February 16, 2012 at 8:39 a.m.
'Cats defend NSC title on emotional night
'Cats defend NSC title on emotional night
By JEFF NORTON
SPORTS EDITOR
Chisago Lakes 92, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 79
A lot was at stake when the Wildcats hosted Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the conference finale last week.
Although Benilde had lost to St. Louis Park the week before, meaning even with a loss, the Wildcats would’ve shared the conference title with BSM and SLP, Chisago Lakes wanted that trophy all to themselves. And they made sure they got it.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead with a first and third place finish in the 200 medley relay. Sam Engel, James Falkowski, David Lange and Mitch Gebauer broke a North Suburban Conference record with a 1:43.84 in the event and Joey Eikens, Nathan Braski, Al Vrudny and Beau Hawkinson came in third place, grabbing a quick 10-4 lead for Chisago Lakes.
The heat really turned up in the second event, though. Avery Turman, Eric Barnes and Jake Ewert went one-two-three in the event, scoring 13 points for Chisago Lakes and really setting the tone for the rest of the night.
“Avery Turman has become a tremendous 200 free guy. He’s still learning how to swim that event and to get BSM in the 200 free is a pretty big deal,” Nordby said. “We were nowhere near BSM’s times in the 200 free just a couple weeks ago and here Avery picked them off at this meet.
“Jake Ewert also is starting to cruise in that event. He’s ready to break the two minute barrier at sections.
“Benilde looked a bit shocked after the 200 medley relay and just never recovered,” Nordby explained. “We broke them early and just kept hammering away all night.”
In fact, Benilde didn’t get their first first place finish until the 50 yard freestyle, but by then, Chisago Lakes had already amassed a 43-19 lead.
When Benilde didn’t have any divers and the Wildcats swept that event, they took nearly insurmountable 56-19 lead after only five events.
“What a great night for Chisago Lakes Swimming and diving,” Nordby said. “The guys definitely brought their intensity up for this meet and were ready to defend their title. That’s about as zeroed in as we’ve been all season.”
Chisago Lakes continued to build their lead through the 200 freestyle relay. After that event, they had a 92-44 lead and went to swimming exhibition, the first time they’ve been able to do that against Benilde-St. Margaret’s ever.
Other highlights from the meet include:
-Engel just missed the 200 IM record. His time of 2:08.18 missed the 2008 record set by Tom McGurk by about a tenth of a second . He later broke his own record in the 100 backstroke. “Sam’s a driven swimmer and knows exactly what he wants to accomplish,” Nordby said. “He’ll get there too.”
-David Lange beat one of the North Suburban’s best in Jack McGinn in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 57.19 seconds. “David’s been stuck at the 59.0 100 fly mark since the beginning of the season and to see him beat one of the top swimmers in our conference was pretty special,” Nordby said. “To think, David showed up last year as a junior and had no competitive swim experience, and now he’s one of the fastest in the conference. That’s pretty cool.”
-Falkowski is now the second fastest 100 breaststroker behind McGurk.
“James was a beast tonight in that race,” said Nordby. “He’s starting to really find his stroke in practice and it’s paying off in the races.”
-The quartet of Engel, Turman, Hawkinson and Barnes narrowly bested BSM in the 400 free relay. “We haven’t put together a strong 400 free relay for the conference competition yet, so to go 3:29 and catch BSM off guard just punctuated the great night,” Nordby said.
The night was also highlighted by a high turnout in fans, most of them clad in Hawaiian shirts in support of the swim team.
“The fans were awesome tonight in their Hawaiian shirts and just having a great time,” Nordby said excitedly. “That was a fun meet and I’m glad so many people were able to share our conference championship with us.”
Individual Results
200 Medley Relay
1. Engel, Falkowski, Lange, Gebauer -1:43.84
3. Eikens, Braski, Vrudny, Hawkinson - 1:48.98
200 Freestyle
1. Avery Turman - 1:54.80
2. Eric Barnes - 1:59.88
3. Jake Ewert - 2:02.11
200 Individual Medley
1. Sam Engel - 2:08.18
3. B. Hawkinson - 2:18.71
50 Freestyle
2. Mitch Gebauer - 23.35
3. Joey Eikens - 24.16
Diving
1. Jake Carlson - 215.10
2. Jake Doble - 183.60
3 Frank Brezany - 155.30
100 Butterfly
1. David Lange - 57.19
3. Riley Darling 1:01.41
100 Freestyle
1. Avery Turman - 52.08
3. Eric Barnes - 53.65
500 Freestyle
2. Jake Ewert - 5:42.27
3. Austin Turman - 5:46.84
200 Freestyle Relay
2. Hawkinson, Gebauer, Barnes, Turman - 1:34.34
3. Braski, Doble, Vrudny, Lange - 1:39.51
100 Backstroke
1. Sam Engel - 57.03
3. Joey Eikens - 1:01.77
100 Breaststroke
1. J. Falkowski - 1:04.70
3. Nathan Braski - 1:14.39
400 Free Relay
1. Engel, Turman, Hawkinson, Barnes - 3:29.08
3. Darling, Ewert, Doble, Eikens - 3:53.12
Chisago Lakes 92, Benilde-St. Margaret’s 79
A lot was at stake when the Wildcats hosted Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the conference finale last week.
