Sports
Tigers compete at Regional meet
Monday, 25 February 2013 by Tony Adams
The Belton Tigers’ boys and girls swim teams competed at the UIL Regional meet last weekend. After bringing home the boys and girls District 8-5A championship, the boys finished second and the girls finished eighth at Regionals.ROCKWALL-The District 12-5A boys and girls swimming champions took to the pool in Rockwall with a chance to face the some of the best swimmers in North and Central Texas last weekend at the UIL 5A-Division 3 Regional finals at Rockwall ISD.
The boys finished a close second place with 213 points, just eight points shy of regional champion Plano and a clear 20 points better than third place Dallas Jesuit.
The Tigers' relay teams performed very well considering a heavily-weighted Dallas presence in the meet. The boys 200 medley team, comprised of Austin Couillard, Joey Martin, Jake Fitzwater and Kennedy Lim, placed fourth with a time of 1:39.56. The boys 200 freestyle team of Lim, Brandon Smith, Evan Nitcher and Mitch Anderson, finished ninth with a time of 1:31.36. The boys 400 freestyle team of Couillard, Anderson, Martin, and Benjamin York finished second with a time of 3:12.71, setting a new school mark.
In individual events, the Tigers showed strong in the final standings. York finished ninth in the 200 freestyle (1:46.45). Anderson finished fifth in the 200 individual medley (1:58.46) and sixth in the 500 freestyle (4:49.19). Couillard finished third in the 100 backstroke (53.07) and fifth in the 50 freestyle (21.80). Martin finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke (59.85) and fifth in the 100 freestyle (48.28). Lim finished 12th in 50 freestyle (23.04). Smith 13th in the 100 freestyle (51.19) and 14th in the 50 (24.00). Evan Nitcher finished 13th in 200 IM (2:05.95) and 16th in the 100 butterfly (57.59). Fitzwater finished 13th in the 100 butterfly (56.04) and 16th in the 500 freestyle (1:00.04). Tristan Boss finished 14th in the 500 freestyle (5:12.03).
The Belton Lady Tigers placed eighth with 125 points, a mere ten points from finishing the top five for the region. Allen ran away with the region with 433.5 points.
Belton swimmer Megan Nitcher finished second in the 100m Butterfly event.The Lady Tigers' relays teams took on staunch competition as well, taking on the best in the Dallas-area. The girls 200 medley team of Samantha Pentico, Carissa Basaldua, Megan Nitcher and Katie Hennessee placed seventh with a time of 2:00.86. The girls 200 freestyle team of Hennessee, Alayne Johnson, Jessica Bonner and Maggie Montgomery place ninth with a time of 1:48.70. The girls 400 freestyle team of Basaldua, Bonner, Montgomery and Megan Nitcher placed sixth with a time of 3:51.57, setting a new school record.
The Lady Tigers' also placed well in the individual standings. Megan Nitcher placed second in the 100 butterfly (59.40) and 10th in the 200 freestyle (2:01.61). Pentico finished 11th in the 100 backstroke (1:06.23) and 14th in the 200 IM (2:31.92). Basaldua placed 12th in the 100 yard breaststroke (1:18.45) and 14th in the 50 freestyle (26.47). Hennessee finished 12th in the 100 freestyle (59.65). Montgomery finished 13th in the girls 500 freestyle (5:39.13) and 15th in the 200 freestyle (2:06.36). Bonner finished 15th in the 500 freestyle (5:40.88) and 17th in the 200 freestyle (2:08.30).
There were more school records broken during regionals. Both 400 relay teams set new school records (boys-3:12:71, girls-3:51:57). On the boys side, Couillard set two new marks (50 freestyle and 100 backstroke), and York (500 freestyle) and Martin (100 breaststroke) one each. For the girls, Megan Nitcher set new marks in the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
