Carl Albert boys swim to conference crown
Carl Albert’s boys swim team won the Suburban Conference championship Jan. 26 at Harrah High School.
By Jeff Harrison
Midwest City Beacon
Carl Albert’s boys swim team held off Shawnee last week to win the Suburban Conference championship.
The Titans used a strong finish in the back half of the meet to edge the Wolves by seven points. They picked up key points in the backstroke and breaststroke. Kaleb Vaughn and Dylan Garcia finished one and two in the 100-yard backstroke, and Brian Lam and Noah Evans were first and second in the 100 breaststroke.
Shawnee won the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, but Carl Albert took second to clinch the title. Carl Albert won with 376 points to Shawnee’s 369.
Vaughn led the team with two individual titles. He won the 100 butterfly in 55.14 seconds and the 100 backstroke in 57.73.
Lam finished with one individual gold, winning the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.44.
Vaughn and Lam also teamed up with Garcia and Jackson Bales to win the 200 medley relay. The Titans were second in the other relays.
Garcia and Eli Steele both had a pair individual top three finishes. Garcia was second in both the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. Steele took second in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Noah Evans (100 breast) and Ridge Thornton (500 freestyle) both finished second, and Maddox Bartlett (200 freestyle) and Shane McClung (500 freestyle) each came in third.
Freshman Reece Rushing also made a big splash by placing sixth in the 100 backstroke and 10th in the 200 freestyle.
Del City’s Tyler Townsend finished 16th in both the 50 and 100 freestyle.
Girls
Carl Albert’s girls finished second behind Shawnee in the conference meet.
Freshman Charlotte Peters and senior Abbey Snooks cracked the top three in a pair of events. Peters finished second in both the 200 individual medley (2:31.20) and 100 breaststroke (1:19.61). Snooks earned silver in the 100 backstroke (1:05.65) and swam third in the 100 freestyle (59.02).
The Lady Titans also received top three finishes from Journey Blackwell (200 freestyle), Shelbie Price (50 freestyle) and Brooklyn Jones (100 butterfly).
Freshman Journi LaValley was also a bright spot as she made big strides in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. LaValley was sixth in the 100 freestyle in 1:12.27 and ninth in the 100 backstroke (1:22.05).
Carl Albert also placed second in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
Shawnee won the girls conference title with 405.5 points and Carl Albert was second with 335.5.
