GAMBIER — The Mount Vernon High School swim team had its first home meet of the season on Tuesday night, hosting the Mansfield Senior Tygers. The Yellow Jackets put up a fight, but the Tygers took home a combined 204-136 victory at the Kenyon Athletic Center. Mount Vernon won eight of the 24 events contested.
“I am happy with the result,” said Mount Vernon coach Jeff Gottke. “Mansfield (Senior) is a good team so we knew it would be close. We had a lot of kids do their best times. They rose to the level of their competition. ... It was nice to be home. I was impressed with our effort overall.
“It was good for us to get some competition in a fast pool, against a team that we go back and forth with. We always know that when Mansfield (Senior) comes, it is going to be a battle.”
In boys action, the Jackets and Tygers went toe-to-toe with Mansfield Senior edging Mount Vernon, 97-73. Seniors Scott Nielson and Jack Tokarsky and junior Ian Richardson had strong nights. The trio, along with freshman Johnson Cochran, won the 200-yard medley relay to start the night for Mount Vernon, but they didn’t stop there.
Richardson won the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle in 23.07 seconds and 51.72 seconds, respectively. Tokarsky won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:03.87, and Nielson posted second-place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard breaststroke.
“I think we had an all right meet,” said Nielson. “I had a best time in my butterfly so I am happy about that. We performed well as a team, and (Mansfield Senior) was really classy. It was fun racing them. ... We just go out there and tried to do our best.”
The trio, along with Gavin Rundell, took second in the 400-yard freestyle relay as well. Rundell also took second in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle.
The Mount Vernon girls fell to Mansfield Senior, 107-63. The Jackets had four first-place wins. Jess Zeller won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:19.34. Tate Devlin won two events — the 50-yard freestyle (26.32 seconds) and 100-yard freestyle (57.81 seconds). Samantha Williams won the 500-yard freestyle in 6:10.67, and Lindsey Studebaker took second.
“Tate Devlin had a really good day,” said Gottke. “She is probably our best sprinter, and she dropped her time. That was impressive.”
Williams also finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Jackets’ relay team of Williams, Haley Bisesi-Adkins, Kate Klesner and Devlin took second in the 200-yard medley relay, and the team of Zeller, Klesner, Studebaker and Devlin was second in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
“It was nice to be home because we got the support of our parents coming out to see us,” said Nielsen. “A lot of people who have followed Mount Vernon for a long time came our and supported us, which felt good.”
Mount Vernon will look to improve on Tuesday’s performance throughout the next couple of weeks. The Jackets are back in action at home on Friday, hosting Delaware and Columbus Academy at Kenyon.
“This is the beginning of a home stand for us in terms of meets,” Gottke said. “We are going to be home all through Christmas break. ... This will only help us. I’m hoping that we learned a lot about how to compete against good competition.”
