A pair of local swim teams earned the top spots in the 6th Annual Candy Cane Classic at the Owensboro Health Healthpark on Saturday.
Owensboro High School dominated the girls competition to finish first with 142 points. Combined with a third-place finish by the boys (65 points), Owensboro also won the overall team trophy.
Owensboro Catholic’s boys team took first with 126 points, and a fourth-place finish by the girls (55 points), earned them the runner-up in overall competition.
Several local swimmers won individual events. See the links below for full results.
Daviess County finished sixth overall as the boys’ and girls’ teams each placed sixth. Apollo finished seventh with a fourth-place finish by the boys and ninth-place showing by the girls.
Owensboro head coach Brad Schmied said he was shocked to win the overall award. A few swimmers were not in action on the boys’ team, so he said the meet was really more about preparation than setting expectations.
“Today was really about setting them up for future meets,” he said. “To win it was a little surprising. The girls were probably favored, but the boys stepped up. They’re well ahead of where we were last year.”
For Owensboro Catholic, head coach Erica Crabtree said her team’s ability to swim in multiple events plays a big role in coming out on top.
“Our boys’ team is really strong,” she said. “We have a lot of swimmers that are able to compete in various races, which means we have kids that can swim all the strokes. That’s what you need to get a win. We feel like we’re at a good place at this point in the season leading into the first of the year with our big meets coming up.”
