Asheville – The Tri-County Early College varsity swim team traveled last week for the Last Chance Invitational, hosted by A.C. Reynolds, and the RGNS varsity meet, hosted by Rabun Gap Nacoochee School.
The Jaguars’ swimmers secured spots in regionals in multiple events, breaking a school record in the process. Tri-County left both meets with personal records from every swimmer.
On Jan. 17 at Rabun Gap, four schools were invited to the meet, and the Jaguars finished second overall with 415 points. The Lady Jaguars relays in the 200-meter medley relay, 200m freestyle relay and 400m freestyle relay, with best times in each.
In the 200m freestyle relay – swam by Tina Trigueros, Iris Diaz-Menchu, Tori Jimenez and Fern Crayton – the girls scored third out of five with a time of 2:41. Scoring second in the 400m freestyle relay, Crayton, Sophia Evans, Mary Lynn Hulsey and Jimenez earned 34 points for their team.
The ladies broke record after record in their individual events. Crayton gained points for the team by placing third with a time of 2:38 in the 200m freestyle and placing first in the 400m freestyle with a time of 5:35 – a personal record of more than four seconds.
Placing high in the 50m freestyle, Tri-County had Evans at fifth and Hulsey at ninth. Evans also placed in the 400m freestyle with a time drop of 11 seconds, earning her 16 points for the team.
Scoring another 16 points for the team, Hulsey placed third in the 100m backstroke with a personal record of just over nine seconds.
The boys team placed third in the meet, with a swimmer in almost every event. The Jaguars placed third in the 200m medley relay – swam by Nathan Abejam, William Boyd, Griffin Criteau-Schreiner and Mason Gaither – with a time of 2:44, then placed third again in the 400m freestyle relay with a time of 5:53 by Abejam, Elias Diaz-Menchu, Nathan Downs and Criteau-Schreiner.
With almost every boy swimming the 50m freestyle, the top placers were Criteau-Schreiner in seventh and Boyd in ninth, their combined points adding a total of 21 to the team’s score. Boyd went on to place fifth in the 100m freestyle with a time of 1:20, while Abejam had a season record in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1:40.
A week later on Jan. 24, the team made a trip out to Asheville to lock in their times before regionals at the Last Chance meet. The swimmers took the chance as an opportunity to drop time, as each swimmer got faster in every event. The team placed fourth overall, with the girls team third and the boys fourth.
In the relays, both teams were disqualified in the first event, but the swimmers didn’t let it discourage them because they later went on to drop times in every single event. In the 200m freestyle relay, the Lady Jaguars placed third with a time of 2:14, then third again in the 400m freestyle relay with a time of 4:53.
In their individual events, the Lady Jaguars kept their winning streak alive as they continued to improve their times. Every swimmer had the choice of one event for their final meet, as the team wanted to focus on their relays.
Crayton swam in the 200m individual medley for the first time this season and placed second with a time of 2:40. In the 100m freestyle Trigueros placed third, Diaz-Menchu placed fourth and Jenni Ramiver-Jaime placed sixth. Hulsey placed second in the 100m backstroke with a personal record of 1:24, earning the team 13 points.
The boys left the meet on a high note due to their success in the 200m freestyle relay by breaking Tri-County’s school record by five seconds. The team will progress onto regionals this weekend in Charlotte to end the record-breaking season.