Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano/Bonduel junior Samantha Leiser swims the first heat of the 50-yard breaststroke. The Hawks finished second in the meet behind Clintonville.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano/Bonduel sophomore Onalee Siegfried swims the first leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay Thursday during the Shawano Sprint Meet. The Hawks took second in the race and in the meet, which was won by Clintonville.
After Shawano/Bonduel swim team senior Clare Martell had pulled even in the 200-yard freestyle relay, Clintonville High School freshman anchor Allison Graper left the other teams in her wake.
The Truckers, who already had the Shawano Sprint Meet title in hand by the time Graper dove into the pool in the final race of the night Thursday, cruised to a team score of 467, 136 points better than second-place Shawano/Bonduel.
“I thought we were going to do really well,” Clintonville head coach Lee Wetzel said. “The way we have practiced this year, we’ve swam a lot of 25 and 50s, so this swim meet was right up our alley. This was our strength.”
Clintonville’s Emily Graper and Allison Graper were vital in the victory, helping secure five of the team’s first-place finishes on the night.
The Hawks were not far behind, though, with Martell winning two individual races in the seniors’ final meet at the home pool.
“This meet is just known to be a really fun meet, so everybody’s spirits are pretty high and they swam pretty well,” Shawano/Bonduel head coach Sharon Hanson said. “We got some good times out of our seniors. They dropped many seconds.”
For all of the teams involved, having a larger meet with multiple teams has helped them prepare for the postseason.
“It’s a nice meet to see several teams,” Wetzel said. “You’re so used to duals, swimming one-on-ones, and then you see several teams. This kind of gets them in the championship end-of-season mode.”
The short races, with no individual race being longer than 100 yards, allow the girls to post really fast times. For the Hawks and Truckers, it was a final exciting test before the higher stakes come at the Bay Conference meet Oct. 29.
“They had a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm, and they had a lot of fun,” Hanson said. “And that’s what this meet is all about.”
Shawano Sprint Meet
Team scores: Clintonville, 467; Shawano, 331; New London, 307; Marinette, 137.
Top-3 local finishes
200 medley relay: 1) Shawano/Bonduel (Colon, Marterll, Quandt, Anker) 2:03.84; 2) Clintonville (Durkey, A. Graper, Smejkal, Tangmana) 2:08.67.
100 free: 1) E. Graper, C, 1:02.67; 3) Mehlberg, C, 1:06.38.
100 IM: 1) A. Graper, C, 1:08.41; 2) Quandt, S/B, 1:12.47; 3) Tellock, C, 1:17.22.
25 free: 1) Smejkal, C, :12:82; 2) Anker, S/B, :13.15; 3) Ruch, C, :13.21.
100 free relay: 1) Clintonville (Smejkal, Zahn, Mehlberg, Ruch), :55.01.
50 butterfly: 1) Martell, S/B, :29.24; 2) Durkey, C, :29.29; 3) Smejkal, C, :30.20.
50 free: 1) Ruch, C, :27.56; Colon, S/B, :28.65; 3) Zahn, C, :29.49.
100 medley relay: 1) Clintonville (E. Graper, Hoffman, Zahn, Ruch), 1:03.64; 3) Clintonville (Englehardt, Walker, Zienert, Gwinn), 1:09.18.
50 back: 1) Durkey, C, :31.49; 3) Colon, S/B, :33.32.
50 breast: 1) Martell, S/B, :32.23; 2) A. Graper, C, :34.27; 3) Anker, S/B, :35.52.
200 free relay: 1) Clintonville (Durkey, E. Graper, Tellock, A. Graper), 1:52.94; 2) Shawano/Bonduel (Siegfried, Hrabik, Martell, Anker), 1:54.77.