The USN Swimming team traveled to Gallatin last Tuesday to take on Pope John Paul II and St. Cecilia Academy last week in their final tuneup of the semester. This wasn't quite the meet we expected, but
Our boys' team defeated JP2 113-49, and our girls' team split, beating St. Cecilia 88-75 but falling to JP2, 94-69. In the only combined meet, USN defeated JP2 182-243.
The boys' team was led by our senior captains: Neil Zheng, Kellon Patey, and Mackenzie Myers. Neil won the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyles; notably, his 100 butterfly was a lifetime best and earned a spot on the USN all-time Top 10 list, which earned him Swimmer of the Meet. Kellon won the 100 backstroke and earned a new State qualifying time while finishing second in the 200 IM. Mackenzie won the 100 breaststroke in a strong in-season time, and added
Other boys' event winners for USN were junior Kevin Chen, who won the 200 freestyle in his fastest in-season time, and freshman Curtis Patey, who won the 50 freestyle.
All three boys' relays also won their events. For the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays, Kellon, Mackenzie, Neil, and Curtis teamed up; on the 200 freestyle relay, it was Jack Reed, Ben Werther, Mitchell Coverstone, and Henry Standard taking first place.
Other lifetime best performances came from Henry Standard, Ben Werther, Tebyn Chittester, and Stuart Myers.
Our girls' team wasn't as sharp across the board as our boys at this meet, but some of our more experienced swimmers stepped forward with some strong performances. Junior captain Natalie TeSelle won both the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle in two strong in-season times, while sophomore Trudy Zou won the 100 breaststroke and earned a new State qualifying time in the 200 freestyle.
Our girls' swimmer of the meet was Evelyn TeSelle, who dropped major time in her 200 freestyle in her first time racing this distance in high school.
The Tigers will return in January for a flurry of meets, including our Senior Day home meet, leading up to the Region and State championships.