Focused on success: Speck and Grubbs enjoying 2020-2021 swim season

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GALION — The beat goes on for Galion High School swimmers Kaisey Speck and Troie Grubbs.

Speck and Grubbs, qualifiers for the 2020 OHSAA championships, kept their undefeated streaks going on Tuesday by posting wins in their individual specialties against Madison. They led the Lady Tigers to a 69-18 victory over Madison at the Galion Community Center YMCA pool.

Speck, a senior, captured first place in both the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley. She was an easy winner in the 100 breaststroke, finishing in 1:16.18 and leaving herself a 28-second margin of victory. She was the lone competitor in the pool for the 200 IM, finishing in 2:27.36.

Despite the success she’s enjoyed to this juncture, Speck said she has yet to reach her peak this season.

“I’m in the part of the season where my muscles are torn down and we’re trying to prepare for the postseason coming up,” Speck said. “Hopefully, here in the next few weeks, everything’s going to feel a lot better and we’re going to get to where we need to be.”

Grubbs, a junior, touched the wall first in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle races. Her winning time in the 200 was 2:08.62, nearly 17 seconds faster than the runnerup swimmer. In the 500, she posted a time of 6:01, which was 21 seconds better than the second-place competitor.

Grubbs noted that the 2020-2021 season is “going pretty well so far.”

“I feel it’s going well for me and I’m excited for MOAC, sectional, district, state, all that’s in store for me,” Grubbs said. “I feel like I can get a little stronger between now (and the postseason), but as far as I’m concerned, I feel like I’m headed in the right direction.”

Speck and Grubbs were part of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team for Galion. They joined with sophomores Caitlyn Karnes and Brooklyn O’Brien to win that race with a time of 4:14.

Speck and Karnes teamed with junior Adriana Zeger and sophomore Julia Conner to claim first place in the 200-yard medley relay. Their time was 2:08.82, 16 seconds faster than the quartet from Madison that placed second.

Zeger, Karnes, and O’Brien combined with sophomore Ally Staats to win the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team’s time was 1:58.04.

Zeger collected individual event wins in the 100-yard and 50-yard freestyle races. Her time in the 100 freestyle event was 60.6 seconds. She posted a time of 27.99 seconds to win the 50 freestyle race.

Karnes captured first place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:10.56, which was some 14 seconds quicker than the runnerup swimmer from Madison.

Conner claimed first place in the 100-yard backstroke, touching the wall in 1:15.62, less than a second better than the second-place competitor from Madison.

Speck said she’s been impressed with and encouraged by the performance of her teammates this season.

“This year we’ve got a lot of depth, whereas in years before we haven’t had that,” Speck said. “It’s really important to have depth in swimming because we can have more swimmers in races and score more points and it helps us have a stronger team. … I’ve learned (from younger teammates) how to relax and have fun. I’ve been swimming since I was four and sometimes I get too serious about it. They help me relax and have a good time with it.”

Grubbs said having talented young teammates on the team is fueling her to work harder.

“We have a lot of young talent and that’s pushing me to push them,” Grubbs said. “I love having somebody to compete against and I love having somebody that I can push, because it’s only making our team better, for now and for the future. I just think it’s amazing having young talent on our team. It pushes everybody to get better in the pool.”

Boys: Madison 41, Galion 40

Sophomore Nathan Barre enjoyed a good afternoon in the pool against Madison, winning two individual events and helping the Tigers take first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Barre won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:22.29. He then claimed first place in the 100-yard breaststroke by touching the wall first in 1:12.13.

Barre teamed with senior Grayson Willacker, junior Sam Albert, and freshman Chad Taylor to win the 400 freestyle relay. Their time was 4:20.39, which was 67 seconds faster than the team from Madison. Those four teamed together to win the 200-yard freestyle race with a time of 1:50.63.

Albert won the 50-yard freestyle race, posting a time of 25.19 seconds. Willacker placed second in the 50 with a time of 26.73 seconds.

Albert placed second in the 100-yard freestyle race with a time of 57.66 seconds.

Upcoming schedule

Galion travels to Tiffin on Saturday for its next meet against Columbian at the Tiffin Community YMCA.

Galion’s next home meet is scheduled for Jan. 13 against Marion Harding and Wynford at the Galion Community Center YMCA. The meet will begin at 4 p.m.

Galion High School swimmers Kaisey Speck, left, and Troie Grubbs, right, are hoping for a return trip to the OHSAA state championship meet this season. Speck, a senior, and Grubbs, a junior, are undefeated in individual events so far this season and also swim on the Lady Tigers relay teams. The pair said they’ve enjoyed working with a group of talented teammates this season.
https://www.galioninquirer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2021/01/web1_SPECK-GRUBBS-MAIN.jpgGalion High School swimmers Kaisey Speck, left, and Troie Grubbs, right, are hoping for a return trip to the OHSAA state championship meet this season. Speck, a senior, and Grubbs, a junior, are undefeated in individual events so far this season and also swim on the Lady Tigers relay teams. The pair said they’ve enjoyed working with a group of talented teammates this season. Andrew Carter | AIM Media Midwest
Speck and Grubbs enjoying 2020-2021 swim season

By Andrew Carter

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Follow @AndrewACCarter on Twitter.

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