Swim Team 2013

Chips roll past South Haven, qualify third relay for state finals

MANISTEE — Coming off its first dual meet loss in nearly two years, Manistee started what it hopes will turn into another long winning streak.

The Chippewas rolled to a 125-54 win against South Haven on Tuesday night at the Paine Aquatic Center, while also qualifying their final relay team for the Division 3 state finals and breaking two pool records.

Manistee mixed up its personnel and swam individuals in different events. That resulted in success spread around as 12 different Chippewas won individual or relay events and Manistee won 11 of 12 total.

“We spend every day teaching everybody all the strokes,” said Manistee coach Corey Van Fleet. “We can move them around.”

But, there was one group that wasn’t tinkered with. Since the Chippewas had already qualified their 200-yard medley and freestyle relays for the state finals, Van Fleet kept his team together for the 400-yard freestyle relay. Syriah Dobis, Jessica Gustad, Valerie Urban and Anna Kutschke finished in 3:57.72 — more than a second less than the qualifying mark to also break the old pool record.

“This whole season its been like, ‘we want you to make it to state, we want you to make it to state,’” Urban said. “So Corey has been saving us up so we don’t get as tired.”

Urban had never swam the 100-yard butterfly, but took first Tuesday in her first try.

“It’s definitely something new and I’m not sure if I really like it,” she said, “but I actually asked to swim that because I’m a senior and I kind of wanted to try it before I graduate.”

Manistee lost to Division 2 power East Grand Rapids in a double dual last week to snap a dual meet winning streak of 19, stretching back to 2011.

“We went into it knowing we didn’t really have the possibility of winning,” Urban said. “It was just for fun and for experience and it was great to get to know the other team.”

Van Fleet said the meet also allowed the Chippewas to know more about their own lineup as well.

“In that meet that we lost, we found two kids that won events today we didn’t know they could swim,” Van Fleet said of Sarah Chandler, who won the 100-yard breaststroke and Tayor Antal, who won the 200-yard individual medley. “It makes us that much deeper.”

Urban, Maddy Applegarth, Kiara Bromley and Meghan McComb won the 200-yard medley relay while Gustad, Dobis, Kutschke and Allie Zimmerman took first in the 200 free relay in a pool-record time of 1:48.17.

Zimmerman won the 200 free, Gustad won the 50 free, Lillie Edwards beat a pair of South Haven divers, Applegarth took first in the 100 free and Hannah Harland the 500 free.

Manistee’s Shelby Flanagan swims in the 200-yard individual medley during Tuesday’s win against South Haven at the Paine Aquatic Center. (Matt Wenzel/News Advocate)

Manistee’s Shelby Flanagan swims in the 200-yard individual medley during Tuesday’s win against South Haven at the Paine Aquatic Center. (Matt Wenzel/News Advocate)

Shuffling swimmers into different events and getting big drops in times is part of the overall goal of the program.

“You have to remember that by the end of the year, our freshmen have to be able to replace our seniors,” Van Fleet said. “That’s their job. If you’ve got five in each class and the freshmen every year replace the seniors, you just keep going.”

Manistee results

200-yard medley relay — 1, Urban, Applegarth, Kiara Bromley, McComb, 2:08.10; 3, Gustad, Molly Morang, Kutschke, Harland, 2:12.00.

200-yard freestyle — 1, Zimmerman, 2:15.50; 3, Jordan Bartynski, 2:26.02; 4, Riley Wrzesinski, 2:43.81.

200-yard individual medley — 1, Antal, 2:46.26; 2, Chandler, 2:51.53; 3, Shelby Flanagan, 2:58.51.

50-yard freestyle — 1, Gustad, 26.74; 2, Dobis, 27.10; 3, Applegarth, 27.87.

1-meter diving — 1, Edwards, 181.50.

100-yard butterfly — 1, Urban, 1:12.97; 2, Flanagan, 1:23.93.

100-yard freestyle — 1, Applegarth, 1:01.08; 2, Zimmerman, 1:01.30; 3, Antal, 1:02.16.

500-yard freestyle — 1, Harland, 6:16.01; 3, Bartynski, 6:27.48.

200-yard freestyle relay — 1, Gustad, Dobis, Kutschke, Zimmerman, 1:48.17; 3, Antal, Flanagan, McComb, Wrzesinski, 2:02.02; 4, Paige Picardat, Morang, Edwards, Sierra Wright, 2:24.49.

100-yard backstroke — 2, Kiara Bromley, 1:15.78; 3, Lauren Golembiewski, 1:27.35.

100-yard breaststroke — 1, Chandler, 1:21.78; 3, Morang, 1:26.88; 4, Laura Kane, 1:30.22.

400-yard freestyle — 1, Dobis, Gustad, Urban, Kutschke, 3:57.72; 2, Zimmerman, Antal, Applegarth, McComb, 4:21.54; 3, Kiara Bromley, Flanagan, Bartynski, Harland, 4:36.77; 4, Wrzesinski, Golembiewski, Wright, Picardat, 5:21.76.