On October 8th, the Belton Varsity Swimming Team started their competitive season by hosting Austin High School, Lake Belton, and New Tech at the Belton Swim Center. Not only would this mark the beginning of a new season for each Belton swimmer, it was also the start of a new Varsity Swimming career for seven different Belton Tigers. Swimmers Charlie Burns, Natalia Kulisz, Wyatt Nelson, Michael Nyah, Micah Rodriguez, Kali Stowe, and Ema Whitzel competed for the first time ever at a Varsity event, with most a part of the Belton A Relays and leading their own individual events. Combined with the returning talent of Raef Airhart, Mackenzie Gingerich, Sophia Detert, Olivia Brillhart, Maddox Spence, Kirra Martin, and former State Finalists Liliana Nelson and Addison Richardson, Belton was in a prime position to kick their season off on the right note. With numerous incredible individual swims, the Belton Girls' Team was able to defeat a strong Lake Belton Girls' Team and surging young New Tech Girls' Team!

Several pieces of yesterday's performance, such as Liliana Nelson's 1st Place finishes in both the 200 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle, were a major confidence boost. This also included Wyatt Nelson, the younger brother of Liliana, finishing 4th and 1st in the 200 Free and 500 Free, respectively. Olivia Brillhart's 3rd and 2nd Place finishes in the 50 Free and 100 Back were just as important in racking up the points for Belton. Kirra Martin was another important piece for Belton, as she finished 2nd and 1st in the 200 IM and 100 Fly, respectively. Newcomer Ema Whitzel finished with at top 3 time in the 200 Free and the 100 Free, starting her new career off wonderfully. State Finalist Addison Richardson competed in two events he is not as familiar with, the 100 Fly and 100 Back, but still finished 2nd and 4th. With these standout performances, Belton looks poised to have another fantastic season!

Below are the highlights from yesterday's meet:
-Girls' 200 Medley Relay (Brillhart, Martin, Detert, Stowe) finished 4th with a time of 2:21.84
-Boys' 200 Medley Relay (Airhart, Burns, Richardson, Spence) finished 5th with a time of 2:00.96
-Girls' 200 Free: Lili Nelson finished 1st with a time of 2:06.00; Ema Whitzel finished with a time of 2:13.23
-Boys' 200 Free: Wyatt Nelson finished 4th with a time of 2:09.58
-Girls' 200 IM: Kirra Martin finished 2nd with a time of 2:28.30; Natalia Kulisz finished with a time of 2:39.52
-Boys' 200 IM: Micah Rodriguez finished 6th with a time of 2:34.73; Charlie Burns finished 8th with a time of 2:57.35
-Girls' 50 Freestyle: Olivia Brillhart finished 3rd with a time of 27.07; Mackenzie Gingerich finished 5th with a time of 27.65; Kali Stowe finished 10th with a time of 35.88
-Boys' 50 Freestyle: Maddox Spence finished 4th with a time of 26.58
-Girls' 100 Fly: Kirra Martin finished 1st with a time of 1:07.02
-Boys' 100 Fly: Addison Richardson finished 2nd with a time of 1:02.07
-Girls' 100 Free: Mackenzie Gingerich finished 2nd with a time of 1:00.46; Ema Whitzel finished with a time of 1:01.20; Kali Stowe finished 7th with a time of 1:27.96
-Boys' 100 Free: Raef Airhart finished 2nd with a time of 52.96
-Girls' 500 Free: Liliana Nelson finished 1st with a time of 5:26.96; Sophia Detert finished 6th with a time of 6:27.61
-Boys' 500 Free: Wyatt Nelson finished 1st with a time of 5:35.73; Micah Rodriguez finished 4th with a time of 6:04.68
-Girls' 200 Freestyle Relay (Detert, Gingerich, Stowe, Nelson) finished 4th with a time of 2:01.23
-Boys' 200 Freestyle Relay (Nelson, Rodriguez, Burns, Spence) finished 4th with a time of 1:58.07
-Girls' 100 Back: Olivia Brillhart finished 2nd with a time of 1:06.31; Natalia Kulisz finished with a time of 1:11.13
-Boys' 100 Back: Raef Airhart finished 3rd with a time of 1:03.21; Addison Richardson finished 4th with a time of 1:03.78; Maddox Spence finished 10th with a time of 1:13.42
-Boys' 100 Breast: Charlie Burns finished 7th with a time of 1:26.72
-Girls' 400 Freestyle Relay (Nelson, Gingerich, Martin, Brillhart) finished 1st with a time of 4:04.65
-Boys' 400 Freestyle Relay (Richardson, Nelson, Rodriguez, Airhart) finished 2nd with a time of 4:00.63

Final Dual Meet Scores:

GIRLS:
Austin-88
Belton-58

Belton-75
New Tech-48

Belton-73
Lake Belton-71

BOYS:
Austin-70
Belton-66

Belton-73
New Tech-54

Lake Belton-104
Belton-45

COMBINED:
Austin-158
Belton-124

Belton-148
New Tech-102

Lake Belton-175
Belton-118