By GRAHAM POWELL
Leader sportswriter
The Lonoke Shark Rockets and Cabot Piranhas swim teams put together strong showings at Saturday’s swim meet at the Lonoke Community Center.
Lonoke, Cabot and the Lakewood Waves out of North Little Rock made up the three teams that competed, and the Piranhas ran away with overall team scores as they racked up 641 points.
Lonoke took second in the points’ standings with 174, while Lakewood finished with 137 points.
Saturday’s meet consisted of 33 events, and several Shark Rockets and Piranhas swimmers took first place in their respective events.
Grant Goodnight, Connor Hayre and Ramsey Hanle won their divisions in the ages 6 and under boys’ 25-yard freestyle. Goodnight, of the silver division, posted the best time at 22.63. Elizabeth Esteban, also of Cabot, won the girls’ division of the event with a time of 28.72.
For the 7-8-year-old 25-yard freestyle event, Piranhas’ swimmer Maddux Bowen won the bronze division with a time of 19.53.
Cabot also took first in two of the three divisions in that age group for the girls. Carly Madar of the gold division posted the best-overall time at 19.37, while Grace Esteban won the bronze, timing in at 20.69.
Seth Johnson won the 50-yard freestyle bronze division for ages 9 and 10 with a time of 35.07. Collin Jinks of Lonoke took second in the event with a time of 35.07.
On the girls’ side, Charlotte Bell and Kyla Genenbacher of Cabot won their divisions. Bell’s time of 34.24 was good for best overall.
For ages 11 and 12 in the boys’ event, Tyce Wright of Cabot won the silver division with a time of 33.17 and Lonoke’s Nash Tipton won the bronze division with a 34.60 time.
Lonoke won two of the three divisions for the girls in that event. Emily Armstrong won the gold division with a 31.44 time, while Brooke Hill won the silver division with a slightly better time of 31.43.
Izzy Dulin of Cabot took first overall in the bronze, timing in at 33.35.
Cabot’s Ben Cameron and Hunter Carmical took first in the event for the boys’ ages 13 and 14. Cameron won the gold division with a 29.34 time and Carmical won the silver division.
Colton Tidwell and Tanner Edwards of Lonoke won the bronze division as each timed in at 31.19. For ages 15 through 18 in the event, Seth Fox, who raced in the gold division, posted the best time at 24.45.
In the same event and age group on the girls’ side, Haylee Beckley of Cabot timed in at 30.13, which was good for first overall.
Cabot’s Goodnight, Maddux Bowen, Elizabeth Esteban, Madar, Auston Melton, Jason Bongfeldt, Tristen Bowen, Bell, Abigail Thomas, Rachel Sweeney, Rachel Montanaro, Grace Mackey, Justice Austin, Carmical, Fox, Andrew Hupp, Noah Joyner, Catyee Wright, Melanie Abbott, Eryn McCoy, Jessie Baldwin, Kaylie Whitworth, Haylee Beckley and Chelbi Dulin won their divisions in the 50-yard backstroke.
The Piranhas also dominated the relay events for the 100-yard freestyle. The boys and girls combined to win six of the seven events to boost their overall point total.
In the 25-yard breaststroke event, Maddux Bowen and Kendal Lequieu won their divisions for the Piranhas.
In the 50-yard breaststroke, Johnson, Jason Bongfeldt, Tristen Bowen, Jessica Bongfeldt, Kyla Genenbacher, Montanaro, Abigail Breedlove, Carmical, Cameron, John Santiago, Fox, Joyner, Abott, McCoy, Baldwin and Whitworth all won their divisions for Cabot.
In the 25-yard butterfly, Joshua Breedlove of Cabot won the bronze division with a 31.19 time and LeQuiei won the girls’ bronze division with a 31.91 time.
The Piranhas also put together a strong showing in the 50-yard butterfly event as they won seven of the 10 events.
In the 100-yard Individual Medley, Piranhas’ swimmer Coleman Manley took first in the bronze division for the 9-10-year-old age group with a time of 1:49.28. For the girls in that age group, Kyla Genenbacher posted the best overall time from the bronze division as she finished in 1:30.25.
In the 11-12-year-old age group, Tristen Bowen provided the Piranhas with five more team points with a first-place finish in the bronze division with a 1:13.33 time.
Sweeney won the event for the girls with a time of 1:19.31. For the 13- and 14-year olds, Carmical won the silver division with a time of 1:19.47.
Lonoke’s Edwards took first place in the bronze division with a 1:26.44 time. Kylee McGee of Lonoke also took first place on the girls’ side as she finished with a 1:06.49 time.
Wright and Abbott also finished first in their divisions to provide five points apiece for their team.
In the 15-18-year-old age group, Seth Fox, Payton Jones and Noah Joyner, all of Cabot, won their events. Fox, who raced in the platinum division, the highest of all divisions, had the best overall time at 1:03.07.
For the girls, Baldwin and Beckley had first-place finishes for Cabot and Makenzie Bennett and Colby Hartley of Lonoke won their events. Baldwin had the best overall time in that event, timing in at 1:06.53.