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The Chisago Lakes boys' swimming and diving team suffered a rare dual-meet defeat at Spring Lake Park Tuesday, January 30. The Panthers won 9 of 12 events to beat the Wildcats 102-94, handing CL only its second dual-meet loss in the last three seasons.

"We won the medley relay (first event), but all the splits were slow. Perhaps a harbinger of things to come," said Wildcat head coach Jim Sauerbry. "Then, in the 200 freestyle, I expected to go maybe first and third. But, Spring Lake Park went 1-2-3. That was a hole we were never able to climb out of."

John Donahue, Tom McGurk, Kevin Roggeman and Steve Boo won that first relay in 1:51.15 to beat the fastest SLP team by almost two seconds. The 'Cats didn't take another first until Andy Willhite took first in diving, event five, with 216.80 points. CL's other first came in event 10, when Donahue's 1:03.05 won the 100 backstroke by almost five seconds.

Hunter Heggerston and McGurk picked up two individual seconds for the Wildcats. Heggerston took second in the 50 freestyle and the the 100 freestyle. McGurk was second in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breast stroke. Mark Eagan placed second in the 500 freestyle.

The other Wildcat seconds came from relay teams. Ethan Karwand, Willhite, Boo and Heggerston were second in the 200 freestyle and Brody Heggerston, Dave Willhite, Boo and Heggerston took second in the 400 freestyle.

CL teams took third in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. They also picked up third places in the 200 individual medley (Eagan), 50 freestyle (D.Willhite), 100 butterfly (Dave Donahue), 500 freestyle (Andrew Jokinen) and the 100 backstroke (Alex Lundberg).

"We swam poorly, but the effort was great," Sauerbry said. "I could tell, as the kids got out of the pool after each race, that they had given everything they had. I was also very proud of their sportsmanship. As I was talking with the SLP coach after the meet, numerous CL swimmers approached him to congratulate his team's success."

CL at Robbinsdale-Cooper

The Wildcats regained their winning form at Robbinsdale-Cooper Thursday, February 1 by beating the Hawks 58-36.

CL swept first and second in every event except the 200 individual medley and the diving. In the IM, the Wildcats were first and third and the Robbinsdale pool does not meet safety standards so diving was not an event.

Mark Eagan had two individual firsts for CL. He won the 200 freestyle in 2:05.79 and the 500 freestyle in 5:38.63.

Four Wildcats earned their initial varsity wins for the team. John Harwell won the 100 breast stroke in 1:16.27 and Jake Spehar won the 50 freestyle in 25.73. Ethan Karwand's 57.68 took first in the 100 freestyle and Alex Lundberg won the 100 backstroke in 1:07.11.

"The times weren't particularly fast, except in a couple of cases. But, it was nice to see some energy returning to the team," said Wildcat head coach Jim Sauerbry. "We are into the toughest part of the season, physically and mentally. The workouts are long and intense in preparation for the taper that will begin soon."

The swimmers travel to Columbia Heights for a 6 p.m. meet tonight, Thursday, February 8 and host the Chisago Lakes Invitational at 9 a.m. Saturday, February 10.

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