Carroll's swimming & diving program makes waves of glory as the reigning 5A powerhouse - Photo courtesy of Rex Teter
Dragon Sports by Rick Herrin
The latest local powerhouse dominatingbrthe state sports landscape is Carroll’s swimming and diving program. They havebrbuilt a dynasty, blazing a path to the top of the podium each year, makingbrCarroll the team to beat in Class 5A swimming and diving. The program is simplybrwringing wet with success after winning the Class 5A team titles again thisbryear.
At this rate, Coach Kevin Murphy mightbrwant to pack a swimsuit for the state meet. After each title, Murphy’sbrtradition has been to dive head first into the pool. Fully dressed in his dressbrclothes and green tie, Murphy got drenched again this year — the routine isbrbecoming more familiar and entertaining each successive year.
“Every year is different, with different captains,brleaders and relay swimmers and different line-up combinations andbrpossibilities,” says Murphy. “It’s very exciting to see our Dragons strivebrtoward their state championships.”
Along with the titles came the accolades…
· brJonathan Roberts, 5A Boys Swimmer of the Year
· brBryce Klein, 5A Boys Diver of the Year
· brKevin Murphy, 5A Coach of the Year
· brCarolyn Hryorchuk, 5A Diving Coach of the Year
Along with the accolades came more team history…
The Dragon boys swim team won the 5Abrstate swimming and diving title for the third consecutive year, producing abrcommanding three-peat of impressive point totals. The Dragons finished with 279brtotal points, 112 points ahead of second-place The Woodlands. The Lady Dragonsbralso defended their title. The two programs have five state titles between them,brall won in just three years.
And more individual history…
Jonathan Roberts, a junior, finished the year in fine fashionbrwinning the gold in the 200- and 500-meter freestyle events. Along the way, he establishedbra 200-meter state record with a time of 1:36.14. “JonathanbrRoberts is a kid that humbly goes about his work with a smile on his face and withbrwords of encouragement for all the swimmers on our team,” Murphy says. “As abrjunior, he is already one of the very best high-school swimmers in the nation.”
Roberts was also partbrof a school-record setting and gold-medal-winning 400-meter freestyle relaybrwith teammates John Remetta, Grayson Macgruder and Jake Tovey.
Dragon diver Bryce Klein, an SMU signee, made his return to thebrtop of the state podium. Klein won the 5A one-meter diving title and set the statebrrecord for points with 622.05. It marked the second title in three years forbrKlein, who was an Olympic hopeful last summer.
“He will do a fine job at SMU next year, putting SMUbrdiving on the map for the next four years,” Murphy says. “He is the very bestbrmale diver in the history of Texas high-school diving.”
The Lady Dragon 200-meterbrfree relay team finished second and was composed of Lindsay Schultz, EmilybrZapinski, Ashlin Anderson and Emily Gibson. The time of 1:35.89 set a schoolbrrecord. Gibson also finished second in the 100-meter fly with a school recordbrof 55.73.
The girls’ 400-meter freebrrelay added another second-place win with the team of Schultz, Zapinski, AlexabrBaran and Rebecca Upton. Lauren Crown added to Carroll’s outstanding divingbrperformance with a second-place finish.
“What makes our Dragon swim and dive teams so strongbris that they define their individual success by the success of the team,”brMurphy says.
Rick Herrin is the Carroll ISD Communications and Marketing Department's Video Webmaster. He also works closely with the athletic department covering events and managing sports news for the district. He is a long-time follower of Dragon athletics and formerly covered Carroll as a sports reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Grapevine Sun.