White Caps individual swimmers continue to impress in summer league

WASHINGTON — The Washington White Caps dropped their second-consecutive Greenville Area Swim League meet Wednesday, falling to Tarboro, 726-665.

With a limited roster in the previous meet, coach Spenser Pake and his team were looking to rebound from a 782-476 loss to Windsor.

The Marlins jumped out to an early lead in the 100-yard and 200-yard free relay races, taking the 6U, 8U, 10U and 12U contests, but the White Cap veterans fought their way back. With a time of 1:37, Washington’s most skillful relay team, consisting of Eric and Tony Lovenberg, Megan Baldwin and Kevin Andrews, edged Tarboro by more than nine seconds in the 200-yard free relay.

In the 100-yard individual medley, Pake began to garner production from his younger swimmers. Seven-year-old Victor Hill took the 8U race with a time of 1:48, Mary Scott Sheppard won her race with a 1:29.75 finish and Dariah Cole won with a 1:16.53 mark.

Stellar IM swims from Justin Clark, Baldwin and Andrews gave Washington all the momentum and put the team in striking range of the lead. However, Tarboro would answer with seven wins in the 25-yard and 50-yard freestyles in the younger age groups. Parker Sheppard, Clark, Baldwin and Lovenberg each scored Washington points with wins in the 50-yard free.

Later into the meet, Mary Scott Sheppard blew away the competition in the 50-yard backstroke, notching a time of 41.94, while Cole took the 11-12-year-old age group with 36.09 mark.

For the boys, Parker Sheppard locked up first place in the 50-yard backstroke with a commanding 35.91 finish, about 12 seconds better than the second-place swimmer. Carter Barnes and Andrews won their respective age groups in the 50 as well. Timely 50-yard breaststroke wins by Tristan Pake, Clark, Baldwin and Andrews got Washington back into the meet.

Mary Scott Sheppard (44.37), Cole (34.13), AJ Howard (26.62) and Eric Lovenburg (26.37) all locked up wins in the 50-yard fly. The most competitive race of the day came in the 50-yard fly 11-12-year-old age group, a battle between two Washington swimmers, Parker Sheppard and Pake. By .31 of a second, a photo finish, Sheppard edged his teammate to take the race.

But even with success in the final 200-yard medley relays, the White Caps fell to Tarboro, as the sheer number of opposing swimmers factored into the final point total.

Coach Pake and the White Caps will look to continue their clear individual success and break the losing streak when they face the Greenville Recreation and Parks YellowFins on the road, Tuesday at 6 p.m.