Having fast swimmers is even better.
The Walton boys and girls teams proved they were stacked in the relays in winning the Cobb Relays a month ago. Now, they’re showing they have a number of individual swimmers who can succeed.
The Walton boys won the Division I meet of the Cobb Quad Challenge on Saturday morning at Central Aquatic Center, beating Lassiter, Kennesaw Mountain and Harrison.
The Raiders prevailed with 424 points, over the runner-up Trojans (324). Kennesaw Mountain and Harrison took third and fourth, respectively.
The Walton girls also won by a large margin with 444 points, finishing 76 points ahead of Kennesaw Mountain. Lassiter took third and Harrison was fourth.
“I think the boys had more to offer, but it gave us a good measuring stick on what our depth is,” Walton coach Sharon Loughran said. “With the girls, it’s the same thing.”
Individually, Walton’s depth showed the most in the 200-yard individual medley, which the Raiders dominated in both genders.
Nathan Hufnagel won the boys IM, with Thomas Kelley and Tyler Yuen third and fourth. Kira deBruyn won the girls IM, with Jane Watts and Sehyun Cho taking second and third.
DeBruyn went to win the 100 butterfly, with Cho and Olivia Winkler third and fourth. And Hufnagel also won two events for Walton, winning the breaststroke ahead of Kelley.
The Lady Raiders had three teams place in the top five in the 200 medley relay, and they won the 200 freestyle relay. The boys relay teams won the 200 medley, with their “B” team tying Lassiter for second.
The Walton girls also got a huge boost when they had swimmers finish second, third, fourth and fifth in the 100 freestyle, behind the winner, Kennesaw Mountain’s Melissa Postoll.
Hufnagel won the 100 breaststroke for the Raiders, and Jack Gunning clinched the 500 freestyle. Gunning was also second behind Lassiter’s Jimmy Yoder in the 200 freestyle.
The Kennesaw Mountain girls won six events Saturday, but they didn’t have as much depth behind them to keep up with the Lady Raiders.
Postoll and her sister, Rebecca, were both two-time individual winners for the Lady Mustangs, with Melissa taking the 100 freestyle and the 100 backstroke, and Rebecca winning the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle.
The Kennesaw Mountain girls also won the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle. It also fared well on the diving board, with Alex Hart winning and Jordan Shealy taking second.
“The girls are right where we want them to be,” Kennesaw Mountain coach David Reason said. “We’re not worried about times right now, but we’re pleased with where we placed.”
Yoder prevailed in the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly for the Lassiter boys, and Daniel Bridgers won the 50 freestyle. Lauren O’Malley took the 100 breaststroke for the Lady Trojans.
Connor Oslin led both Harrison teams by winning both the 100 freestyle and the 100 backstroke for the boys. Madison McConnell won the 50 freestyle for the Harrison girls.












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