Junior Cyclone swimmers continue to break records

Published 9:15 am Monday, November 21, 2022

The TA Dugger swim team broke another eight school records while competing in the Virginia Invitational against ten other area schools on Saturday.  The competition took place at Virginia High School in Bristol, VA.

In an exciting opening to the night, the “A” relay team of Ell Nekvasil, Trinity Hopwood, Holly Holsclaw, and Madelaine Isaacs won the 100 Medley Relay by just 1.52 seconds while teammates Anna Hill, Abigail Henry, Molly Laney, and Morgan Snodgrass added to the score by placing third.  “Having depth on the team has helped tremendously with our scoring ability because the relays are awarded such big points,” stated Coach Kelli Broussard.   Hopwood followed the relays with a personal best 100 freestyle alongside teammate Alayna Holt, placing third and fourth consecutively.  The 100 Individual Medley saw Nekvasil break her own record in the event in a second-place finish while Laney placed third with a personal best time just 1.79 seconds behind.  Adrianna Steponavicious won the 25 freestyle, while teammate Lakin Mosier placed fourth with a personal best time.  The 50-yard butterfly resulted in personal best times for Holsclaw and Holt and a new school record of 33.76 for Laney that matched the time she swam in practice the day before.  “Our last practice solidified my confidence in our ability to compete in this meet.  I knew it was going to be close, but that we had a good chance at winning once I saw our times on Friday,” said Broussard.    Isaacs, Hannah Holsclaw and Lakin Mosier were three more swimmers who had forecasted their success during the previous day’s training in the 50 freestyle, placing second, third and fifth consecutively.  Morgan Snodgrass also contributed to the point total by cutting almost five seconds in the event to place sixth.  Anna Hill dropped over 11 seconds in the 200 freestyle to place fifth in the event just before joining teammates Hannah Holsclaw, Laney and Steponavicious to break the school record in the 100 Free relay and place second in the event.  Teammates Holly Holsclaw, Holt, Snodgrass, and Shamiso Tshuma rounded out that relay event with a fourth-place finish.  Nekvasil, Hill and Holly Holsclaw placed third, fifth and sixth in the 50-yard backstroke.  Hopwood closed out the individual events with a second-place finish and a new school record in the 50 breaststroke with teammates Isaacs and Abigail Henry placing third and sixth.  The Cyclone girls team of Nekvasil, Hannah Holsclaw, Hopwood and Isaacs closed out the day with an exciting win in the 200 free relay, adding to the record total as teammates Holt, Henry, Mosier and Steponavicious placed third.

The Junior Cyclones squad of four boys took fourth overall on the day, placing third in the 100 Medley Relay to start the meet.  Atticus Briehl improved his 100 Individual Medley record by cutting over a second to place second, then followed that by dropping over a second and a half in his 50 freestyle to break that record with a time of 26.74.  He joined teammates Tripp Trivette, Louis Trivette and Tyler Lunsford to place second in the 100 freestyle relay.  Tripp Trivette then improved his time in the 50-yard backstroke by over eight seconds to place third, while teammate Lunsford shaved 84 hundredths of a second in the event to place sixth.

The win for the girls and the combined second-place finish for both the boys and girls concluded the school’s most successful season yet.  “The entire team swam extremely well, with just about everyone clocking personal best times. We couldn’t be more happy with how our team performed,” said Broussard of both herself and assistant coach Kaeli Sams.  The growth and consistency of the team relies on the Community Involvement Program’s Typhoons Swim Club, which practices year-round, enjoying a competitive season during the summer months.  Contact EHS athletic director and Community Involvement Coordinator Forrest Holt for more information about this program and the upcoming spring/summer swimming lessons at (423) 547-8015 ext. 1525.