Swim qualifies for state in three events
By Nathaniel Underwood
Two school records were broken and the Colby-Abby swim team set 17 personal bests as they qualified for state in three different events at the Division 2 sectional meet held in Merrill this past Saturday. The co-op took eighth place as a team at the meet, finishing the day with 148 points.
Madisyn Schraufnagel will be headed back to state after her record-setting performances in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200-yard IM at the sectional meet. The sophomore participated in the WIAA final last season in the 100-yard backstroke and will be joined in Waukesha this year by teammates Chloe Cihlar, Zeline Lintrup and Brezlyn Boyer. The 400-yard freestyle relay of the four swimmers advanced on to the state meet after taking fourth in the event.
The pair of records broken by Schraufnagel were both set over two decades ago. Anne Melvin previously held the fastest time in the 200-yard IM, setting a mark of 2:18.82 in 2000.
Krista Melvin posted her quickest race in the 100-yard backstroke in the same year, finishing with a time of 1:02.05.
Saturday was the first time since 2010 that a new school record was set.
In the third swimming event of the day, Schraufnagel set a new standard for the 200-yard IM. She beat out Melvinâs time by under four-tenths of a second, finishing with a time of 2:18.45. The performance earned Schraufnagel seventh place at the sectional meet and was the 15th fastest time at all four D2 sectional competitions, earning her a repeat trip to the state meet.
Six events later, Schraufnagel broke another record. She took third place in
See SWIM SECTIONALS/ Page 11
STATEBOUND - Chloe Cihlar, left, pushes towards the finish of the 500-yard freestyle and Madisyn Schraufnagel, right, completes the backstroke portion of the 200-yard IM at the sectional meet in Merrill. They will be joining teammates Brezlyn Boyer and Zeline Lintrup at the Division 2 state meet being held this coming Friday. The quartet qualified in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
STAFF PHOTOS/MATT FREY Swim sectionals
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the 100-yard backstroke, finishing behind only Rhinelanderâs Celia Francis and Lakelandâs Olivia Mickle by posting a time of 1:01.13. Her time was almost a whole second faster than the previous time to beat for the Colby-Abby club and pushed her into the first heat of the state competition.
But the co-op was not finished yet. In the final competition of the meet, the team of Cihlar, Lintrup, Boyer and Schraufnagel took nearly 11 seconds off of their seed time to place fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The new personal best performance of 3:56.62 earned the team fourth place and a trip to Waukesha.
The Colby-Abby squad also very nearly sent a second relay on to state. In the opening swimming event of the meet, the 200yard medley relay of Schraufnagel, Boyer, Cihlar and Jordan Jakel came up just fourtenths of a second short of reaching the finals. Greendaleâs time of 1:56.97 barely knocked the co-op relay out of contention, who finished fourth at the meet with a time of 1:57.38.
In addition to their state-bound showings, the Colby-Abby team also had a number of top-15 finishes in Merrill.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Boyer, Lintrup, Jakel and Cihlar placed fifth with a time of 1:48.92, finishing a few seconds off the state pace in the event.
Jakel picked up two top-15 spots in her individual events, placing seventh in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:07.70 and 14th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 28.28.
Lintrup came in right behind her teammate in the 50-yard freestyle, claiming 15th with a time of 28.32.
Boyer added an 11th place spot for the co-op in the 100-yard freestyle, completing the race in 1:00.13.
Cihlar took ninth place in the longest event of the day, the 500-yard freestyle, posting a final time of 6:11.30.
Other sectional finishes for Colby-Abby at the sectional meet included Sage Lueth earning 19th in the 100-yard breaststroke, Hazel Flink taking 20th in the 500-yard freestyle, Bryleigh Boyer taking 21st in the 200-yard IM and 30th in the 100yard freestyle, Lintrup taking 22nd in the 100-yard freestyle, Olivia Krause placing 24th in the 200-yard freestyle and 32nd in the 100-yard freestyle, McKinley Meyer placing 28th in the 50-yard freestyle and 33rd in the 100-yard freestyle and Rayna Hamus taking 29th in the 100-yard backstroke.
The Division 2 state meet will be held at the Waukesha South Natatorium on Friday, Nov. 10. The doors will open for the spectators of the swimming portion of the event at 4:30 p.m. and the event will begin at 5:30 p.m. Schraufnagel will swim in Heat 2 in the 200-yard IM and in Heat 1 for the 100-yard backstroke. The 400-yard freestyle relay team will be competing in Heat 2 of their event.
FINAL STRETCH - Jordan Jakel sets her sights on the finish on the final lap of the 100-yard butterfly in Merrill. Jakel tied for the co-opâs second highest individual finish at the meet, taking seventh in the event.
STAFF PHOTO/MATT FREY
