Swimcats qualify eight for state

A year ago Aledo qualified four swimmers for the Class 5A State Swim Meet. This season the Swimcats doubled that number after competing in the 5A Region II Meet at Debbie Weems Natatorium Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 6-7.

The meet was originally scheduled for Feb. 3-4 but was moved back because of the ice storm that hit North Texas last week.

The top two finishers in each event at regionals advance to state at the Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center at the University of Texas in Austin Feb. 17-18. Also, the top third-place finisher in each event across all of the state’s region will join them, giving each event at state 24 competitors.

Several of Aledo’s qualifiers have a chance to add to their events as they also finished third in other events at regionals. The “call-ups” were still being determined at press time.

Three of those advancing to state are returners from a year ago, sophomores Haley Roberson and Victoria Crews among the girls and senior Sam Ogden among the boys. Also qualifying for the girls was sophomore Corah Satterfield and freshman Natalie Hutson, while Ogden will be joined by senior Tanner Howse, along with juniors Porter Lane and Kyle Scharlow.

The quartet of boys set a school record in the 200-yard medley relay, clocking a time of one minute, 42.37 seconds to place second. They broke a record they set a couple weeks earlier when they had a time of 1:43.79 in the District 5-5A Meet. The record before that had stood since 2009.

In addition, Ogden finished second individually in the 100 backstroke in 54.25 seconds.

Roberson captured two individual titles in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:09.16, and her time of 5:14.86 in the 500 freestyle also won. Crews placed second in the 100 butterfly with a 1:00.94 and Hutson was runner-up in the 100 backstroke in 1:02.22.

Satterfield joined Roberson, Crews and Hutson to qualify on two girls relays. The 200 medley posted a time of 1:54.40 to place first and the 200 freestyle’s time of 1:46.13 finished second.

Overall, the Aledo girls placed third in the team standings and the boys were sixth out of 25 schools competing in their respective divisions.

“The regional competition was a great meet for not only the swimmers from [this meet] but for the foundation of the program moving forward. It was the type of performance that gets people in the community buzzing about swimming and starts to generate an interest in the youth of Aledo,” Swimcats coach Scott Abel said. “I can’t thank the seniors enough for their hard work and leadership throughout the season, and as this program continues to grow we can look back to the contribution they have given over the last four years as a major factor.

“I can’t say enough about this current team, they continue to exceed expectations and could write a book on goal setting, as so many of their goals this season have been able to be checked off. Overall I couldn’t be more proud of this group of kids for their dedication to their sport, classroom, and each other. They truly embody what it means to be a student-athlete.”

Also competing at regionals for the girls were seniors Breanna Oliveri, a state qualifier in 2022, along with Madeline Gordy, sophomores Avery Faulkner and Tila Moeller, and freshmen Alli Faulkner and Julia Gordy.

Also competing for the boys were junior Hunter Gregory, sophomores Bradyn Baughman and Alex Pomales, and freshmen Brady Ludlow and Addison Speed.