EDWARDSVILLE – The Collinsville Swim Club Gators won the Southwestern Illinois Swimming Association boys relay tournament Monday evening at the Sunset Hills Country Club pool, winning the meet over Summers Port of Godfrey 111-104, with Paddlers Swim Club of Granite City third with 72 points, fourth place going to Montclaire Swim Club of Edwardsville with 57 points, and the host Sunset Hills team coming in fifth with 31 points.
The Gators won the overall title with 228 points, while the Sharks came in second with 198 points, third place went to the Marlins at 163 points, the Pirates placed fourth with 154 points, and the Stingrays came in fifth at 131 points.
It was the first major meet of the season for the league’s teams, and things have been going in the right direction for perennial power Montclaire, who has a new head coach in Gus Nugent.
“Well, so far, so good for the most part,” Nugent said during a mid-meet interview. “A few minor bumps, but that’s how it goes here. I’ve been happy with what we’ve seen so far, and I’m excited to keep watching, I think we’re in for a good night.”
For the host Stingrays, it’s about building their program, as well as having fun in the pool.
“Things are going pretty well so far,” said first year head coach Owen Gruben. “We’re keeping a lot of people in events, we’re trying not to get (disqualified), we’ve won a couple of the races, and that’s what we kind of came out to do. It’s good competition for the kids, like always.”
It’s also a fun competition for the swimmers, and it’s something that Gruben wholeheartedly endorses.
“It is a really fun competition,” Gruben said. “All the kids love it They’re doing well, and that makes me happy, too. It describes me at one time.”
In the eight-and-under races, the Sharks’ team of Henry Harman, Ryan Hejna, Liam Scheuer, and Avery Woolf won the 100-yard medley relay at 2:02:58, with the Summers Port team of Xaden Thompson, Myer Gill and Woolf winning the 75-yard freestyle relay at 1:23.47. In the 75-yard breaststroke relay, the winners were the Gators, with a team of Graham Evers, John Gordon, and Caleb Kober winning at 1:43.62. In the 75-yard backstroke relay, Gill, Thompson and Woolf won for the Sharks at 1:34.93, while the Collinsville team of Evers, Gordon, and Kober won the 75-yard butterfly relay at 1:39.82.
In the nine-and-10 age group, the Stingrays team of Dex Wykoff, Cam Alexander, Sully Oesch, and Zane Gedman won the 200-yard medley relay at 4:35.11, while Montclaire won its first race of the evening in the 150-yard freestyle relay, as Tommy Siejka, Landon Frea, and Dax Birk had a time of 2:38.02. In the 150-yard breaststroke relay, Sunset Hills’ team of Alexander, Oesch and Charles Musch won with a time of 3:33.21, while the Marlins’ team of Indie Jackson, Joe Meyer, and Frea won the 150-yard backstroke relay at 3:12.36. Finally, in the 150-yard butterfly relay, the entire three-team field was disqualified, cancelling the results of the race.
In the 11-and-12 division, Summers Port took the 200-yard medley relay, with the team of Brody Scheuer, Eli Aldridge, Jack Osborn, and Davey Drainer coming in at 2:48.36, while Drainer, Aldridge, and Osborn won the 150-yard freestyle relay for the Sharks at 1:38.33. The Marlins won the 150-yard breaststroke relay, as Caiden Calvin, Max Ferguson, and Jack Frea came in at 2:26.91, the 150-yard backstroke relay was won by Summers Port’s Drainer, Osborn, and Scheuer at 2:11.94, and the 150-yard butterfly relay was won by the Sharks’ Jack Osborn, Aldridge, and Ben Osborn at 2:04.83.
The results of the 13-and-14 age group saw the 200-yard medley relay go to Collinsville’s Jackson Bracamontes, Hunter Schubert, Bram Malsbury, and Tate Van Keulen at 2:21.61, while the 150-yard freestyle relay went to Boden Rives, Braxton Tite, and Aiden Clark at 1:32.19. The 150-yard breaststroke relay went to the Paddlers’ team of Henry Mathes, Logan Barnes, and Jackson Suhre at 2:11.00, while the 150-yard backstroke relay went to Bracamontes, Schubert, and Malsbury of the Gators at 1:42.07, and the 150-yard butterfly relay was won by the Pirates’ Beau Roberts, Mathes, and Suhre at 1:43.44.
In the 15-18 category, the 200-yard medley relay was won by Collinsville’s Tyler Brooks, Luke Berger, Nick Hasamear, and Jacob Kober at 1:51.14, while the Summers Port team of Luke Humphrey, Stephen Stobbs, and Lucas Frey won the 150-yard freestyle relay at 1:21.80, the same team of Humphrey, Stobbs, and Frey won the 150-yard breaststroke relay at 1:43.76, the 150-yard backstroke relay was won by Tyler Beuth, Evan Kershaw, and Tyler Brooks of the Gators at 1:27.80, and the 150-yard butterfly winners were Frye, Humphrey, and Stobbs of Summers Port at 1:27.65. In the final race, the 250-yard freestyle crescendo relay, the Collinsville team of Ethan Koerkenmeier, Andrew Hasamear, Malsbury, and Berger won the race at 2:24.64.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
