West and South Stokes kicked off the swimming season with a matchup against Mt. Airy at the Stokes Family YMCA.

The Wildcats took home wins against both the Bears and the Sauras. South Stokes struggled against the speed and technique of both teams during the meet and failed to win any matches.

West Stokes’ boys team beat South Stokes 71-17. The Wildcats won 48-45 in a close matchup with Mt. Airy.

The Wildcats’ girls team took home a 76-20 win over the Sauras, but came up short against the Bears 74-20.

South Stokes boys and girls teams lost to Mt. Airy 65-19 and 80-6.

Wildcats Head Coach Marie Plummer said she is pleased with the results of the first official meet of the season.

“We are very happy with the growth we have seen in our returners and newbie swimmers,” she said. “Our ladies team has a lot of new swimmers and will continue to score more points as they become more comfortable with their strokes and gain experience.”

Plummer said that the boys team is also off to a great start this season.

“Our guys team has a good number of returns who have been working hard in the off season,” she said. “If we continue to grow and stay healthy, [we] will be able to turn some heads at conference this year.”

Turning heads will be easy to do if the Wildcats continue to grab first place finishes in meets this season.

West Stokes grabbed 27 first place finishes in last week’s meet, which helped the team rack up points and come out on top in three out of four matchups. Monday night, the Wildcat boys and girls teams took home wins against North Surry 104-54 and 112-44.

South Stokes had a deficit of points last Friday night, but it’s too early to rule out greater success for the young team this season.

Saura Joey Swanson finished first place in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of two minutes, 33 seconds. Several other swimmers had second and third place finishes.