The Hope Piranhas Swim Team competed in the DeQueen Dolphins 2021 Swim Meet Friday night in DeQueen, Arkansas where they finished in first place.

The Piranhas ended the meet with a total, combined score of 545 points compared to 2nd place finishers Mena Swim Team's 419 points. The DeQueen Dolphins came in 3rd with 352 points. The Piranhas brought 17 swimmers to the meet and every single one earned points for the team.

13-year-old Sadie Knoll and 5-year-old Khloe Rodgers both earned the most points for the team with 36 total points each. Knoll in particular won all six of the events she competed in and improved her time in every single individual race. Rodgers also won all four of her individual races and shaved off1 almost three full seconds in her 25 meter freestyle.

8-year-old Kase Lemley won the most points for the boys team with a total of 34 points. Lemley finished in first place in three of his individual races, the 8 & Under 25 meter butterfly, the 8 & Under 25 meter backstroke and the 8 & Under 25 meter freestyle.

There were also many other 1st place finishes among the other Hope men with all five in attendance winning at least one event. 9-year-old Payson Hovarter won the Boys 10 & Under 50 meter fly and the Boys 10 & Under 50 meter breast, 6-year-old Michael Massenelli won the Boys 6 & Under 25 meter backstroke, 12-year-old Ben Stewart won the Boys 12 & Under 50 meter fly, and 6-year-old Carter Wilcox won the Boys 6 & Under 25 meter backstroke.

12-year-old Zoie Cox also had a great meet, earning 31 points for the team and getting first place in four of her six events. Cox also had a huge time improvement in her 50 meter butterfly event where she improved her personal best time by over 10 seconds.

Many events this weekend had the entire top three finishers come from Hope. In the girls 10 & Under 50 meter butterfly, 9-year-olds Adyson Crow, Tatem Hovarter, and Aubri Newton placed all in the top 3. The 12 & Under 50 meter fly was a similar way with Cox along with other 12-year-olds Vanessa Ortiz and Aracely Garcia placed in the top 3. The same three girls also placed top three in both the 12 & Under 50 meter back and 50 meter free.

14-year-old Abigail Crow had a very close race in the 100 meter freestyle where she beat out DeQueen swimmer Penelope Sims by less than six-tenths of a second to get 2nd place in a photo finish race.

The Hope Piranhas will compete in the SASA Championship Meet in Pine Bluff this upcoming weekend.

Photos by Amy Knoll