The Battle of Dalton beckoned five high schools to kick-start the swim season.
Gilmer was one of the teams that made the trip to Dalton High last Saturday. The GHS Bobcats finished third in the boys standing with 164 points, and the Lady Cats placed fifth on the girls side with 103.
Law Lykins secured the top finish for the Bobcats when he clocked in at 53.85 in the 100-yard freestyle for second place. He also finished fourth in the 50 free at 23.99.
Also competing in the 50 free were Bobcats Larz Fowler (9th place, 27.74), Kaden Little (10th, 27.94) and Jacob Kucera (12th, 28.44).
Behind Lykins in the 100 free standings were teammates Kucera (5th, 1:04.08), Little (6th, 1:04.46) and Ty Cox (11th, 1:08.01). Fowler also earned a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:23.21.
Gilmer found success in a pair of relay events and placed third. In the 200-yard medley, Little, Fowler, Lykins and Kucera posted a time of 2:05.08. Michael Sexton and Luke Cain joined Fowler and Cox in the 200-yard freestyle and finished in 1:47.13.
The Lady Cat trio of Kaitlyn Grice, Esther Bowman and Alyson Guidry all turned in a pair of top-10 placements. In the 50 free, Grice (33.85) led the way in fourth place while Bowman (34.57) was sixth and Guidry (37.54) finished in eighth place.
Bowman touched the wall (1:21.22) for sixth just ahead of Grice (1:21.54) in seventh as Guidry (1:29.40) took ninth.
Grice, Guidry and Bowman welcomed Addison Emond for the 200-freestyle relay and they finished in fourth place with a time of 2:39.98.
Dalton slipped ahead of Northwest Whitfield for first on the girls side, 383-322. Coahulla Creek (238), Southeast Whitfield (104) and Gilmer rounded out the standings.
For the boys, Dalton won in a landslide tallying 813 points. Ahead of GHS in second was Coahulla Creek (194), and Northwest (144) and Southeast (89) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Gilmer will travel to Calhoun Saturday for its next meet.