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Chisago Lakes 101, Fridley 85

"A lot of people believe swimming is an individual sport, but tonight, there was nothing but teamwork for this win," elated Head Coach Mark Nordby said of his team's first dual win of the year. "Our relays were awesome and we had some guys step up and really show some heart."

In what was a close match throughout, the Chisago Lakes boys swimming and diving team was able to fend off the water-logged Tigers.

The meet started off on a high note for the boys as the quartet of Alex Vitalis, John Harwell, Kevin Roggemann and Andy Willhite earned a first place finishing in the 200-yard medley relay. They finished the team race in 1:52.78 as the Wildcats took the event 10-4 with a third place finish also.

In the second event, Brody Heggerston and Ryan Smith went one-two for a big chunk of points. The 200-yard freestyle was won by Heggerston, who was the only swimmer to finish below two minutes, completing the race in 1:58.12. Smith came in at 2:00.96 in second place. Both times, as well as Matt Matson in fourth place, were personal bests for the boys.

Harwell kept the winning streak alive with a first place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, but Fridley went two-three-four to gain points back in the event.

After Willhite finished as the top Wildcat in second place in the 50-yard freestyle, he came back to win the diving event with a score of 217.40. His dives put him more than 40 points ahead of the second place Fridley diver.

Roggemann and Heggerston won the next two events, the 100 butterfly and the 100 freestyle, but the Wildcats lack of depth was illuminated when they ultimately lost points in both events as Fridley went two-three-four in both.

Smith won the 500 freestyle with a personal best by six seconds and a 13 second cushion over second place, and Mattson finished in third with a 5:51.78, besting his previous best by over 20 seconds, to get the Wildcats back on the right track.

Harwell and David Donahue, as well as two relay teams, finished the dual meet out with wins, and Fridley was left struggling in the deep end. They never were able to overtake the Wildcats at any point in the match -- the closest they got was six points at 58-52.

Nordby really commended Donahue's performance in winning the 100 backstroke event. Just two weeks ago, Donahue slipped on some slick ice and dislocated his knee cap. "David swam with intense pain to win," he said. "He really showed determination by overcoming the pain and getting that hand to the wall first."

Overall, Nordby was happy to get the first dual and conference win of the year, noting that the training over the big holiday break really paid off for the swimmers.

Simley Invitational

The Wildcats were able to test their mettle against some of the top state teams, and the results left Nordby and his charges knowing full well they have a lot of work to do in the pool.

"The times put up by some of these teams were state finals types of times," he said. "This was a very fast meet and we were strong in some swims and struggled in others. We are getting better, but against some of these powerhouse teams from Minnesota and Wisconsin, it may not look it."

The Wildcats' chances in the meet took a drastic hit when they decided to hold Vitalis out because of mono, and Donahue's knee was in too much pain to compete.

There were plenty of bright spots for the Wildcats to build on, though. Mattson continued his torrid week, breaking four personal records at the invite. He went 2:05.58 in the 200 freestyle, 5:50.04 in the 500 freestyle, and his two relay splits were his best ever.

Eighth grader Avery Tuman had an impressive showing against much more seasoned swimmers, breaking personal records in the 200 individual medley and the breaststroke.

The Wildcats best showing came in the diving event. Despite battling an illness, Willhite finished in second place out of the 16 divers at the meet and Mitch Gebauer finishing seventh.

Gebauer and Doran Willis both had personal bests in the 50-yard freestyle, also.

"Our young swimmers had a pretty strong day with many personal bests. We only brought 13 guys to the meet and most teams there had their full lineup of 24 swimmers," Nordby explained. "Many of these schools have swimmers training twice a day, year-round with very established club teams. Simley just came back from a team training trip in Florida over the long break. We'll just keep plugging away at our pool and continue getting better. We knew this was a fast meet with fast teams, so we have to look at our times and know that we had many bright spots even if the score might not show it."

The Wildcats ended up finishing seventh out of eight teams with 164 points. Rosemount won the meet, running away with a 550.5.

Full Simley Invite Results

1. Rosemount 550.5

2. Chippewa Falls 501

3. Simley 417

4. Hudson 264

5. Orono 194.5

6. St. Paul Central 187

7. Chisago Lakes 164

8. Columbia Heights 32

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