ASHLAND — The Galion Tigers swim teams were at Ashland University on Thursday night to swim against the Ashland Arrows in their final tune-up before the postseason gets underway.
Fresh off their Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference championship victory, the boys squad swam to a perfect 14-0 this season, defeating the Arrows 109-61.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Caleb Strack, Sam Rigdon, Clay Karnes and Eli Skaggs opened the night with a win, finishing the race with a time of 1:47.19. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Skaggs, Landon Rose, Karnes and Rigdon would also take first with a time of 1:35.80. Strack, Landon Rose, Weston Rose and Lucas Conner also earned a first place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing with a winning time of 3:41.19.
Skaggs was the only two-time individual winner for the boys, claiming first in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events with times of 22.63 and 49.02, respectively. Karnes swam his way to a victory in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:59.04. Strack took first in the 100-yard backstroke for the Tigers, winning in 1:00.11. Alec Dicus picked up the other individual win for Galion on the night, taking first place in the 100-yard butterfly (1:04.05).
The girls team was defeated by Ashland by a final tally of 87-73, to finish the regular season at 9-5.
Bri Wallis, Sari Conner, Allison DeNero and Elise Barnhart won the 200-yard medley relay for the Tigers with a time of 2:08.38 to get the night started. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the same girls would earn the victory, finishing the race with a time of 1:53.47.
Galion would take first in just three individual races on the evening. DeNero had two of those victories, winning the 50-yard freestyle (27.75) and the 100-yard freestyle (1:01.85). Wallis picked up the other win in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 6:14.50.
The Tigers will begin their postseason march on Saturday Feb. 11 where they will compete in sectionals action at Malabar Middle School in Mansfield. Action is set to start at 11 am.
