Warsaw’s Taylor Gunter cruises to a win in the individual medley Thursday night at NorthWood. (Photos by Mike Deak)

NAPPANEE – Both Warsaw head coach Tony DeBrota and NorthWood head coach Tim Stutsman came away from Thursday’s dual with plenty of positives. And considering the time of year, arrows are likely pointed upwards for both young programs.

Warsaw won both head-to-head duals over NorthWood, the boys 112-62 and the girls a more convincing 134-52 margin. The Warsaw girls completed a sweep of all 11 swim events, NorthWood taking the lead in diving with a top-three in the category. The boys races had NorthWood’s Jason McNeil take the double and teammate Caden Jenkins top diving, otherwise, Warsaw was on top for the remainder.

McNeil won a very competitive individual medley, outdeuling Nick Zogbi on the back half. Both were fairly even through the first two legs, but the breaststroke and the 50 were where McNeil was able to gain some separation and take a 2:10.45 finish to Zogbi’s 2:11.61. McNeil had no trouble taking the 500 at 5:23.41, well ahead of the field.

Jenkins’ 191.10 led a Panther sweep in diving, all the points going to Wood nary a Warsaw diver competing.

“We were 50 points away from Warsaw, and for us, that’s a win,” Stutsman offered. “For us, we’ve been schooled by (Warsaw) pretty heavily before. Just being closer and seeing what the big competition is like, that tells us where we need to build. We need to rework some of our relays, put different people in different events and just find the right fit for everyone.”

Warsaw’s Alex Cook in the 100 freestyle

Warsaw had Zach LaLonde and Alex Cook both pull the double, LaLonde in the 200 (2:03.90) and the backstroke (1:05.63) while Alex Cook won the 100 (52.58) and outraced teammate Grant Knight in the 50 by .12 seconds at 23.35.

Knight won the breaststroke handily at 1:01.07 and Nate Taylor won the fly at 1:08.81. Warsaw had no trouble winning all three relays, the medley at 1:44.98, the 200 at 1:35.14 and the 400 at 3:38.03.

“I think we came in here and swam really well,” DeBrota said. “The focus was there and I think for the first time, we looked like a team. We didn’t lose a lot from last year but we lost enough that changed the face of what we look like. We don’t have that one mega star, but a lot of really good swimmers who fill in roles very nicely. Upperclassmen and younger kids as well.”

All the major competition on the girls side came in two races, both involving NorthWood’s Kate Jarvis. In the 200 free, Jarvis was matched up with Lauren Moeller and both traded tiny leads for three of the four legs. Moeller got the edge on the final turn and took Jarvis for a 2:08.59 winner, a full second faster. The same was the case in the 100 free, as Delaney Wihebrink and Jarvis squared off and Wihebrink held the lead for the duration, taking home a 58.02 and a full second better than Jarvis.

“Kate swam solid tonight, but she’s tired and we’re still working on some technical stuff,” Stutsman said. “We’re not letting up on her in practices. I want to see where her times are at compared to a year ago and see how she can improve each day.”

Wihebrink won her signature breaststroke at 1:10.76, Lauren Kuhl doubled in the 500 (5:51.53) and backstroke (1:09.35), Taylor Gunter doubled in the IM (2:34.63) and fly (1:08.52), and Olivia Herman took the 50 at 26.67. The medley (2:01.13), 200 (1:51.26) and 400 (4:13.52) relays were all Warsaw runaways.

NorthWood swept the girls diving, Laura Schrock out front at 215.65.

“We have a lot of inexperienced kids, and the numbers can be deceiving, but our older kids are really taking the lead for us,” DeBrota said. “Some of the older kids have really stepped up and helped out the younger ones, teaching them stroke technique and just being a part of the team. This is one of the tightest-knit groups I’ve had, which is great.”

Warsaw will look to continue its fortunes Saturday at the Warsaw Invite while NorthWood’s boys will break off to Saturday’s Goshen Relays. The Lady Panthers will rejoin the boys Tuesday for a home dual with Plymouth.