FRISCO, Texas - The orange of the Texas High Tigershark swim caps were pretty easy to spot Saturday at the Region 4-5A Swim and Dive Championships. Not because orange is a bright color, but because fans at the Lewisville ISD Aquatic Center West only had to look to the front of any given race to find them.
The THS boys earned their 22nd consecutive regional title smashing second place Forney High 600 to 312. The girls team brought home their 11th straight title topping runner-up Dallas Adams 430 to 347.
Tigershark head coach Eric Vogan stated that he was very pleased. "The kids swam very well. The girls swam so well this meet and the boys really did dominate the meet. It is one of the strongest teams we have had in a while."
Both teams got off to fast starts winning the 200 medley relay. Kaitlyn Rogers, Haley Wood, Avery Morrill and Fezeka Barnes combined to beat Dallas Adams by 2.05 seconds. Logan Diggs, Joshua Oldham, Evan Likins and Cameron Alcorn topped Dallas Wilson by three quarters of a second. Neither team relinquished the scoring lead the rest of the meet.
The THS girls put four in the final eight of the 200 freestyle. Morrill took fourth with Allyson Smith coming in sixth, Maria Leyva was seventh and freshman Kady Foster was eighth. Barnes swam to a third place finish in the 50 freestyle followed by a first in the 100 butterfly touching in 1:07.03. Rogers was second in the event and freshman Teagan Jones was seventh.
Senior Haley Wood dropped .74 seconds off of her best time coming in fourth in the 100 freestyle. Nazaret Vasquez, another up and coming freshman, placed sixth in the event. Morrill touched out in the fourth position in the 500 freestyle. Allyson Smith came in right behind her in fifth.
Texas High was nudged out by .21 seconds in the 200 freestyle relay. Wood, Helen Chen, Rogers and Barnes finished second to Dallas Wilson. Three finalists in the 100 backstroke helped the Tigersharks expand what was a 26 point lead at the time. Rogers garnered a fourth, Angela Olalde a fifth and Madison Frost finished with an eighth.
Wood dropped 2.70 seconds off of her 100 breaststroke for a second place finish. She was joined in the final 8 by Freshman Hannah McElhiney in sixth, Ashlyn Winters in seventh and another freshman, Helen Chen in eighth.
Morrill, Vasquez, Chen and Olalde swam a 4:12.65 in the 400 freestyle relay, coming in third behind Dallas Adams and Dallas Wilson.
"Kaitlyn Rogers finishing second to Fezeka Barnes was a good surprise in this meet. Now both will be able to go to the state meet," Coach Vogan remarked.
Following the win in the 200 IM relay the boys took off and never looked back. Seniors Owen Likins and Max Young anchored the Tigersharks throughout the meet. For his part Max Young was named Regional Swimmer Of The Meet. Likins won the 200 freestyle with a 1:44.60, almost 4 seconds ahead of Kaden Sims of New Diana. Evan Likins picked up a third in the event while Spencer Lawing touched in seventh.
Logans Diggs won the 200 IM by 2.74 seconds. Joshua Oldham finished fifth, Owen Young came in sixth and Ethan Power was seventh. Max Young took the 50 freestyle in 21:99. John David Cass was second and Cameron Alcorn was fifth. John David Cass edged Mount Pleasant's Ryan Sharp by .29 seconds to win the 100 butterfly. Evan Likins gained a third in the event and Ethan Power touched the wall in sixth.
Max Young led a packed field in the 100 freestyle. Young swam a 47:91 for the win, Alcorn came in third, Nathaniel Morris was sixth and Tanner Pyatt finished eighth. Owen Likins dominated the 500 freestyle, winning by over 13 seconds. Lawing was fifth and Seth Whittington finished sixth. Owen Likins, Max Young, Alcorn and Cass rolled to the win in the 200 freestyle relay beating Dallas Adams by over four seconds. Owen Young and Joshua Mbonu were the TIgershark representatives in the 100 backstroke, coming in sixth and eighth respectfully. Diggs and Oldham finished first and second in the 100 breaststroke. Nathaniel Morriss was seventh and Corbin Osborne eighth in the event.
Capping out the day of dominance Owen Likins, Max Young, Logan Diggs and John David Cass swam a 3:14.48 in the 400 freestyle relay, finishing first almost 11 seconds ahead of Dallas Wilson.
The diving competition was held Thursday evening. Eli Lammers finished fourth. Joshua Asher picked up fifth, followed by his brother Joseph in sixth.
Coach Vogan was named both boys and girls Coach of the Meet. The Tigersharks will have 12 individual swims and five relays going to the state finals. The Texas UIL State Championships will be held February 14th and 15th on the campus of The University of Texas.
Over the next two weeks coach Vogan said, "they will be working on turns, under waters and starts with some tapering still to go with some of the big boys.