500-yard freestyle at 6:26.5, while ….

500-yard freestyle at 6:26.5, while Jackie Williams was fifth at 6:49.59 and Breanna Kraemer was sixth in 7:01.7.

“Breanna swam the 500 for the first time,” Meinel said. “That’s a good time for her in a first-time swim. That’s a hard, hard event for the first one. Normally we expect 7:15 to 7:30 for the first one because swimmers go out too fast and then they run out of gas. She did well.”

Denzer, Gebauer, Sperl and Razink teamed up to take second in the 200-yard medley relay in 2:05.54, 7.16 seconds behind Merrill’s winning team. Rappe, Johnson, Erica Brandner and Weix were fourth in 2:19.11 and Pernsteiner, Jackie Williams, Kraemer and Maddie Williams took fifth in 2:25.55.

Maddie Williams, Johnson, Kraemer and Lacey Brandner swam the 200-yard freestyle relay in 2:03.34, 7.46 seconds behind Merrill’s winning team. Pernsteiner, Erica Brandner, Jackie Williams and Weix took fourth in 2:09.34, while Pilgrim, Koncel, Petersen and Haenel were fifth in 2:12.57.

To wrap up the meet, Sperl, Denzer, Gebauer and Razink finished in 4:19.62 in the 400-yard freestyle relay, which Merrill’s top team won in 4:01.45. Rappe, Kraemer, Maddie Williams and Lacey Brandner were fourth in 4:33.52. Haenel, Koncel, Petersen and Pilgrim were fifth in 5:10.05.

Meinel said making out the lineup card for the season’s first dual meet was a difficult task with Medford’s added depth, but that’s a nice problem to have. Haenel (31.03), Petersen (32.33) and Pilgrim (33.98) were the top three finishers in the JV 50-yard freestyle. Jackie Williams (1:32.1) and Weix (1:35.21) were the top two swimmers in the JV 100-yard breaststroke and Petersen (1:12.53), Koncel (1:13.22) and Erica Brandner (1:16.93) battled each other in the JV 100-yard freestyle.

“We have so many more girls than we’re used to,” Meinel said. “We had JV swimmers for it seems like the first time ever. It’s nice to have that depth. We’re still figuring out where everyone is going to be. That’s what’s nice about this meet, it’s non-conference. Mosinee is here Thursday which will still be a nice meet to figure out the lineup. We have our eyes on a few people going places, they’ll get there. It will take a little while.”

Today’s meet with Mosinee starts at 5:30 p.m. as does a home meet with the Ladysmith Co-op on Sept. 9.