The Long County Blue Tide Mario Kart 8 Deluxe team, Wave Drifters, had a different look going into the 2026 season with just one returner from the 2025 season.

However, the first match of the season went very similarly to last year’s season opener with the Drifters being outmatched in the first race of the season.

They trailed from the very start despite returning sophomore Marcus Walker having a strong start in second place. Senior Felicia Manual also paced the Drifters with a third place finish in the first race.

However, seventh and eighth place finishes by the other two Tide teammates put them in a 22-17 hole and it got deeper from there.

Aiden Gutierrez and Jacob Beauchamp both finished in the top four for the next race, but they still trailed 45-33.

The Drifters were never able to get out of their hole as they had someone finish in eighth in all six races of the first set, leading to a 150-84 loss to Heritage-Conyers in the first set of the match.

Walker had another good showing in the second set, finishing second and third twice finishing in the top four all but one race. Despite this, the Drifters were outpaced 148-86 as they dropped the second set and the match 2-0.

The Drifters open the year 0-1 and will look to rebound on Thursday, October 1.