluded with the Freestyle Relay, and the Cats again piled up the points thanks to intact squads in all age groups. The 8-Under Boys, 11-12 Boys and 11-12 Girls teams each earned silver medals, while the 9-10 Girls, 13-14 boys and 15-18 Boys took home bronze.
Overall, Scottsboro had a team-record 65 swimmers qualify for the state meet to be held in Cullman July 23-25.
In addition to 33 swimmers who qualified to swim in 80 individual events, the Wildcats qualified a total of 31 relay teams, on which an additional 32 swimmers will be represented.
Individually, Scottsboro reeled in four gold medals (two each for Curtis Cooper and Zach Reichle), 11 silver medals and 18 bronze medals.
Swimmers who medaled in three events were Emily Garner, Kyle Vosen, Jessica Duncan, Zach Reichle, Drew Butler, Phillip Klepper and Craig Cleaver.
Dual-medalists were Kolton Clark, Curtis Cooper, Logan Anderson, Kyla Reichle and Amelia Adkins. Additional medals were won by Mark Richard, Maggie Pierce and Shannon Bradbury.
Additional swimmers who qualified for State as part of relay teams included Davis Bostrom, Christian Hutson, Staton Robbins, Kolby Clark, Elizabeth Guinn, Grace Butler, Caleb Guinn, Jon Brady Sandlin, Anna Richard, Emma Stewart, Kristin Copeland, Elizabeth Rains, Amanda Albin, Maryann Jones, Claire Megehee, Wimberly Haston, John Paul Stolz, Connor Hutson, Jacob Megehee, Shonna Browder, Jon David Copeland, Daniel Pierce, Tessa Hutson, Meghan Travis, Hailey Altonji, Nate Brewer, Chris Witmoyer, Will Conner, Max Bivens and Nathan Bradbury.
Among the other SSA swimmers whose strong efforts were Paige Megehee, Ashlyn Vosen, Madeline Gossett, Skylar Reichle, Carli Johnson, Elena Hutson, Chloe Wendlick, Bethany Dugan, Will Coleman, Dalton Parks, Emily Albin, Kate Coleman, Nina Stewart and Samantha Hastings.
District Day 1 — Scottsboro’s Wet ‘N’ Wildcats had some difficulty adjusting to tough conditions at Day 1 of the ARPA District II Swim Championships in Boaz.
The shallow pool and breezy outdoor conditions were not optimal, and as a result few of Scottsboro’s swimmers bested their seed times.
Medals were awarded for top-three finishes, and scoring was awarded through sixth place using a 7-5-4-3-2-1 scale for individual events. Relay events were scored double.
The meet opened with the Individual Medley (IM), and Scottsboro’s 8-Under Boys got on the board quickly with fifth- and sixth-place swims from Curtis Cooper and Ben Gossett. Kyla Reichle and Emily Garner then captured second and third place medals for the 8-Under Girls.
Kyle Vosen took bronze for the 8-Under Boys, a feat matched by Jessica Duncan during the 9-10 Girls race.
Zach Reichle then swam up from fourth seed to capture the team’s first gold medal in the 11-12 Boys event.
Amelia Adkins and Mary Margaret Green finished fourth and fifth respectively for the 11-12 Girls. Teammate Hannah Altonji earned an SQT.
Phillip Klepper came home with silver for the 13-14 Boys. Shannon Bradbury (13-14 Girls) and Matt Brewer (15-18 Boys) each made SQT’s.
Overall, the Cats tallied 37 points in the IM before moving on to the Breaststroke, traditionally their strongest event.
Kolton Clark snagged his first career medal with a third-place effort for the 8-Under Boys, followed by Logan Anderson in fourth place. Clark was matched by Emily Garner’s third-place finish for the 8-Under Girls. Teammates Kyla Reichle and Anna-Leigh Gossett added points by placing fourth and fifth.
Zach Reichle stormed to a new team record of 34.69 while capturing his second gold medal for the 11-12 Boys, and was followed closely by Drew Butler in second-place with a personal best time of 35.86. Crossan Cooper and Cole Cooper each made SQT’s as well.
The 11-12 Girls received scoring from Mary Margaret Green (fourth) and Mary Catherine Gossett (sixth), plus SQT’s from Karah Kirkland and Alexis Heaton.
Shannon Bradbury came away with bronze in the 13-14 Girls race. Matt Brewer scored the team’s final points in Breaststroke with a fifth-place finish for the 15-18 Boys. MaKalea Kirkland made the 15-18 Girls SQT.
After accumulating 38 points in Breaststroke, the Cats moved on to the Short Freestyle.
Logan Anderson opened with bronze for the 8-Under Boys, while Kolton Clark added points with a fifth-place swim. Megan Vosen placed sixth for the 8-Under Girls.
Kyle Vosen earned his second bronze medal of the day for the 9-10 Boys. Mark Richard came through with a fifth-place effort for the 11-12 Boys, and teammate Crossan Cooper added an SQT.
The 11-12 Girls received points from Maggie Pierce and Mary Margaret Green, who placed fifth and sixth respectively. Phillip Klepper again medaled for the 13-14 boys by taking third place.
The 15-18 Boys saw Rylee Powell take fourth place and Michael Rossmeier add an SQT. An injured Haley Abril swam to a gutty fifth-place finish for the 15-18 Girls. Overall, the Cats managed 25 points in the Long Freestyle races.
The final event of the opening day was the Medley Relay, and here the Cats put some distance between themselves and the field by earning silver medals in the 8-Under Boys and Girls and 11-12 Boys and Girls races. The 9-10 Boys swam up to claim bronze, as did the 13-14 Boys. Scottsboro’s remaining teams scored fourth and fifth place points, giving the team a total of 80 points in the event.
In addition to qualifying all 10 “A” relay teams for State, Scottsboro had six of its “B” relay teams make the cut as well. For the third consecutive year, having intact relay squads in every age group proved to be a pivotal advantage for the Wildcats.
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