By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – It didn’t take new Belle Terre coach Kyle Wilking long to guide his Piranhas to its first victory this year, as they scored a convincing opening night win over Ellington, 334-161.

Belle Terre (1-0) led 146-65 after two events and continued to build its lead from there, leading 258-119 after all individual events finishing with an almost 200-point victory margin.

“It’s always a plus to start off with a win, especially with the young swimmers we have,” said Wilking. “It’s a great motivator to the little ones. I’m very proud of all of them, everyone’s been working hard at it since the first day of practice.”

The Piranhas best mark of the night came in the freestyle, where it scored 77 points.

Jobe Kelly, Tyra Watkins, Gage Alleman and David Gurley dominated the night, each taking first place in all three events they participated in.

Victoria Sudkamp, Mallory Fernandez, Morgan Torres, Cari Jane Roussel and Colby Watkins each captured two first place finishes.

Luke Nitschke, Blaine Tatje, Natalie Wagoner, Maddie Torres, Candace McGaff, Michael Boudreaux, and Carter Volion rounded out the first place winners for Belle Terre.

“We were able to put some points up, and that will help when we meet some different teams,” said Wilking. “Now, they know that they can do it.”