With the day off from school, the Edwardsville Tigers went to work in the pool.
The Tigers won the five-team Swim for HOPE event inside Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center on Monday afternoon.
Edwardsville scored 381 points, beating out O’Fallon (308), Chatham Glenwood (304), Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (217) and Springfield High School (178).
“The kids were definitely challenged today to some different events than they are used to. We had some decent swims, and I think we learned how to respond to those challenges,” Edwardsville coach Christian Rhoten said.
The event was a fundraiser for Allison’s HOPE, which has raised more than $1 million for cancer research. The cause is named after founder Allison Cassens, an Olympic-level swimmer who was diagnosed with colon cancer at a young age. She passed away at the age of 33 years old in 2004.
This was the first Swim for HOPE event done by the EHS boys’ team. The girls have hosted the event in the past.
“We are looking to grow it and looking to make this an annual event, where we can bring in some of the best competition from the south central part of the state and raise funds to give back to a good cause,” Rhoten said.
In the pool, Edwardsville picked up five individual -- two from Logan Mills -- and two relay victories in the 18 events.
Mills’ busy day included a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke, winning in 1:09.74. He was two seconds ahead of Springfield’s Lleyton Power.
“I added a couple seconds, but I was still able to get first,” Mills said. “It’s hard not to look at the time, but I am still happy with getting first.”
Mills also won the 100-yard butterfly in 59.65, beating O’Fallon’s Jake Howey by a second.
Porter LeVasseur won the 100-yard backstroke in 54.89. He won by nearly nine seconds over Glenwood’s Adam Matos.
McLain Oertle swam to victory in the 200-yard breaststroke, beating out the field with a time of 2:37.97. He won by two seconds.
Matthew Mendez had the other individual victory, as he took first in the 50-yard freestyle. He had a time of 24.48, just edging out the time of 24.69 from Matos.
“Matt Mendez had a nice 50 freestyle,” Rhoten said.
The 400-meter medley relay team of LeVasseur, Oertle, Noah May and Mills won in 3:52.43, beating runner-up Glenwood by four seconds.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Mathiew Doyle, Mendez, Oertle and Mills won in 1:36.80.
“Those are huge,” Rhoten said of the relays. “It’s huge at sectional to see who’s going to win and get those points.”
Doyle took second in the 1,000-yard freestyle, completing the lengthy race in 11:23.38. He was nearly 42 seconds off the time of Howey, who won in 10:41.01.
Also placing second was Oertle, who finished runner-up to O’Fallon’s Noah Lang in the 200-yard freestyle. Lang won in 2:01.14, while Oertle clocked in at 2:07.46.
Noah May earned second in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing 13 seconds behind Glenwood’s Evan Moelten in 2:09.25.
Third-place finishers for the Tigers included Owen Kaufmann in diving, Graham Peterson in the 200-yard freestyle in 34.28, LeVasseur in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:10.88 and the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Doyle, Peterson, May and LeVasseur in 8:11.17.
EHS returns to action against O’Fallon at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
“We are coming along,” Rhoten said. “It wasn’t the best meet of the season, but I think they learned something about themselves with how to compete and respond to challenges. We will use it down the road.”