Marble Falls swimmers advance to regionals

CAPTION: Freshman Logan Hargraves shocked himself with a performance that resulted in advancing to the regional meet. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

Both Marble Falls High School swimmers advanced to the Class 4A Region IV meet thanks to their performances at the District 13-4A meet Jan. 24 in Belton.

Freshman Logan Hargraves clocked 55.85 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle to finish third, while Noe Hall finished the 100-meter backstroke in 1:18.89 to finish fourth.

“I was more ecstatic and happy than surprised,” coach Elizabeth Coyle said. “Logan would say, ‘I’m a freshman, I’m not going to regionals.’ There were juniors and seniors ahead of him at every meet. He’s been the top freshman.”

Hargraves dropped his time in the event by 3.69 seconds, while Hall dropped 2 seconds.

Coyle said Hargraves’ performance was fun to watch.

“I have never seen a kid swim so hard and so fast,” she said. “It was absolutely amazing to watch. I don’t think he took a breath the entire 50 seconds. It was so fun to watch.”

She noted that Hargraves was stunned he qualified for regionals. The two hoped he could qualify for regionals in the 50-meter freestyle, but there wasn’t enough recovery time between the two events.

Meanwhile, Hall’s work during practices has been leading to what happened at the district meet, the coach said.

“Noe is such a trooper,” she said. “She’s been working hard every day in practice. She is 100 percent changing the way she swims. Every time she swims the backstroke, she drops her time. She had to swim super hard.”

The regional meet is Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at Southwest Independent School District Aquatic Center, 9290 SW Loop 410 in San Antonio.

CAPTION: Marble Falls swimming coach Elizabeth Coyle (left) and swimmers Logan Hargraves and Noe Hall are headed to the regional meet. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography