MARYSVILLE In their first official meet of the season on Sept. 11, the M-P swim and dive team clobbered conference opponent Cascade.
The Tomahawk varsity team outscored the Bruins 150-35 and the junior varsity squad had an even greater margin of victory, 146-20. Although M-P won every event, coach Jaci Legore Hodgins said she reminds her swimmers that winning individual events isnt the only way to win a meet.
One of the big things we tell them is, Be in the top five, because you get points for the team. Sixth place doesnt get any, she said.
It was a lesson the girls took to heart, finishing 1-2-3 in a lot of events.
In the 200 individual medley, the Tomahawk girls took their first sweep of the top three places. Winner Melinda Blomberg and runner-up Leah Gordon each swam the event in district-qualifying times, 2:26.32 and 2:33.11. Senior Sandra Todd rounded out the event with a time of 2:44.89.
The team duplicated that finish in the 100 fly, qualifying freshman Amy Renslo, sophomore Megan Shoemaker and senior Michaela Caldwell. It happened again in the 100 freestyle, as junior Amanda Vincelette won with a time of 1:01.67, freshman Amanda Collins finished second in 1:04.31 and junior Emily Reinig took third.
Freshman Jewel LeValley led the M-P sweep of the 500 freestyles top three places her personal best time 5:46.14 qualified her for districts in the event. Teammates Blomberg and Collins placed 2-3.
M-P was also tops in the 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay.
We scored mondo points, Legore Hodgins said.
While all those events took place amid the usual buzz of fans chatting, teammates cheering and swimmers splashing as they dive into the pool, a hush came over the pool as the diving competition took place, interrupted only briefly for applause as divers rose to the pools surface to check their scores.
Thanks in large part to landing a one-and-a-half twist dive that netted big cheers and 7s from the judges, Tomahawk diver Sarah Clark towered over the competition with a 212.1 score.
Though divers are judged on a scale of 1 to 10, Legore Hodgins said Clarks dive was outstanding for the high school level.
Seven is a very strong score, she said.
Teammates Liz Kuljis and Kalyn Thomas came in second and third.
The Tomahawks traveled to Shorewood and Bainbridge in the same week, losing the Shorewood meet 107-79, and placing third of six teams at the Spartan Relays in Bainbridge. M-Ps 37 points at Bainbridge put them just ahead of Bellevue and nine points behind Camas.
Said Legore Hodgins of their performance, It was a big deal to beat Bellevue and be that close to Camas. We are going after them next year.
She added that, in terms of district-qualifying times, the team is well ahead of where they were at this time last year.
The personal records are happening every meet, she said. We want to have them take care of themselves so theyre healthy going into the second half of the season so that we can have a really grand finale.