photo by Contributed, GPS Athletics
GPS Swimming and Diving defeated Dalton High School 128-53 in dual meet action tonight with several Bruisers turning in season-best individual times in front of their home fans. GPS won all 11 swimming events and swept the diving competition with the top three performances. Even more promising for the Bruisers, all but two of their individual victories were turned in by 9th or 10th graders with Emma Scruggs their lone senior top performer.
GPS started the meet off strong with a win in the 200 Yard Medley Relay that was over 13 seconds ahead of the second-place finishers from Dalton.
The Bruiser foursome of Keller Williamson, Catherine Lynch, Brighton Smith, and Ellie Taliaferro competed the relay in a time of 1:54.26. Next up for the home squad was the first of two wins for Scruggs. The senior won the 200 Yard Free with a time of 2:02.32 and would later win the 100 Yard Fly in 1:01.31.
In the 200 Yard IM, it was Ellie Taliaferro’s time to shine at the top of the standings with a first-place finish in the 200 Yard IM in 2:07.77, a time that was just over 23 seconds better than the next competitor. The tightest race of the night was the fourth event, the 50 Yard Free, won by GPS’s Catherine Lynch. Her time of 27.06 was just two tenths of a second ahead of Dalton’s Abby O’Ferrall. Lynch would also win the 100 Yard Backstroke later in the night for her second individual triumph.
The Bruisers finished first, second, and third in the diving competition with 9th grader Kendall Rizer tallying a season-high 191.47 points. Kate Youmans from GPS finished with 162.62, while Maren von Boehmer ended the six dives with 148.05.
Alana Ratchford picked up a win in the 100 Yard Free (1:00.53) to go with two top finishes as part of a Bruiser relay. Along with Scruggs, Ratchford was a part of the 200 Yard Free Relay and the 400 Yard Free Relay. Brighton Smith captured first place in the 100 Yard Breast just after finishing with that top 200 Yard Free Relay squad.
Next up for the Bruisers is a match up with state power Harpeth Hall on January 17 at GPS.