Trident making waves over the competition
The Lake Holcombe-Ladysmith-Flambeau-Bruce-Bloomer Trident Swimmers continued to improve, dropping times, and picking up two conference wins, in a busy couple weeks of competition.
Sept. 15 vs. Mosinee conference (W 106-57)
The Tridents hosted a strong Mosinee swim team, claiming another team win. Notable swims from the night included senior Caitlyn Kolter dropping 25 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle from just a few weeks ago. She also dropped another 6 seconds in her 100-yard freestyle, later in the meet.
Senior Sadie Heath also swam the 200 free, hitting the wall with a time of 2:24.75. This meet also featured Heath’s firsttime swimming the 100-yard butterfly, taking second place behind her senior teammate Madeline Bunton.
Later in the 50-yard freestyle, senior Izzy Mitchell, freshman Lyra Moffitt and senior Alaina Meskill each dropped over a second, to post season best times in this event. In the 500-yard freestyle, Mitchell dropped 25 seconds, to swim another personal best.
Also in the 100 freestyle, freshman Valerie Van de Voort dropped 2 seconds in her 100 freestyle.
“It was very nice to be back in our home pool this past week,” said coach Matt Bunton. “Many of the girls posted time drops and personal bests, showing progress toward our season goals. We still have a lot of work to do, but it’s always rewarding to see improvement.”
Sept. 22 vs. Antigo conference (W 105-54)
The following week, the Tridents loaded up and traveled to Antigo, to compete against the Red Robins. The Tridents swam well and left with another win.
Junior Madilyn Kempen posted a season best time in the 200-yard individual medley, taking first place, with a time of 2:35.75. Madeline also posted a season best in the 100 butterfly, with a time of 1:05.40, for second place. Sophomore Aly Lunemann also posted a season best time of 1:15.98, to take third place in the event.
Van de Voort also continued to show improvement, dropping another 2 seconds in her 100 freestyle time. In the breaststroke, senior Macy Kennedy also posted a nearly 3 second time drop, working hard in improving her technique in this event.
“The biggest time drop of the night, was posted by sophomore Sarah Allard, in the 500 freestyle,” said Matt. “Sarah hit the wall with a time of 6:14.66, posting a 22 second improvement from just a few weeks prior.”
Sept. 24 vs. E.C. North Invitational
Finally, the Tridents traveled to Eau Claire North, for the annual Husky Invite. This meet features many larger Division I schools, including E.C. North, Hudson, Superior, Menomonie, Wausau West and Onalaska-Holmen-Aquinas-GET.
“At the end of the meet, the Tridents finished in a very respectable fourth place, knocking out Wausau West, Superior, Black River Falls, Wisconsin Rapids and Menomonie,” said Matt. “The competition was high, and all of the Tridents rose to the occasion posting many season and personal bests.”
Highlights from the afternoon included Madeline taking first place in both the 500 freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, with times of 5:36.57 and 1:04.92, respectively. Kempen took fourth in the 100 butterfly (1:09.44) and second in the breaststroke (1:17.93), with a personal best time.
Sophomore Hannah Minton dropped a few more seconds in her 50 and 100 freestyles, to hit a new personal best in these events. Freshmen Abbi Fye and Liv Repka also showed improvement in the 200 freestyle relay and breaststroke. Fye, Lunemann and sophomore Lauren Hanson also had a good day, with Fye swimming a new personal best in the backstroke and Hanson in the 200 freestyle.
“Heading into this meet, we talked as a team about how every swim matters and the girls really rose to the challenge of taking on some good teams from some big schools,” said Matt. “Our fourth place finish was a whole team win today, and I know that coach Riley Langfoss and I are both very proud of this team.”
