January 31, 2008 at 8:27 a.m.
Wildcat swimmers leave Benilde St. Margaret gasping for air
Wildcat swimmers leave Benilde St. Margaret gasping for air
"It was nice to win at home as we recognized all of the parents, but especially for the senior swimmers and their parents. The seniors have played a big part in the success of the program and it's fitting that they win in their last home dual meet," said Wildcat head coach Mark Nordby.
The medley relay started the evening out with a win. Kevin Roggemann, normally the flyer of the medley, led off with a 30.1 split. Tom McGurk, Jake Spehar, and Cody Gralish followed Roggemann to record a winning time of 1:53.76.
"Cody won't be able to dive any more this year as that puts tremendous pressure on his injured ear," Nordby said, "But, being such a great athlete and competitor, he is able to swim and has been providing some excellent anchor splits on relays."
Sprinter Ethan Karwand showed some versatility by swimming the longer 200 freestyle race in a nice time of 2:06.00, good enough for second place. Teammate Alex Lundberg took third in 2:06.88.
In the 200 individual medley, Tom McGurk secured the win with a 2:17.10, while John Harwell (2:28.62) and Clinton LaGrander (2:35.18) both hit personal bests to take third and fifth.
The Wildcats flexed their muscles by sweeping the 50 freestyle. Andy Willhite won in 24.98 followed by Brody Heggerston (25.16) and Cody Gralish (25.74). Immediately following the finish of 50 free, Andy Willhite dove to a first place finish with 247.57 points. CL's Mitch Gebauer's was second in diving 143.10 points.
Roggemann inched his way closer to breaking the one minute barrier in winning the 100 butterfly by recording a 1:00.84. "Kevin has been working on his technique in the butterfly and has the speed. It's just a matter of holding his speed for 100 yards and finishing strongly. By the end of the season, he'll be well under a minute," Nordby predicted.
Alex Lundberg swam the 500 for the first time in competition. His time, 5:44.45, was fast enough to place second, despite being sick for several days with a bad sinus infection. Nordby explained, "We've had some sicknesses going around the team this past week and Alex had it pretty bad. The 500 is a long race to swim when you're sick, so Alex did a good job."
Another highlight of the night was when freshman Alex Vitalis broke the 1:10 barrier in the backstroke by picking up third place in 1:09.55. "He's been stuck at 1:10 for a few meets so it was good to see him get into the 1:09's," the coach commented.
The senior swimmers and parents, along with the entire team, celebrated the win and parents' night with cake and goodies after the meet.
Cambridge Bluejacket Invite
The Wildcat swimmers picked up the second place trophy for their efforts at the Bluejacket Invite in Cambridge Saturday, January 26.
Team Results
Cambridge-Isanti 533
Chisago Lakes 452
Faribault 438.5
Duluth 307.50
Champlin Park 288
Princeton 240
"This was a great day of fast competition. Faribault and Cambridge both had strong teams with fast speed," coach Nordby said. "On paper, the seed times were faster than what we had seen up at Hibbing last weekend. The guys were up for the challenge from the first race until the end."
The meet started out as several meets have this year, with the Wildcats winning the 200 medley, this time in a season- best time of 1:46.70. Alex Lundberg led off with a 28.39, followed by Tom McGurk's personal best split of 28.73, Kevin Roggemann at 25.66 and Andy Willhite's personal best split of 23.94. "What a great way to start the meet off and energize the team and our fans," Nordby commented.
McGurk took second place in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:14.84, and later won the 100 breast stroke with a time of 1:04.40. Coach Nordby said, "Tom's technique on the walls has improved each week. His stroke is really starting to come together, also."
Brody Heggerston showed some speed by winning the third heat and beating three others in the fourth heat of the 50 freestyle. Heggerston's time, 24.39, set a personal record. He later took sixth in the 100 freestyle with another best time of 53.76. "It was just a matter of time before Brody dropped time. He's been working hard in practice and his times showed that," the coach explained.
Three backstroke swimmers recorded personal best times for the Wildcats. Alex Lundberg placed fifth with 1:01.92, David Donahue, eighth in 1:05.76 and Alex Vitalis ninth in 1:06.99.
In the 400 freestyle relay, CL needed strong finishes to take second place at Cambridge. The "A" relay took fifth with 3:39.37 and the "B" relay ended up sixth with a time of 3:45.00.
"All of our relays throughout the day performed superbly. The "A" relays all had season best times and our "B" relays placed ahead of all the "B" relays from other teams. We showed some good depth in the sprints. I think last week's meet at Hibbing renewed the guys' determination to train and compete hard. Today took a total team effort," Nordby concluded.
This week, the swimmers head to Spring Lake Park for a dual meet Thursday, January 31 at 6:00. The next Thursday, February 7, the 'Cats are at Irondale for a 6:00 start.
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