Tridents finish season, prepare for Sectionals

The Lake Holcombe-Ladysmith-Flambeau-Bruce Trident Swim team wrapped up their regular season, with two action- packed events over the week.

Oct. 27 Conference Championship Dive

The Tridents played host to the Great Northern Conference Championship Dive, which included swimmers from Tomahawk and Colby-Abbotsford.

“Most of the pools in our conference do not have diving boards and therefore, are unable to offer diving as a sport,” said coach Matt Bunton. “We are fortunate to have the facilities that we do in this regard.”

The five competitors each completed 11 dives over the course of the contest. The dives include different combinations of somersaults, twists, pike, tuck and straight movements. The girls have to learn how to complete forward, reverse, inward and back dives, in order to compete at this level.

“Many of the best divers in the state, really got their start by learning gymnastics at an early age and then applying those skills to diving,” said Bunton.

Senior Kitara Fye finished the evening in second place, with a score of 259.95, behind Tomahawk’s Karlie Woodall.

“Kitara had a good night on the diving board,” said Bunton. “Kitara just started learning the sport three years ago, as a sophomore and has come such a long way. She has spent many, many hours learning the sport, and is always pushing herself to improve her craft and learn new dives.”

Woodall’s first place score of 392, also set a new pool record at Ladysmith High School.

“This was a great accomplishment for Karlie,” said Bunton. “The Tomahawk pool was unable to repair their diving board several years ago, and as a result, Karlie has spent many hours practicing at our pool here in Ladysmith, over the past two seasons, so it was nice to see her earn that honor here at Ladysmith. She is an excellent diver and we all wish her the best moving forward onto Sectionals.”

Oct. 29 at Rice Lake non-conference

The Tridents traveled to Rice Lake, for a quick non-conference meet, before beginning final preparations for the Sectional swim meet.

“It’s always fun getting together with the Rice Lake team,” said Bunton. “Most of the girls have grown up swimming with one another and the Rice Lake team always gives us some very fast swims.

Notable events of the night include Senior Olivia Bunton’s 1.08.84 100-yard butterfly, a new personal best for her. Fye was also back on the diving board, improving her score from Tuesday, scoring 267.45.

Fye will compete at the Sectional dive meet Friday, Nov. 6, while the Trident team will compete at their Sectionals Saturday, Nov. 7.

Cutline: Lake Holcombe-Ladysmith-Flambeau-Bruce sophomore Caitlyn Kolter churns through the water against Black River Falls Aug. 27, taking part in the 50-yard freestyle. Photo by Ginna Young