Fenton Swimmers Lose in Final Race

Hollywood couldn't have scripted it better.

With the final event still to go, Fenton boys swimming led the Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing team by a just a single point, 86-85.

While the winner of the meet between the two teams wouldn’t necessarily be determined by a first place finish in the 400 yard freestyle relay, the points were important.

“We figured it would come down to that,” Fenton coach Brad Jones said. “It was by far our best time in the 400.”

The best time for Fenton, however,  didn’t beat Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing, and the final score was a 95-90 loss for the Tigers.

The Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing co-op squad won the final event with a time of 3:40.68, while Fenton fell short at 3:46.62.

“I knew it was going to be a close race,” Fenton Junior Adam Ransom said.

Ransom was the first swimmer for the second place relay team. He also placed first in the 200 yard freestyle and 500 yard freestyle, the latter of which was a sprint to the finish after the long race, which resulted in Ransom finishing only two seconds ahead of Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing swimmer Erick Skaff.

Ransom was happy with his performance overall.

“I put up great time and had some great races," he said.

Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing jumped out to a lead in the meet with a victory in the first event, the 200 yard medley relay. Fenton then dominated the 200 yard freestyle, with Ransom placing first and Ken Carbary of Fenton placing second, 13 seconds ahead of third place finisher Casey McNally of Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing.

 Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing then created a slim lead, but the Tigers depth kept them close.

While the swimmers from both teams received a break, four divers took the stage.

In the end, it was a showdown between Samantha Moss of Fenton, the only girl on the boys swim team, and Connar Funk of Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing. Moss defeated Funk with a score of 164.65 to 160.80.

Fenton came back after the break with a vengeance, with Alex Chase winning the 100 yard butterfly and Ken Carbary and Zahne Macklin placing first and second, respectively, in the 100 yard freestyle. Macklin beat Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing swimmer Anthony Summers by only .06 to take second.

The 200 yard freestyle relay shifted the point battle back toward Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing, with Fenton coming in second to a team that consisted of two of the four swimmers that would eventually win the final event for Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing.

David Congdon of Fenton won the 100 yard backstroke, but Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing stayed close behind with Blake McDonald taking second and Kiran Vekaria winning third. Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing once again surged forward when Patrick Sharp won the 100 yard breaststroke, teammate Nick Price coming in at second.

After that, the final event laid the showdown.

“Carman is a strong team,” Coach Jones said. “So we knew going into today it was going to be tough.”

Fenton’s loss can’t be felt for long, as they host the Genesee County Championship this Friday and Saturday. They’ll face teams from across the area, including Brandon and Grand Blanc, two teams Jones calls the best.

With finals this week, Jones isn’t ready to overextend his swimmers.

“I hope they’ll feel better rested,” Jones said. “We’ll roll hard until Thursday night.”

Ransom focuses his worries on finals rather than the meet this weekend.

“I don’t think it will affect us very much,” he said. “We won’t do morning swims, so that gives me extra time to study.”