Bulldogs Earn Three Podium Finishes and a School Record at
TISCA Gulf Championships
11/19/16 — The Bulldogs performed well Friday at the biggest and fastest meet of the season so far, having placed seven athletes into the finals and making the podium three times at the 2016 Gulf TISCA Championships, which was held at the Conroe I.S.D. Natatorium in Shenandoah, TX.
The Texas Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (TISCA) Gulf Championships brought swimmers and divers together from more than 50 high schools. The top 16 athletes in each event during the prelims competed in the finals Friday afternoon and night.
Top-Four Finishes for Clements, Field, and Johnson
Highlighting the Bulldogs’ performance were Caitlin Clements, Joy Field, and Brandon Johnson, who all had top-four performances in their individual events. Freshmen Courtney Fults and Olivia Gonder also made individual finals and had strong finishes against their more senior competitors. Sophomore Kiley Moriarty and senior Dove Niccum also suited up for finals with relay duty.
Field, a U.S.A Junior Team member who recently returned from competing in Tokyo and Hong Kong, placed second in the 500-yard free and tenth in the 200-yard free. Clements was third in the 100-yard free and tenth in the 200-yard individual medley (i.e., 50 yards for each of the four strokes). On the diving board, Johnson was fourth out of 26 divers in the one-meter dive competition.
Gonder finished third in the 200-yard individual medley B-Final and placed eleventh overall out of 53 swimmers, while Fults finished fourth in the 500-yard free B-Final and twelfth overall out of 42 swimmers. Both freshmen clocked new best times.
During Friday’s preliminary heats, other Bulldogs delivered solid performances in the pool against the best high school swimmers and divers in the Texas Gulf region. Just to enter the meet required swimmers and divers to meet tough qualifying standards. Full Bulldog results are presented below.
Click here for full meet results.
Bulldog Relay Teams Take Third & Ninth (Out of More Than 45 Teams!)
Kiley Moriarty and Dove Niccum teamed up with Caitlin Clements and Joy Field to win the B-Final and place ninth overall (out of 50 teams) in the 200-yard free relay, beating out Cy-Fair, Cypress Ranch, Deer Park, John Cooper, Katy’s Taylor High, Bryan High School, and Clear Lake for top honors in the B-Final.
Moriarty then led off the 400-yard free relay with Field going second, Gonder third, and Clements anchoring the foursome to take third out of 46 teams behind 6A powerhouses, The Woodlands High School and Cypress Woods High School.
School Record for Clements
Caitlin Clements, who is a senior and will swim next year for the Mizzou Tigers at the University of Missouri, set a school record in the 200-yard individual medley. She placed second in the B-Final with a 2:08.08. One spot behind in third was freshman Olivia Gonder, whose 2:09.72 was also under the old record of 2:10.44 set by Erin Plachy in 2010.
This is Clements’s fourth individual school record and the first outside of the freestyle events. She holds individual records in the 50-yard free (23.63), 100-yard free (50.39), and 200-yard free (1:48.78). She also shares team records in the 200-yard medley, 200-yard free, and 400-yard free relays.
Bulldog TISCA Results
Bulldog Women
Caitlin Clements (Sr)
200 IM (10th), 100 Free (3rd), 200 Free Relay (9th), 400 Free Relay (3rd)
Joy Field (Sr)
200 Free (10th), 500 Free (2nd), 200 Free Relay (9th), 400 Free Relay (3rd)
Courtney Fults (Fr)
200 Free (35th), 500 Free (12th)
Julia Giannotti (Fr)
1-Meter Dive (21st)
Olivia Gonder (Fr)
200 IM (11th), 200 Medley Relay (26th), 100 Breast (21st), 400 Free Relay (3rd)
Kiley Moriarty (So)
200 Free (27th), 500 Free (26th), 200 Free Relay (9th), 400 Free Relay (3rd)
Dove Niccum (Sr)
200 Medley Relay (26th), 50 Free (52nd), 100 Fly (30th), 200 Free Relay (9th)
Ella Schroeder (Sr)
200 IM (50th), 100 Breast (50th)
Savannah Schwienteck (So)
200 Medley Relay (26th), 500 Free (33rd), 100 Back (29th)
Bulldog Men
Torsten Henze (So)
200 IM (53rd)
William Honderich (So)
200 Free (40th), 500 Free (35th)
Brandon Johnson (Jr)
1-Meter Dive (4th)