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By Ron Marvel

Star Correspondent

The hard work that Coach Kelli Broussard and her staff have put into the Swim Team at Elizabethton High School is starting to pay off big dividends. Recently, her squad headed to the Centennial Sports Complex in Nashville to compete against 838 other swimmers. According to Broussard, the Cyclones Swim Team has just scratched the surface of what they are capable of becoming. “This season is the first year Elizabethton swimming broke into the top 16, which has brought statewide attention to our program,” Broussard shared.

Results from the State Meet were as follows:

Friday results:

• Boys 200 Medley Relay (Kody Broussard, Liam Cannon, Morgan Roszel, Tripp Trivette) placed 34th with a season best time of 1:49.67
• Girls 200 Medley relay (Jasey Hyatt, Cadie Digby, Holly Holsclaw, Cara Carr) finished in 38th place
• Kody Broussard (senior) placed 51st in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:53.71 (second fastest time of the season)
• Cadie Digby (senior) finished 19th in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.08 and 45th in the 100 Butterfly with a season best time of 1:03.04.

Saturday’s results:

• Jasey Hyatt (sophomore) placed 67th in the 500 freestyle
• Morgan Roszel (senior) broke personal records in the 100 backstroke, placing 25th with a time of 54.05, and in the 500 freestyle, placing 14th with a time of 4:44.53, setting a new school record.
• Kody Broussard finished 43rd in the 100 backstroke with the second fastest time of the season, 57.95.
• Liam Cannon (junior) placed 55th in the 100 Breaststroke, setting a personal best time and a new school record of 1:04.84.

Several school records fell during the meet, plus the Cyclones had their first swimmer qualify for finals in Morgan Roszel. Roszel, who has signed this year, will be continuing his athletic career at Milligan University; and Coach Broussard was quick to brag on the senior swimmer. “Milligan University is acquiring a remarkable young man and phenomenal swimmer in Morgan; I know he will represent Milligan well and make them proud,” Broussard added.

Though this season is over, Coach Broussard now shifts her attention to her team’s prospects for next year. “This year we went back to finals to watch, and that was the first time we have done that, giving our swimmers the opportunity to see the best of the best. Watching the best can make you a better athlete,” Broussard contributed. “This is a milestone we are finally crossing, but I see us having final qualifiers each year for the foreseeable future,” Broussard exclaimed. Broussard also shared that she has been asked to serve as a representative for Northeast Tennessee to determine classifications for upcoming years; that work will help level the playing field in future meets, as currently student athletes from private and public schools are competing against each other.

Broussard encourages any future Cyclone swimmers to contact her or EHS Athletic Director Forest Holt; not only do they have a swim program at TA Dugger that has become competitive but the Typhoons Swim Club works with children as young as 4 or 5, as long as they can swim one length of the pool (25 Meters). Any parent interested in getting their child involved can reach out through the Typhoons Swim Club Facebook page or call Elizabethton High School directly. The enthusiasm that the Cyclones Swim Team has generated has become contagious as this program continues to grow; this excitement is creating waves in more than just the EHS pool.