Rachael Ausdenmoore / Carroll Swim and Dive
Carroll’s swim and dive program delivered a commanding performance at the District 4-6A Championships at the Northwest ISD Aquatic Center, as both the boys and girls teams claimed district titles in emphatic fashion.
The Dragon men powered their way to the championship with 192 points, finishing well ahead of Keller’s 145, while qualifying all three relays, two divers and 21 individual swims for regionals. The boys' relays set the tone early, earning three top-two finishes. The 200-medley relay of William Zhang, Pierce Chapman, Finn McAteer and Colin Heintz placed second, followed by district titles in the 200-freestyle relay by Dylan Heldenbrand, Ethan Jetty, Heintz and Kobe Dickheiser and the 400-freestyle relay by Heldenbrand, Zhang, Jetty and Dickheiser.
Individually, Jack Ma captured the diving title with Dhylan Patel finishing second. Dickheiser and Zhang went one-two in the 200-freestyle, while Dickheiser also placed second in the 500-freestyle alongside strong swims from Ryan Seifert, Finley Laurence and David Hill. Heldenbrand swept the 50 and 100 freestyle with Jetty and Heintz close behind, while Zhang won the 100 butterfly followed by McAteer. Additional point scorers included Chapman, Seifert, Grayson Sullivan, Jacob Seifert, Thomas Paskvan, Aaron Dong, Arsh Sinha, Alex Diller, Jeffrey Liu and Srivarsath Venkatesan.
The Carroll girls matched the dominance, winning the district crown with 181 points behind a deep and balanced effort. The Lady Dragons opened the meet with a victory in the 200-medley relay as Taryn Plows, Emma Bibza, Jenna Khalaf and Olivia Colombo touched first, then closed it by winning the 400-freestyle relay behind Colombo, Charlie Rockafellow, Sydney Klopfenstein and Bibza. Carroll also placed second in the 200-freestyle relay with Klopfenstein, Plows, Sayesha Mahat and Rockafellow.
Bibza led the way individually with district championships in the 200-freestyle and 100-butterfly, while Colombo captured titles in the 50-freestyle and 100-backstroke. Strong podium finishes also came from Alessia Palmisani, Kay Deyoung, Khalaf, Katelyn Burke, Klopfenstein and Mahat, keeping Carroll firmly in control of the team race.
In diving, the Lady Dragons swept the top four spots as Bella Sanouvong claimed the district title followed by Reese Calvin, Sophia Borowski and Lucy Reynolds. Additional point contributions came from Rockafellow, Emma Nguyen, Julia Cook, Dishita Kandula, Madeleine Dupuis and Chandler Weilert.
With momentum firmly on their side, Carroll now turns its focus to the Region 1-6A Swim and Dive Championships in Midland on Feb. 6-7.