Although Benilde had lost to St. Louis Park the week before, meaning even with a loss, the Wildcats would’ve shared the conference title with BSM and SLP, Chisago Lakes wanted that trophy all to themselves. And they made sure they got it.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead with a first and third place finish in the 200 medley relay. Sam Engel, James Falkowski, David Lange and Mitch Gebauer broke a North Suburban Conference record with a 1:43.84 in the event and Joey Eikens, Nathan Braski, Al Vrudny and Beau Hawkinson came in third place, grabbing a quick 10-4 lead for Chisago Lakes.
The heat really turned up in the second event, though. Avery Turman, Eric Barnes and Jake Ewert went one-two-three in the event, scoring 13 points for Chisago Lakes and really setting the tone for the rest of the night.
“Avery Turman has become a tremendous 200 free guy. He’s still learning how to swim that event and to get BSM in the 200 free is a pretty big deal,” Nordby said. “We were nowhere near BSM’s times in the 200 free just a couple weeks ago and here Avery picked them off at this meet.
“Jake Ewert also is starting to cruise in that event. He’s ready to break the two minute barrier at sections.
“Benilde looked a bit shocked after the 200 medley relay and just never recovered,” Nordby explained. “We broke them early and just kept hammering away all night.”
In fact, Benilde didn’t get their first first place finish until the 50 yard freestyle, but by then, Chisago Lakes had already amassed a 43-19 lead.
When Benilde didn’t have any divers and the Wildcats swept that event, they took nearly insurmountable 56-19 lead after only five events.
“What a great night for Chisago Lakes Swimming and diving,” Nordby said. “The guys definitely brought their intensity up for this meet and were ready to defend their title. That’s about as zeroed in as we’ve been all season.”
Chisago Lakes continued to build their lead through the 200 freestyle relay. After that event, they had a 92-44 lead and went to swimming exhibition, the first time they’ve been able to do that against Benilde-St. Margaret’s ever.
Other highlights from the meet include:
-Engel just missed the 200 IM record. His time of 2:08.18 missed the 2008 record set by Tom McGurk by about a tenth of a second . He later broke his own record in the 100 backstroke. “Sam’s a driven swimmer and knows exactly what he wants to accomplish,” Nordby said. “He’ll get there too.”
-David Lange beat one of the North Suburban’s best in Jack McGinn in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 57.19 seconds. “David’s been stuck at the 59.0 100 fly mark since the beginning of the season and to see him beat one of the top swimmers in our conference was pretty special,” Nordby said. “To think, David showed up last year as a junior and had no competitive swim experience, and now he’s one of the fastest in the conference. That’s pretty cool.”
-Falkowski is now the second fastest 100 breaststroker behind McGurk.
“James was a beast tonight in that race,” said Nordby. “He’s starting to really find his stroke in practice and it’s paying off in the races.”
-The quartet of Engel, Turman, Hawkinson and Barnes narrowly bested BSM in the 400 free relay. “We haven’t put together a strong 400 free relay for the conference competition yet, so to go 3:29 and catch BSM off guard just punctuated the great night,” Nordby said.
The night was also highlighted by a high turnout in fans, most of them clad in Hawaiian shirts in support of the swim team.
“The fans were awesome tonight in their Hawaiian shirts and just having a great time,” Nordby said excitedly. “That was a fun meet and I’m glad so many people were able to share our conference championship with us.”
Individual Results
200 Medley Relay
1. Engel, Falkowski, Lange, Gebauer -1:43.84
3. Eikens, Braski, Vrudny, Hawkinson - 1:48.98
200 Freestyle
1. Avery Turman - 1:54.80
2. Eric Barnes - 1:59.88
3. Jake Ewert - 2:02.11
200 Individual Medley
1. Sam Engel - 2:08.18
3. B. Hawkinson - 2:18.71
50 Freestyle
2. Mitch Gebauer - 23.35
3. Joey Eikens - 24.16
Diving
1. Jake Carlson - 215.10
2. Jake Doble - 183.60
3 Frank Brezany - 155.30
100 Butterfly
1. David Lange - 57.19
3. Riley Darling 1:01.41
100 Freestyle
1. Avery Turman - 52.08
3. Eric Barnes - 53.65
500 Freestyle
2. Jake Ewert - 5:42.27
3. Austin Turman - 5:46.84
200 Freestyle Relay
2. Hawkinson, Gebauer, Barnes, Turman - 1:34.34
3. Braski, Doble, Vrudny, Lange - 1:39.51
100 Backstroke
1. Sam Engel - 57.03
3. Joey Eikens - 1:01.77
100 Breaststroke
1. J. Falkowski - 1:04.70
3. Nathan Braski - 1:14.39
400 Free Relay
1. Engel, Turman, Hawkinson, Barnes - 3:29.08
3. Darling, Ewert, Doble, Eikens - 3:53.12
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