HUNTSVILLE — The Huntsville Lakers had a great postseason meet at the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF) regional swim meet in Navasota this past Saturday, resulting in several swimmers qualifying for the TAAF Games of Texas in Waco on August 6-8.  

Last weekend’s TAAF meet was open to all ages, so several coaches, parents, and members of the community were able to compete for the city of Huntsville, along with the Lakers.

Coach Tom Dawson, not only helped to prepare and coach the TAAF swimmers, but also participated in Saturday’s meet earning four gold medals in the men’s 18-and-over 200-yard freestyle, men’s 40-and-over 100-yard freestyle, 50-yard breaststroke and 100-yard individual medley. He also participated in the men’s 18-and-over 200-yard IM and 200-yard freestyle relays accompanied by Cale Teeter, Michael Glissmeyer, and Darrell Rose to achieve impressive second place finishes and silver medals.  

Glissmeyer earned two first-place finishes in the men’s 25-to-39-year-old 50 free and 50 back. Teeter and Rose pulled in at second place finishes, after unsuccessfully trying to catch Dawson in the 50 breast and the 200 freestyle respectively. Rose easily won the men’s 25-39 100 IM, 100 freestyle and the 50-yard butterfly.  All four men earned the opportunity to represent Huntsville at the state TAAF meet.

The kids loved watching the adults compete for a change, cheering on coach, dad and friends. However, they were not going to let the adults outshine them at this meet.

The Laker team was able to finish in second place overall in points at the meet, which was impressive considering the amount of swimmers the Lakers had compared to the other teams in the region. Despite being small in number, the kids made up for it by dominating most of the events they were competing in.

Synneve Williams brought home three gold medals in the 15-to-17-year-old 50 free, 50 butterfly and the 50 back for an opportunity to advance the state meet.

Kaylie Glissmeyer shaved an impressive 17 seconds off her seed time to earned a bronze medal in the girls 13-and-14-year-old 200 free. Kaylie Glissmeyer also finished fifth in the 50 back and eighth in the 100 free.  

Elisa Williams managed a fifth-place finish in the 50 free, a fourth-place finish in the butterfly and won a bronze medal in the 50 back for the same division.

Faith Williams won the 11-and-12-year-old division’s 50 butterfly and finished second in the 50 breast and 50 free. Also competing in the 11-and-12-year-old division was Shelby Hill, who brought home gold in the 50 backstroke, finished fourth in the IM and sixth in the 50 free.  

Representing the 7-and-8-year-old girls were Alina Hinton with a first-place finish in the 25 free, second-place finish in the 25 back and a third-place finish in the 25 breast. Layla Glissmeyer earned first-place finishes in the 25 back and 25 butterfly, as well as a third-place finish in the 25 free. Evelyn Williams was able to get a fourth-place finish in the breast, place fifth in freestyle and second place in butterfly.  

The youngest Lakers really made improvements this year. Emily Smith and Kathleen Williams, both just 6 years old, improved their seed times by two seconds, with Smith bringing home the gold medal and Kathleen bringing home a fifth-place ribbon in the 25 free. Emily also managed a third-place in the backstroke.  

The 6-year-old boys swam hard, as well, as Sam Hamby won a bronze medal and Mark Glissmeyer finished eighth in the 25 free. In the backstroke, Hamby managed another third-place finish and Mark placed fifth, improving his seed time by almost six seconds. Sam also attempted the 50 free for the first time and managed to bring home a bronze medal.  

Eight-year-old David Hamby was able to ribbon in seventh place in the back, ninth in free, and fourth in the breast.

Hayden Smith, age 7, was able to get a fifth-place finish in the back and a sixth-place ribbon in the 25 free.  

In the 9 year old division Andrew Hinton and Andrew Perry were able to ribbon in eight- and ninth place, respectively, in the 25 free. Perry finished fourth and Hinton sixth in the backstroke for the same division, while Perry was able to pull in a bronze medal for his efforts in the breaststroke.

The 11-and-12-year-old boys were quite successful at the meet, with Luke Glissmeyer winning the backstroke and butterfly events and finishing in second in the freestyle. Alex Belanger pulled in at second place and the opportunity to represent Huntsville at the state meet in the breaststroke. Adam Presson earned in a fourth-place ribbon in the back, fourth-place in the fly and sixth in the free.  Jerry Perry was able to ribbon in 11th place in the breast, seventh in the back, and 10th in the free.  

Next stop, Waco.