Depth pushes swimmers past solid Colby-Abbotsford squad

MEDFORD GIRLS SWIMMING

MATT FREY

SPORTS EDITOR

Carrying a 3-0 Great Northern Conference record into Thursday’s dual meet, Colby-Abbotsford was going to put forth an all-out effort to knock off the Medford Raiders.

But the Raiders’ depth proved to be too much in a 101-69 win that pushed them into a three-way tie for second with three conference duals remaining.

Sydney Sperl won twice, the Raiders took both freestyle relays and Colby Bergman, Chelsea Gebauer and Kodi Rappe added individual wins as the Raiders pulled away from the Hornets after leading by just four points at the mandatory break through four events and by just six points after five races.

“We had a really solid night of swimming all around,” Medford head coach Morgan Wilson said. “We knew going in Colby-Abby would bring their A game and it would be close at the break. Our depth helped us out but we also had a lot of personal bests and fun, competitive races that brought out the best in our girls.”

Medford, Colby-Abbotsford and the Ladysmith Co-op all sit at 3-1 behind powerhouse Rhinelander. The Ladysmith Co-op is in Medford today, Thursday, for a 5:30 p.m. meet that will put the winner in the driver’s seat in the race for second place.

Sperl’s first win came in an event she hadn’t entered yet this season, the 200yard freestyle. She finished in 2:09.82 to comfortably beat Colby-Abbotsford’s Chloe Cihlar (2:13.06) and Brezlyn Boyer (2:18.7). Medford’s Jordyn Johnson and Tana Rappe were fourth and fifth in 2:19.06 and 2:21.46. Johnson dropped her time by 4.35 seconds over the previous week.

Sperl later won the 100-yard butterfly in a season-best 1:06.57, beating Jordan Jakel by 4.11 seconds. Layla Petersen was third for Medford in a season-best 1:10.88.

Just after that, Gebauer won the 100yard freestyle in 1:02.36, 1.01 seconds ahead of Hornet Zeline Lintrup. Breanna Kraemer was third for the Raiders in 1:04.44 and Jolie Steliga was fourth in 1:08.82. Before the butterfly, Kodi Rappe swam to a winning time of 28.14 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, 0.25 seconds ahead of Lintrup, while Cadance Haenel was fourth in 29.99 seconds and Mackenzie Petersen got the fifth-place point at 30.32 seconds.

Medford got 11 points in the 500-yard freestyle. Bergman cut seven seconds to get down to 5:52.57 to win it. Haenel dropped 12 seconds and got to 6:52.84, good for third place behind Cihlar (6:14.8) and Kassidy Janda was fourth in 7:13.29.

“Colby Bergman had a terrific night and swam with a lot of confidence,” Wilson said. “Kodi Rappe was great in all three relays and had a nice finish at the end of the 50 to take first. Cadance also was all smiles, getting personal bests in both of her individual events. It was great to see her get under seven minutes in the 500 and by a decent amount. She’s been working really hard on kicking more and pushing herself in practice.”

Kodi Rappe, Steliga, Johnson and Bergman won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:52.85, earning a 2.87-second margin over Colby-Abbotsford’s top team. Ady Dittrich, Mackenzie Petersen, Jackie Williams and Layla Petersen got the third-place points in 1:57.36. Gebauer, Kodi Rappe, Bergman and Sperl won the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 4:04.37 that was Medford’s fastest of the season. They were 8.16 seconds ahead of Colby-Abbotsford’s A team. Steliga, Mackenzie Petersen, Williams and Kraemer got the last two points of the night by taking third in 4:31.78.

Sperl, Gebauer, Kodi Rappe and Layla Petersen were second in the 200-yard medley relay at 2:01.25, also the fastest time a Medford squad has had this fall. They were 2.05 seconds off the pace. Kraemer, Johnson, Bergman and Williams were third in 2:09.76 and Chloe Pipkorn, Dittrich, Haenel and Janda were fourth in 2:29.4.

Gebauer led a strong Medford showing in the 200-yard individual medley, taking second in 2:38.2, followed by Williams (2:49.71) and Steliga (2:55.58). Kraemer was second in the 100-yard backstroke, staying right in her 1:10 range at 1:10.61, while Dittrich (1:12.37) and Janda (1:23.92) were third and fourth. Johnson took second in the 100-yard breaststroke in a season-best 1:21.09, just ahead of Layla Petersen (1:25.45). Tana Rappe got the fifth-place point at 1:33.85.

Colby-Abbotsford’s Madisyn Schraufnagel won the individual medley (2:21.43) and the backstroke (1:02.76).

“There were a lot of finishes that came down to the wire and we ended up on the good side of some and the bad side of others, which is something we can always keep working on to make sure we end up on the good side every time,” Wilson said.

Pipkorn won the JV 100-yard backstroke in 1:28.44. Paige Wilkins won the JV 100-yard breaststroke in 1:33.96, while Lindsey Klapatauskas was second at 1:37.62. In the 50-yard freestyle, Jayda Fryklund won in 30.31 seconds, followed by Klapatauskas (32.02), Wilkins (35.08) and Pipkorn (36.17).

After today’s meet with Ladysmith, Medford will next head to Lakeland (0-4) on Oct. 5.