Chippewas beat Unity Christian to extend dual-meet winning streak
Posted by Matt Wenzel, News Advocate

MANISTEE — Anna Kutschke was swimming with an injured knee, but certainly didn’t show it.

The Manistee sophomore posted a Division 3 state finals time in the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday, becoming the Chippewas’ first individual qualifier of the season.

“I’m really happy about it,” said Kutschke, who strained a ligament in her right knee practicing the breaststroke, but didn’t let it affect her. “I try not to let it.”

Kutschke’s performance was one of a number of highlights for the Chippewas, who beat Hudsonville Unity Christian, 113-73.

“We’re tickled to death,” said Manistee coach Corey Van Fleet. “We’ve got a whole bunch of beginners that are just starting and it’s exciting to see them go and it’s exciting to see some of the old gang make some nice drops.”

Those drops came after a full week off from competition after Manistee opened the season with back-to-back meets in each of its first two weeks.

“It’s pretty hard on everybody,” Kutschke said, “because sometimes we come home late and we have to get up bright and early the next day and work out in the morning.”

And those practices can make meets seem like a night off.

“They all think they’re tired,” Van Fleet said with a smile. “We went almost 7,000 yards yesterday — everybody. I gave them five minutes off at the end because we had a meet today.”

Manistee won nine of the 12 events Thursday and Kutschke was part of all three winning relays — the 200-yard medley relay with Sara Wehrmeister, Jessica Gustad and Syriah Dobis; the 200 freestyle relay with Maddy Applegarth, Valerie Urban and Molly Morang; and the 400 freestyle relay with Gustad, Urban and Dobis.

Individually, Taylor Antal led the Chippewas with a pair of first-places finishes as she won the 200 and 500 freestyles. The junior also posted impressive drops in both events, shaving more than two seconds off in the 200 (2:13.30) and almost a dozen seconds off in the 500 to shatter her old school-record time for a 5:54.99 finish.

“That’s a fantastic swim,” Van Fleet said.

Manistee’s Caroline Kessler took second in diving. (Matt Wenzel/News Advocate)

Manistee’s Taylor Antal swims to a win in the 200-yard freestyle during Thursday’s victory against Hudsonville Unity Christian at the Paine Aquatic Center. (Matt Wenzel/News Advocate)

Dobis won the 100 butterfly, Urban took first in the 200 individual medley and Applegarth won an exciting 100 freestyle with a personal-best time.

Thursday’s win was the 17th straight dual-meet victory for the Chippewas, who haven’t lost a meet since 2011.

“That’s great,” Van Fleet said. “We’ve got a couple more next week and then we’ll go up against a brick wall.”

Manistee hosts Traverse City and Ludington next week before a double dual against perennial powers East Grand Rapids and Grand Rapids Christian.

“You’ve got to get off the focus of the dual meet,” Van Fleet said. “That’s why we moved a lot of kids around the last two weeks and made them swim things they don’t normally swim because we’re trying to build a whole team rather than two or three people that can win dual meets.”

Manistee results

200-yard medley relay — 1, Wehrmeister, Gustad, Dobis, Kutschke, 2:02.98; 4, Sinead McCann, Applegarth, Hannah Harland, Meghan McComb, 2:17.24; 5, Sarah Chandler, Molly Morang, Shelby Flanagan, Taler Bohannon, 2:25.50.

200-yard freestyle — 1, Antal, 2:13.30; 2, Allie Zimmerman, 2:18.02; 5, Jordan Bartynski, 2:28.17.

200-yard individual medley — 1, Urban, 2:31.93; 2, Dobis, 2:35.96; 4, Kiara Bromley, 2:45.76.

50-yard freestyle — 1, Kutschke, 25.82; 2, Gustad, 26.66; 6, McComb, 29.45.

1-meter diving — 2, Caroline Kessler, 173.20; 4, Lillie Edwards, 157.20.

100-yard butterfly — 1, Dobis, 1:09.10; 2, Kiara Bromley, 1:14.35; 3, Flanagan, 1:21.16.

100-yard freestyle — 1, Applegarth, 1:01.00; 3, Urban, 1:02.16; 6, Riley Wrzesinski, 1:13.03.

500-yard freestyle — 1, Antal, 5:54.99; 2, Zimmerman, 6:13.35; 3, Harland, 6:20.69.

200-yard freestyle relay — 1, Applegarth, Kutschke, Urban, Morang, 1:54.17; 4, Flanagan, Bohannon, Wrzesinski, Lauren Golembiewski, 2:09.41; 6, Hannah Gutowski, Sierra Wright, Paige Picardat, Helena Chrois, 2:35.47.

100-yard backstroke — 2, Wehrmeister, 1:10.82; 3, Gustad, 1:12.95; 5, McCann, 1:18.36.

100-yard breaststroke — 2, Applegarth, 1:21.50; 5, Morang, 1:28.15; 6, Laura Kane, 1:31.82.

400-yard freestyle relay — 1, Kutschke, Gustad, Urban, Dobis, 4:04.19; 3, Wehrmeister, Antal, Zimmerman, Kiara Bromley, 4:18.24; 4, Chandler, McComb, Bartynski, Bohannon, 4:42.84.

   
     

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