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The Chisago Lakes swimmers continued their winning ways by defeating Robbinsdale-Cooper Thursday, January 17 at the CLHS pool. The Wildcats won 90-62 despite swimming the last four events as exhibitions.

"The guys swam some good times and, once again, we had our best races against teammates," said Wildcat head coach Mark Nordby. "This was a very encouraging win as we had a good week of practice with some harder training sets and, yet, the guys swam well."

The 'Cats got off to a fast start by taking first, second and third in the medley relay. Alex Vitalis, Tom McGurk, David Donahue and Jake Spehar got the win over two other CL teams with a time of 1:57.17. "I mixed up the relays and tried to even them out as best I could," Nordby commented.

In the next event, Ryan Smith won the 200 freestyle in a come-from-behind effort. In the process, he smashed his personal best time with a winning time of 2:06.31. Teammate Steve Larsen also recorded a personal best with a time of 2:13.89. Nordby said, "Our distance guys have been putting in some good yardage and their training is really paying off."

Kevin Roggemann picked up a win in the third event. His 200 individual medley time of 2:25.05 put him ahead of Wildcat Andrew Jokinen, who took second with a season best 2:29.98.

Brody Heggerston and Ethan Karwand provided speed in the 50 freestyle, picking up first and second place finishes with times of 24.79 and 25.27. "Both Brody and Ethan have been pretty consistent with their 50 times," the coach said. "So, it's just a matter of time before they hit 23's in the 50 free."

After nearly a week out of the water recovering from an injury, "Andy Willhite proved his mental toughness by winning the diving event with a score of 253.05. It was great to see Andy back on the board and back sprinting," Nordby continued. "As we get into tougher competition, Andy's diving and sprinting points will be crucial."

In a good race between Wildcats David Donahue and Alex Lundberg in the 100 butterfly, Donahue's 1:05.84 was good for first and Lundberg was second in 1:06.18. "It's great when teammates can push each other," coach Nordby said. "The guys know that, in practices and meets, racing and training hard together will make our team that much stronger."

In the 500 freestyle, CL freshmen Ryan Smith and Matt Mattson took the first two places, both in personal best times. "We have a good freshman class with Smith, Mattson, Alex Vitalis and Doran Willis. These guys are really stepping up in their roles as varsity swimmers and helping us get some important points," Nordby added.

Vitalis took second in the 100 backstroke with a personal best time of 1:10.65 and Lundberg pickup up a first with his best time ever (1:02.64) in the same event. McGurk showed good speed in winning the 100 breaststroke in a season best time of 1:05.42.

"It was a good meet in that the guys swam well even though the outcome of the meet was never contested," the coach said.

Section 4A True Team Meet

at Hibbing

Saturday, January19

"Overall, the meet was encouraging with many personal bests being set throughout the day. We just had a few mistakes and missed some opportunities as we neared the end of the meet," Nordby said. "The ending wasn't what we wanted but, we learned some things by competing against two excellent teams."

The Wildcats finished third, just one point behind host Hibbing and 23 points behind Sartell.

"We know our training is right on target as our times have been dropping," coach Nordby explained. "But, after going against two solid teams like Hibbing and Sartell, we have some technical things in our starts and turns that need attention."

CL had a great start at Hibbing as Wildcat 200 medley relay teams took first and third in 1:47.53 and 1:53.89. "That was a fantastic way to start the meet. I could tell right from the start that the guys were there to compete and swim fast," Nordby commented.

In the distance events, Ryan Smith and Steve Larsen continued their fast swimming, lowering their personal best times in the 200 free and 500 free. Smith picked up two sixth place finishes with a 2:05.30 and 5:50.51, while Larsen placed ninth in both events with times of 2:11.76 and 6:17.93.

Tom McGurk picked up big wins in the 200 IM with a season best time of 2:16.66 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.18. Meanwhile, Ethan Karwand had a solid meet in his sprint events with a season best 23.99 anchor leg on the "B" medley relay and a third place (24.80) finish in the 50 free.

Andy Willhite had a great meet with good swims in the relays, but also provided a much needed first place finish in the diving competition, scoring 378.20 for the 11 dives. Teammate Mitch Gebauer placed fifth with 212.65. Kevin Roggemann had a season best time of 1:01.22 to pick up first place in the 100 fly.

The backstrokers turned in good times as three Wildcats lowered their personal best times. Alex Lundberg took second in 1:02.09, David Donahue took fifth in 1:06.37 and Alex Vitalis eighth in 1:10.03. Later, John Harwell set a personal best in the 100 breast stroke with a fifth place finish (1:11.76).

"We had great times but came up just one point short to get to True Team State. We know who our competition will be the end of February at the sectional meet at Hibbing. When we head back up there, we have some unfinished business to take care of and I can't wait," Nordby concluded.

Tonight, on parents' night, Thursday, January 24, the Wildcats take on Benilde-St. Margaret's at 6:00 in the CLHS pool. Saturday, January 26, CL travels to Cambridge for the Bluejacket Invitational. Diving prelims begin at 10 a.m. The meet starts at 1 p.m.

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