Tiger Cubs split with Mounties in the pool

Friday, December 10, 2010
Cody Watson

GREENCASTLE -- The Greencastle coed swim teams split with Southmont Thursday, with the girls winning 126-57 and the boys losing a close one 87-83.

After witnessing his team fall by the slightest of margins, head coach Luke Beasley praised his team and laid the blame of the loss at his own feet.

"I thought we made a lot of progress as a team on the men's side," he said. "I feel bad for them. I think they wanted to win the meet and I think I as a coach could have toyed with the lineup a little more and maybe put them in better spots. When it comes down to four points, that's just one third place from fourth place.

"So, I'm a little disappointed at myself. I'm not disappointed in the effort of the swimmers though -- numerous in season bests. And several lifetime best and in a meet like this you just don't expect it to happen. They've been working really hard in practice and it's a Thursday meet and you usually don't have that -- things just don't work out that well on a Thursday," Beasley added.

The boys' team recorded seven wins on the night, including the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The team of Elkins, Mitchell Ball, Cody Watson and Walter Chiarella won the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:49.88. Chiarella, Elkins, Jay Guffey and Alex Asbell torched their competition in the 400-yard freestyle relay in a time of 3:39.54, a full 14 second faster than second place.

Guffey edged out Southmont's Alex Clauser to win the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:54.36. Guffey also won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.05.

Chiarella dominated the 200-yard IM in a time of 2:14.79 and teammate Elkins took top honors in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.68.

The final individual win came for Watson in the 100-yard breaststroke. Watson found himself trailing most of the race and didn't gain an advantage until the final turn. After the turn, Watson slowly closed the gap and out swam Southmont's Tyler Huckstep to win the event in 1:12.64.

Beasley spoke of some of the team's key performances on the night.

"Jesse Elkins had a great meet. His relay swims were huge for us tonight. Walter Chiarella had a nice meet in that last relay -- a really nice swim. Dalton Kastigar, a lifetime best in the 100 backstroke. Cody Watson, his 100 breaststroke was huge and his 100-yard butterfly was a personal best," Beasley said.

He said the meet came down to the 200-yard freestyle relay, which the Tiger Cubs lost. Beasley said he moved his lineup around and after watching his final relay team run away with its race, he thought he might have been able to make some different moves that might have given the Tiger Cubs an advantage.

The girls seized 10 wins on the night, sweeping the relay events.

Sydney Terry won the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 2:25.48 and the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:04.10. Melanie Bittles paced the field in the 50-yard freestyle in 28.42 and the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:11.57.

Sydney Cassida won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:12.30 and Haylie Romer captured the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:26.04.

From all of the successful races Thursday, Beasley singled out some individual performances that caught his eye.

"Hailey Romer," Beasley said. "She won the 100-yard breaststroke -- a lifetime best by two seconds and that includes sectional. (It was) a really nice night for her. A nice night for Sydney Terry. I thought she saw a good 200 for her. Seam Beams in the 500-free breaking seven minutes, which may not sound like a lot, but I that was her first time swimming it, so that's quite an accomplishment for her.

"I swam Rachel (Custis) in the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly. She never swam those events. Coming from middle school to here, they don't even have those events in middle school," he added.

Terry, Bittles, Beams and Cassida combined to win the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 4:26.44 and the team of Terry, Emily Wheeler, Custis and Rosio Gomez won the 200-yard medley relay in 2:11.46. Wheeler, Beams, Alison Howard and Custis won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:59.01, a full 10 seconds better than second place.

Beasley was disappointed with the loss following the meet, but said it was the unknown, which makes the meets throughout the season so excited.

"It's always fun because you go into a meet like this not really sure, not even in December, you're not sure what type of team you have. Then you find out you can swim a lot of girls in different spots and still be successful," Beasley said.

Thursday might not have gone the way he would have liked, but Beasley thought both squads accomplished much.

"Both team accomplished what we wanted them to. I just think the boys are probably a little upset that they weren't able to get the win," he said.

Greencastle will host South Vermillion Tuesday at 6 p.m.