Last weekend, that day arrived, as the senior finished first in the boys 500 freestyle at the 5A state swimming and diving meet at the University of Texas in Austin.
However, Singley not only claimed his first individual state title, but came close to earning a second one, finishing less than two seconds behind the top swimmer in the 200 freestyle to take the silver in that event.
“That was the first 5A individual state championship we’ve ever had [in Carroll’s swim program],” Dragons swim coach Kevin Murphy said of Singley wrapping up his impressive career. “He’d been waiting a long time for that, so we’re really happy for him. He’s worked hard to achieve his goals.”
As a freshman, Singley finished fourth in the 500 freestyle, his best event. He earned silver in the event as a sophomore and bronze as a junior, even though he battled the flu at the meet last year.
“I’ve been chasing that elusive gold medal for four years,” Singley said. “You think you’re great when you’re killing people at district and winning at region, but you go against the best of the best at state.
“To be able to go against those great athletes that really push you, it shows what you’re made of.”
Also part of a boys 400 freestyle relay team (with Drew Mays, Andrew Goss and Connor Nolan) that finaled and placed sixth this year, Singley’s contributions helped Carroll finish 10th as a team with 86 points. San Antonio Churchill won the boys competition with 163 points, while Flower Mound took second (151 points) and 2007 champion Kingwood finished third (136).
Meanwhile, the Carroll girls made history, finishing ninth overall with 83 points to record their best finish as a 5A program. Last season, the girls ended up 17th as a team at state, while the boys took second behind Kingwood.
“You walk away and might feel like it wasn’t successful, because we finished ninth and 10th and we got to enjoy being the No. 2 [boys] team last year,” Murphy said. “But seeing how well we did overall, with over 200 swim programs across the state, ninth and 10th place in state is pretty darn good.”
Murphy said the level of competition is much higher at the 5A level than it is at the 4A level. Although the Highland Park girls handily won the 4A state title, Carroll’s girls more than doubled their score when they raced the Scots in a duel meet earlier this season.
The Dragons as a whole continued to claim some firsts this season, continuing the trend of groundbreaking feats they achieved in 2007. Leah Cowperthwaite set a new school record in the 100 freestyle, while the girls 200 freestyle relay did the same.
Last year, the boys finished second overall at state and earned their first team medal, aided by the fact that the boys won their first 5A gold medal of any kind when the 400 freestyle relay won state. This year, the Carroll girls were aiming for a chance at their first medal as a team as well.
The Carroll girls expected to finish as high as third overall, but of its nine entrants in state events, only the 200 freestyle relay team (Lisa Ginder, Rachael Ausdenmoore, Cassidy Lapp, Cowperthwaite) reached the finals to finish sixth. Most of the others finished in the 10-12 range, missing the eighth-place cutoff in the preliminaries.
“To barely make it into the finals for several of these girls could have changed the outcome from ninth place to a lot higher,” Murphy said. “A second here or a second there could have changed the whole complexion of the meet.
“But we swam really well and we expect to have a great team put together once again next year,” he said.
Five of six Carroll boys entrants in state events reached the finals. Other than Singley’s two individual medals and relay participation, freshman Connor Nolan (sixth in 200 IM) and senior Drew Mays (eighth in 100 backstroke) also finaled.
“We lost a lot of depth and we had a lot of swimmers gone from last year,” Singley said. “But we still finished as one of the top 10 programs. Not many teams can say that.”
Although losing some key seniors on both the boys and girls sides, Murphy said the team’s accomplishments this year and the return of some talented swimmers sets the stage for more success in 2009.
“I think we have good kids coming back that are real active,” Murphy said. “The older ones showed them leadership and they should pattern off that real well.”
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