Tridents win at home, fall in conference opener on road
The Lake Holcombe-Ladysmith-Flambeau-Bruce-Bloomer Trident Swimmers had a busy week, first hosting Black River Falls, then traveling to Rhinelander, to open their conference season.
Aug. 30 vs. Black River Falls (W 100-68)
After some major renovations at the Ladysmith High School pool and the installation of new starting blocks, the Tridents hosted Black River Falls, for the first dual meet.
“Many of our girls started off the season with good swims and several personal bests,” said coach Matt Bunton.
In the 200-yard freestyle, senior Maddy Bunton swam to a first-place finish, with a time of 2:06.45, with freshman Abbi Fye and senior Alaina Meskill taking fourth and fifth place, respectively. The 50-yard freestyle featured sophomore Hannah Minton placing first, with a personal best time of 28.82 seconds.
Senior Sadie Heath and sophomore Sarah Allard claimed third and fourth place, both hitting times under the 30 second mark. After the break, junior Madi Kempen, Allard and senior Michelle Gaddy grabbed first, second and third place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly.
Up next, Minton, Heath and sophomore Aly Lunemann grabbed first, second and third place finishes in the 100-yard freestyle.
“A couple of swims really stood out to Coach Langfoss and me tonight,” said Matt.
Sept. 1 vs. Rhinelander (L 120-50)
Although not able to leave with a win at Rhinelander, the Trident girls had many good swims and performed well as a team.
In the 100 fly, Kempen found an extra few seconds, improving her time from Tuesday night, and hitting the wall with a time of 1:10.22. Sophomore Lauren Hanson also showed improvement, swimming a personal best in the 50 and 100 freestyle events.
Maddy posted a 1:05.58 backstroke, besting her 2021 top time in this event.
“I was happy with how we performed as a team tonight,” said Matt. “We really wanted to focus on being tight through our flip turns and getting off the wall, and I saw huge improvement tonight on that front. Additionally, we stayed positive, and the girls really swam their best and showed great fight tonight, while facing a very tough team.”
