Swim co-op duels with Hodags at home
The Colby/Abbotsford swim co-op hosted their second Great Northern dual meet on Tuesday, Sept. 7, welcoming the Rhinelander Hodags to Colby.
The Hodags have been one of the most consistent and successful teams in the state in recent years, winning the Great Northern in 2019, and sending multiple swimmers to the state tournament.
The Hodags look every inch the favorite to win the Great Northern, and it showed on Tuesday as the Colby/Abby swimmers dropped their home dual by a final score of 183 points to 31.
The co-op got its first points of the night in the first event of the meet, with the relay team of Riley Bellendorf, Lilly Graun, Hailey Meyer and Olivia Krause finishing fourth in 2:29.31.
The swim team picked a few more points when Ivee Conley placed fourth in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:55.05, and Olivia Johnson was fifth in 2:56.37.
Colby/Abby had its first top three finish of the night in the 200-yard IM. Olivia Krause took third in 2:59.24, and Meyer was fifth in 3:10.56.
The co-op fielded three swimmers in the 50-yard freestyle. Senior Lexi White earned the swim team’s second top three finish, taking third in 28.97 seconds. Graun collected fifth in 30.87, and Chase Klemetson was sixth in 36.82.
The meet then moved to the dive portion, where recent transfer Riley Bellendorf showed off some impressive mid-air twists and turns. Bellendorf did not score points, but finished with a combined score of 184.30. Meyer also competed in the dive portion, scoring 131.40.
The races resumed once more after the dives, and White and Krause would finish fourth and fifth in the 100-yard butterfl y in 1:16.58 and 1:23.41.
Chloe Cihlar garnered another top three result for the co-op after she placed third in the 100-yard freestyle in 1:01.70. Zanza Haemer picked up a point for the co-op’s cause in the same race, taking fifth overall in 1:09.09.
Olivia Johnson and Ivee Conley represented Colby/Abby in the 500-yard freestyle. Johnson was fourth in 7:36.77, and Conley was fifth in 8:06.10.
The swimmers captured two top four spots in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Cihlar, Graun, White and Haemer was third in 1:58.69, and the team of Klemetson, Meyer, Bellendorf and Johnson was fourth in 2:18.15.
Cihlar’s meet extended into the 100yard backstroke, where she finished fourth in 1:20.74. Zanza Haemer swam to fourth place in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing the race in 1:40.02.
The night ended with Colby/Abby taking third and fifth in the 400-yard freestyle relay. White, Graun, Haemer and Cihlar were third in 4:46.85, and Krause, Johnson, Conley and Klemetson were fifth in 5:19.04.
The co-op’s next contest will be a conference dual in Tomahawk on Thursday, Sept. 16. Races begin at 5:30 p.m.
