Swim Results: Dec. 18
GOSHEN GIRLS 112, NORTHWOOD 73
GOSHEN BOYS 134, NORTHWOOD 52
Goshen took care of business Tuesday at NorthWood, pulling a pair of wins from the Panthers in Northern Lakes Conference swims.
The RedHawks were able to fend off the Panthers in all 22 swim events, with NorthWood starting the day with two wins on the diving board. Laura Schrock and Caden Jenkins led NorthWood to a pair of diving wins at 198.80 for Schrock and 216.45 for Jenkins. Reagan Koble was second on the girls side on the board.
“Caden, not only is he a phenomenal diver, he is also I’ve noticed picked up quite a bit in the swimming aspect, too,” said NorthWood head coach Sheryl Hawkins. “He’s making his way into relays, maybe a personal event next meet, so we’ll see. The girls push themselves all the time with their diving, and they do a great job with that.”
Just a handful of swim races came down to a stroke or touch on the wall. In the boys individual medley, Nick Zehr held off Jason McNeill with a 2:10.88, winning by a second. The two also squared off in the 100 free, with Zehr going 52.27 to beat McNeill by two seconds. Another Zehr, Ellie, won the closest girls swim by beating Avery Bontrager in the 100 with a 1:07.13 to Bontrager’s 1:08.78.
“He’s on our board a couple times as far as records,” Hawkins said of McNeill. “He’s got some personal goals this season to break those records, and he’s working his tail off for me. I think that conference, sectional time he can pull those off.”
Both of Goshen’s 200 free relays teams were pushed by NorthWood, but both came up with half-second wins.
Added Hawkins, “The girls just held steady tonight. They’ve had a couple extra weeks in the pools than what the guys have, and they’re kind of getting to season plateau.
The times that I’m seeing drop with our kids is phenomenal. One thing about some of the other teams in the NLC is the fact that they have the size. That’s why I’m here — to help build this program and push them along — and everything that I’ve seen so far this season is showing forward progression.”
NorthWood will return to action Jan. 3 at New Prairie.
WARSAW GIRLS 106, COLUMBIA CITY 79
WARSAW GIRLS 146, OREGON-DAVIS 16
WARSAW BOYS 97, COLUMBIA CITY 88
WARSAW BOYS 148, OREGON-DAVIS 15
Warsaw got a big test from Columbia City just ahead of its holiday break at the Community Pool.
In what could be the two teams competing for both sectional titles in February, both teams saw its stars shine.
Delaney Wihebrink and Grant Knight both had two event wins for the Tigers, Wihebrink the IM (2:20.24) and the backstroke (1:02.84) and Knight the IM (2:03.14) and the breaststroke (59.08). Warsaw had three other girls pull wins in Taylor Gunter in the fly (1:06.14), Grace Willig in the 500 free (5:46.76) and Grayson Kilburn in diving (160.35). Alex Cook won the 50 free (22.95) and Nathan Taylor got the fly (1:00.61).
Warsaw had all six of its relays earn wins.
Ryan DeVito, Aaron Fix and Charlie Varga all picked up wins for the Eagles, Caroline Klimek a double winner on the girls side.
Warsaw will head into the holiday break with two weeks off of competition before it comes back to compete against the NLC boys leaders in Concord. Concord’s 92-91 win over Northridge Tuesday night moves the Minutemen to 5-0 and drops the Raiders to 5-1. The win by Concord also ended an amazing 20-year dual win streak run by Northridge in the NLC, dating back to 1998. Warsaw sits at 4-2 in the standings with its home dual left with Concord on Jan. 5. Warsaw’s girls are 5-1 overall. Northridge clinched at least a share of the NLC girls title with its win over Concord Tuesday, now 6-0 in the NLC, Concord falling to 4-1.