Gators 3rd in ‘City Meet’

Fox Den finishes 6th, Sugarwood nabs 11th, Concord Hills is 12th

KNOXVILLE --- Lydia Finnegan certainly made quite a splash on the final day of the Greater Knoxville Area Interclub Swimming Association Championships.

Lydia, an 8-year old swimmer for the Village Green Gators, won two events and posted a pair of runner-up finishes to help her team finish third Sunday, July 30, at The University of Tennessee’s Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatics Center.

She was a part of Village Green’s medley relay team that was victorious. She also competed for the club’s 100-yard free relay team that took second. She won the 25-meter butterfly with a time of 16.70 seconds and finished second in the 25-yard freestyle (16.11).

“I feel really excited,” Lydia said. “I really like competing in this place. It’s exciting. I really have great coaches and I’d just like to thank them for helping me.”

Village Green finished third [1,197) behind Knoxville Racquet Club, which won its second consecutive title with 2,064 team points. Green Meadow claimed second (1,781). Fox Den Country Club finished sixth (951). The Sugarwood Stingrays were 11th with 651 points and the Concord Hills Piranhas were 12th (583).

“We had 91 swimmers come back and swim in the finals today and that’s really good,” Sarah Fortney, Gators head coach, said. “We had some great swims today.

“We had a great year. We had some really good swimmers and we had some really good teams in Farragut this year.”

“I’m really proud of my kids,” Fox Den head coach Isaac Taylor said. “We’ve had some delays in the meet this weekend and our kids showed great resiliency. They really bounced back today.”

“I’m really happy with our team. We had some near record-breaking swims,” Concord Hills head coach Breanna Folk said. “We also had some people who placed above where they were seeded and that was really good for us.”

Caroline Neal of the Gators won the 8-and-under Girls 25-yard backstroke (20.17). Fox Den’s Emerson Clarke was fourth (21.70).

Concord Hills’ Logan Hall won Boys 9-10 100-yard individual medley (1:09.62).

In the Boys 11-12 IM, Concord Hills’ Tanner Alexander won the event (1:07.75).

Fox Den’s Annie Priest won the 9-10 Girls 25-yard freestyle with a time of 14.28 seconds. Concord Hills’ Keira Shafer was fourth (14.61).

Concord Hills swimmer Melanie Moczaldo won the 15-18 Girls 50-yard butterfly (25.82). She also was second in the 50-yard backstroke.

In the Boys 8-and-under 25-yard freestyle, Westin Carbaugh of Sugarwood picked up the win with a time of 15.49 seconds.

Westin also won the 50-yard freestyle (34.32), took second in the 25-yard backstroke (20.61) and claimed fourth in the 25-yard breaststroke (18.52).

Fox Den’s Jamie Bentle was third in the Boys 8-and-under 25-yard backstroke.

In the 9-10 Boys 25-yard backstroke; Piranha Landon Hall won. Fox Den’s Will Kelley placed second while Village Green’s Luke Finnegan was third.

Fox Den’s Kylie Leach was second in Girls 8-and-under 50 freestyle (37.67).

Fox Den’s Kelsey Rogers claimed second in the 8-and-under Girls 25-yard backstroke (21.64).

In the 8-and-under Girls 100-yard individual medley, Fox Den’s Ella Roettger was second (1:33.21). She also finished runner-up in the 25-yard butterfly (17.51).

Concord Hills’ Landon Hall finished second (1:35.14) in the Boys 8-and-under 100-yard IM.

In the 11-12 Girls 50-yard butterfly, Gator Elizabeth Martin took second (29.77). She also placed third in the 50-backstroke.

In the 13-14 Girls 50-yard butterfly, Sugarwood’s Sarah Walker took third.

Fox Den’s Kolby Leach was fourth in the 9-10 Boys 25-yard freestyle (13.47).

Gator Leo Karnitz placed third in Boys 50-yard backstroke.

In the 13-14 Girls 50-yard Freestyle, Gator Mara Spadafora was third.

Village Green’s Devon Collins was second in the 15-18 Boys 50-yard backstroke (25.13).

Julian Nosarzewki, Devon’s teammate, was fourth in the 15-18 Boys 50-yard breaststroke.

Sugarwood’s Grace LaChaute (11-12) and Fox Den’s Carly Wrobleski medaled in multiple individual events along with Village Green’s Dustin Shattan and Sugarwood’s Jackson Vineyard.

In the 15-18 Girls 200 IM, Simone Digby of Concord Hills was eighth (2:16.76). Digby also took sixth in the 50-yard breaststroke (33.48). “I thought I swam pretty well,” she said. “This is a tough meet on the big stage. It’s always difficult. But it’s also fun.”