Roger Mann picked up his ….
Roger Mann picked up his first win of the winter in the 100-yard breaststroke, holding off two Mustangs with his time of 1:25.49, which was just off his seasonbest. Luke Ray was 0.74 seconds behind Mann and Nolen Ayres was 1.9 seconds behind. Earlier in the meet, Mann was third in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:08.42, while Raider Reese Travis was fifth in 1:18.02. Klimek won in 55.77 seconds.
“All of our returning swimmers won first place in an event, so you can’t ask for more there,” Werner said.
Big improvements were made by Medford in the 100-yard backstroke. Dawson Gasek was second in 1:30.86, knocking off nearly 17 seconds from his previous personal-best. Brandon Curtis chopped 4.96 seconds and took third.
In the 50-yard freestyle Travis was second in 32.76 seconds, beating Mustang Ian Conklin by 0.74 seconds, Gasek was fourth in an improved 35.12 seconds and Curtis was sixth in an improved 39.26 seconds.
Not only are the times down, but the technique has improved noticeably in the last month for what was a pretty green crew at the start of the season when it comes to competitive swimming.
“The flip turns were noticeable,” Werner said. “Against this team, a lot of their guys were doing open turns on freestyle. Our boys were all doing their flip turns, so that was impressive. Our starts are better. I think that’s a big deal. The relay exchanges are tighter. They’re right on the button. They’re moving before they get in, just like they should.”
The meet ended with Curtis, Travis, Gasek and Rouiller beating Menomonie’s B team in a tight race for second in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Medford’s team finished in 5:20.49, 1.18 seconds ahead of the B team and a nearly 16-second drop for this particular quartet. The Mustangs’ A team won in 3:57.73.
Reimann, Buskerud, Mann and Travis were second in the 200-yard freestyle relay at 2:06.77, another season-best time. They were 6.86 seconds behind Menomonie’s top team and 24.8 seconds ahead of its B team. Mann, Buskerud, Reimann and Rouiller were second in the 200-yard medley relay at 2:25.87. Menomonie won in 2:04.04.
Medford heads to Rhinelander Jan. 4 for a double-dual with the Hodags and Shawano-Seymour that starts at 5:30 p.m.
