The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON – The Dayton Swim Team competed in their first home swim meet on July 18 against league rivals Pullman and Pomeroy. The meet began with the first heats at 4 p.m. and concluded with final relays around 7:30 p.m.

Dayton, which has slightly less team members compared to previous seasons, did not let the drop in numbers take away from their competitiveness, placing second behind a strong Pomeroy team and ahead of the Pullman team.

The first races of the day were the 12-and-under 100 meter freestyles for both boys and girls. Dayton managed to secure a point on the boys' side, with Guppie Cush placing sixth overall in the event. (Points are awarded to the six fastest swimmers, with first place receiving seven, second place receiving five, and then decreasing by a point until the sixth-place swimmer.)

The 100-meter freestyle was contested by swimmers aged 13-14, with Dayton taking home over 15 points between both groups. Anna Fortier and Jasmine Ramsey both finished in the top three, with Nathan Ramsey taking home second place and Cush finishing fourth on the boys' side.

The oldest group for the 100-meter freestyle on the girls' side saw a rare occurrence, with two swimmers finishing in a tie for second in the 15-18-year-old group. Taylor Hays tied with a swimmer from Pomeroy for second place honors. Three boys from Dayton, Alex Jenkins and the Ramsey brothers, Enrique and Israel, taking the top three places in that order.

The medley relays, which require a team of four to complete a lap of each stroke, saw strong showings by teams made up of Dayton swimmers. Four teams from Dayton earned points in their relays.

Many swimmers from Dayton brought home wins for the day, including multiple event winners Alex Jenkins, Lucy Trump, Cora Johnson, Guppie Cush, and Anna Fortier. Dayton thrived at avoiding disqualifications in both individual and relay events-an issue that plagued the other two competing teams.

When broken down, Dayton placed second in all team rankings: Boy's, Girl's, and Combined team scores. In the combined team scores, Dayton finished with a 26.5-point lead over the Pullman Barracudas, but were a staggering 158 points behind the winning team from Pomeroy. While Pomeroy had a strong showing in a majority of the events, they also were fielding a larger team than Dayton, which may or may not have given them a slight advantage.

The meet is near the mid-point of the season, with approximately two weeks remaining until the County Championship Meet in Colfax on Aug. 5. Dayton also hosted a meet on July 25, but results were not available by The Times' press deadline.