Posted: Sept. 22, 2009 |(0) Comments

With venues such as Nicolet, Homestead and Whitefish Bay's booked frequently and occasionally much too often, it was a good thing that the North Shore Conference now has a new pool to run major swim meets out of in Port Washington.

And Homestead christened the facility in a grand way last week, when the Highlanders used a stretch of five straight event wins to claim the title in the annual league relay meet.

"You distance yourself in a hurry when you do that," said Highlander coach Mark Gwidt. "It was a good meet for us. We were a little sluggish in the beginning, but it all worked out in the end . . . It was really fun to do it at Port Washington. They have first-rate starting blocks, everything you need.

"It's nice to have another quality pool to swim out of."

All told, the Highlanders won six events to win the Sept. 15 meet with 98 points, as Bay was second with 80 and Nicolet third with 62.

"We were battling, competing the best that we could," said Bay coach Jim Davis, whose team won three events on the night. "It was a really decent meet for us. Let us know where we stood."

Close . . . for a while

In winning its second major meet in a row, including the Brookfield East Spartan Invite on Sept. 12, Homestead was in a battle with Bay and Nicolet until the fifth event, the 400 individual medley relay.

That's when the Highlanders started their run.

That winning group included Maggie Stolz, Rachel Kesseler, Monique Ma and Eva Schulteis (4:27.29). That victory was followed in quick succession by the 800 free relay team of Chloe Lewis, Casey Hagen, Hannah Happ and Kayla Dlugopolski (8:18.74, won by 23 seconds); the 300 backstroke team of Cheyanne Carbone, Meaghan McLean, Rachel Thomas and Schulteis (3:09.66); the 300 breaststroke crew of Stolz, Kesseler, Ma and Maiya Hilliard (3:29.63); and the 500 crescendo quartet of Ellie Poole, Mary Gabe, Carbone and Dlugopolski (5:01.76).

After conceding the 300 butterfly relay to a record-setting effort from Grafton, the Highlanders scored their last victory in the 400 free relay as Ellie Poole, Kesseler, Thomas and Hilliard held off a late charge by Bay to win in 3:53.76. The Blue Duke crew of Claire Riordan, Theresa Schumaker, Lauren Van Loon and Maggie Smith was timed in 3:54.13.

Gwidt noted that every Highlander entry was either first, second or third, and that a major point of pride was that they didn't have any disqualifications.

"We haven't done that in a long, long time," he said.

Bay fares well, too

Bay, which has been buoyed by improved numbers this fall (52), got two firsts from the crew of Elissa Maercklein, Annie Maercklein, Annelise Sprau and Smith. They won the 400 medley relay (4:12.01) and then set a pool record of 1:54.06 in the 200 medley.

The team of Schumaker, Caroline Kucha, Allison McKinley and Erika Krukowski then claimed the meet-closing 100 free relay in 52.16. "That's always a fun race," Davis said.

Seconds for Bay went to the 100 medley team of Katie Bohn, Erin Oldson, Hannah Tiedt and Kucha; the 300 backstroke crew of Annie Vellon, Lisa Nikolau, Stewart and Elissa Maercklein and the aforementioned 400 free relay.

Davis also felt that Port did a nice job of running its first major meet, though he thought it could have moved along a little quicker (it started at 6 p.m. and ended at 9 p.m.).

Nicolet happy with performance

Nicolet coach Dwight Davis was among the happiest people at the meet. The Knights, who don't have a great deal of up-top talent, were ecstatic to tie for third with Cedarburg.

"It was a very nice finish," said Dwight Davis. "We would have been happy just getting into the top four."

The Knights' only victory came in diving as Callie Head and Leah Fischer combined for a 356.8 point total, well ahead of runner-up Grafton (324.7). Nicolet also got seconds out of the crescendo team of Nicole and Yvonne Hangsterfer, Christa Rumbaugh and Taylor Winter; and the 400 individual medley crew of the Hangsterfer sisters, Winter and Sasha Rasansky.

"It was a pretty sound effort," said Davis. "It was nice to watch the rest of the conference and see where everyone's strengths and weaknesses were."

AT A GLANCE

UP NEXT: Nine-team Nicolet Sprint Invitational on Saturday

KEY AREA TEAMS: Homestead, Nicolet, Whitefish Bay and Shorewood

FUN STUFF: Nicolet coach Dwight Davis has put in some events that will challenge coaches' creativity and depth. They include the eight-person 400 medley relay and a 10-person 500 free relay.