MARYSVILLE — The Marysville-Pilchuck and Marysville Getchell high school swim teams hosted Snohomish, Glacier Peak and Monroe on Thursday, Oct. 10, and managed to break some personal records along the way.
“Something I am really happy about is they are dropping time and we are just starting to get into speed mode,” said head coach Jaci Legore Hodgins. “It’s comforting to know that they are already getting faster. We need to work on our starts and our turns a little bit, but how they looked today in the water and how they are finishing is great. When it comes to their training they are looking really strong, and their technique is improving in the water which is really good.”
For Marysville Getchell, the 200-meter medley relay team of Lia Mullen-Gaffney, Emma Beauchamp, Rachel Hartmeyer and Jordan Kercheval took first place with a time of 2:16.26. Hartmeyer also took first place in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 2:03.92, and also won first in the 100 free with a time of 59.15. Jordan Kercheval took first place in the 200-meter individual medley with time of 2:47.24.
For Marysville-Pilchuck, the 200-meter medley relay team of Melody Coleman, Madison Rossnagle, Abby Magee and Rebecca Pusateri took first place with a time of 1:59.74. Coleman also took first in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:15.09, and first 100-meter backstroke with a time of 1:03.88. Magee took first place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:02.75, and first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:31.47. Rossnagle took first place in the 100 free with a time of 1:00.95, and first in the 100-meter breast stroke with a time of 1:14.33. The 200-meter relay team of Coleman, Pusateri, Rossnagle and Magee also took first place with a time of 1:50.25.
“The thing that makes me the most happy is that Coleman, Magee and Hartmeyer train with the Marlins and with us — and every week it is so fun to see where they are with their training because they have so many more yards on them than everybody else,” said Legore Hodgins. “Coleman and Hartmeyer are showing what great shape they are in — the greatest mission is to show how strong you are. This is the first time Magee has been swimming for both the Marlins and high school, and she is coming along very well with her training. It’s a science trying to balance being a freshman in high school, swimming with your club team and then swimming with your high school team, but she is responding really well with everything we are telling her.”
Legore Hodgins said she wanted to mention some M-P sophomores who have had great showings at the last few meets.
“Ashley Richmond and Madison Rossnagle are both sophomores and have been doing an amazing job,” she said. “Madison has her eye on the prize this year in the freestyle, and she swam her fastest 100 freestyle today, under a 1:05.”
She also wanted to mention Pusateri’s performance in the 200-meter relay.
“That relay hadn’t broken a 2:00 this year and now we are in a 1:59 — that’s a big deal, and we can speed that relay up by cleaning up starts. Pusateri had a really good split in that race and it definitely needs to be mentioned.”
Both M-P and MG had successful diving performances at the meet as well.
“M-P has a freshman, Kylie Prouse, who is through her 11th dive yesterday,” said Legore Hodgins. “She is brand new, hard as nails, and after dive practice she stays and swims. We have another freshman from M-P, Paige Sappington, who is swimming and diving as well.”
Prouse won first place for diving with a score of 114.75.
MG has a powerhouse team of divers with Brooke Wherley, Courtney Moss and Alex Pimental.
“The fun thing is, these three used to be in gymnastics together, so they have a history of being on the same team — and then you add water,” said Legore Hodgins. “Courtney is a seasoned diver, Brooke is brand new with us and she broke the school record three times now, and Alex is our sophomore firecracker. We thought she was injured, but she got a second opinion, so she is okay to dive.”
Wherley took first place with a score of 212.40, while Moss took second place with a score of 189.20 and Pimental took fourth with a score of 166.95.
The team is focusing on speed work to get ready for districts and state in the first and second weeks of November.
“A month from now we have to be our fastest,” said Legore Hodgins. “We are working on a transition into being at our maximum speed, which means a lot of speed work in the pool and a lot of positive mental thoughts and goal-setting out of the pool.”
The Tomahawks and Chargers host Mount Vernon at home on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
