The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - Dayton hosted league opponents St. John-Endicott-LaCrosse-Washtucna (one combined team) and Colfax on July 25.

The meet started with the first heats taking place at 4 p.m., and ended shortly before 8 p.m. Dayton finished third in the overall and women’s standings, while taking second in the men’s rankings on the day.

This meet saw more competitors overall present than the first meet, and the day started off with freestyle events. Dayton scored points in the first race, the girls 12 and under freestyle, with Mallory Dowdy and Grace Trump finishing in points-winning positions. Nathan Ramsey took home the team’s first win of the day, topping the timesheets in the 13-14-year-old 100-meter freestyle. Lucy Trump was the first woman’s race winner for Dayton, winning the girl’s eight and under 25-meter freestyle.

Dayton went on a point- scoring streak, with swimmers finishing in the top six (the points scoring positions) in every event that a Dayton swimmer raced in until the 14th event, when a Dayton relay team was disqualified.

Dayton kept up its strong performances in regards to avoiding disqualifications. Between both individual and relay events, there were only five instances of a Dayton swimmer or relay being disqualified, the lowest of all three teams. This is an important stat for the team, as they have less members than most of their league opponents.

There were many victories for the Dayton team. Seven different swimmers won events in their final showing on home soil, with three different swimmers taking home the top spot in multiple events. Nathan Ramsey and Lucy Trump both won four different events, the most of any Dayton participants. Alex Jenkins won three events, with Israel and Enrique Ramsey, Benny Bryan, and Taylor Hays all also winning events during the meet.

This week sees the team practicing, as there are no meets being held. This is due to the season finale County Championship Meet being held on Saturday, Aug. 5 in Colfax. The meet features qualifying swimmers (those who have participated in three meets, including at least one road meet) racing for medals in an all-day meet.