Coach Joey Powers and his Wolves gathered at the Rome High School pool on Jan. 6 and welcomed visiting teams Cartersville and Sequoyah High. The Wolves were celebrating their last home meet and as tradition goes, Powers also arranged for a special ceremony at the break to honor five seniors on the team.
Maci Andrews, Andre Durand, Philip Johnson, Logan Stahl and Carrie Twente had their names announced over the loudspeaker and welcomed their family members to the pool deck for photos. Powers said that their leadership has been instrumental to the team’s success, and he hopes what they have learned will lead to success in the classroom and in life.
“This is definitely bittersweet,” said Coach Powers. “We want our seniors to have their time to shine as a team and in the pool but knowing this is a culmination of their time with Rome High School makes this night a little bit bitter. Every year, our senior class is special in their own individual ways, and this group is no different. They have stepped up as leaders in the pool, in the locker room and in the classroom.
Powers said that he is proud of what the team has accomplished this year, and with three meets left in the year, they hope to shave seconds from their times as they prepare for the state meet.
The Rome men took home first place with a total team score of 155. Sequoyah finished second with 108 and Cartersville came in third with a point total of 29. Notable swims for the evening include Nathan Medley who qualified for state in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.82, and he also qualified for the 100-yard butterfly with a score of 53.04. The Boys 400-yard freestyle relay team, Luke Gulledge, Andre Durand and Nathan Medley, qualified for state with a time of 3:34.90.
Rome girls finished second in the meet with a total score of 73. Sequoyah finished first with 146 total points and Cartersville third with 57 points. Rome’s Westlynn Epps swam a state-qualifying time in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:05 and in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:35.53.
Sequoyah took home first place for combined scores, Rome second and Cartersville third. Powers said that his swimmers are primed to swim their best times ahead of the state meet.
“For most of us, our season is nowhere near over,” he said. “We are about two-thirds of the way there. As we look towards February, we are looking for the peak performance we need to qualify for state. Most of the kids have qualified in their event and if they have not, we are pushing for them to do so tonight. They will have additional
opportunities. Coming off a winter break where we only took about four days off before Christmas and the New Year, I can tell you they have worked really hard. It will be interesting to see how they respond after a few weeks of competition. We have a solid group of boys and girls in our relays and in the individual events, but I want to see a few more girls qualify in their individual events. They are close, and I am confident they will cut those times before state.
“They love each other,” Powers added when asked about what he has observed about his swimmers this year. “They are one big family, especially our seniors who have been through this entire strange time in this world. We have had to think outside the box, sometimes. They are being creative and have built a strong bond in the pool and in their downtime as a team. I can’t say enough about how impressed I am.”
Go Wolves!!!