Medford doubles up Colby/Abby in dual
After having four consecutive events held in Colby, the co-op swim team had to go on the road twice last week, taking on Black River Falls on Tuesday and then heading to Medford on Thursday. Medford proved to be their toughest dual opponent yet and Colby/Abbotsford fell by a score of 119-51.
While the final score may have indicated a tough afternoon for the coop’s swimmers, the individual results painted a different story. The Colby/ Abby team would always struggle to compete against the likes of Medford, solely due to the numbers that both can bring to the table. While Medford had the luxury of putting at least three swimmers in each individual event, as well as assembling three teams for the relay events, the co-op often only had two swimmers or teams per event. That, coupled with several close finishes that often went Medford’s way, led to a lopsided final score.
The Raiders won 10 of the 11 varsity events, but a second separated a Colby/ Abby second place finisher from the top spot in four of those events.
The first of those close finishes came in the first event of the day, where the relay of Chloe Cihlar, Brezlyn Boyer, Madisyn Schraufnagel and Jordan Jakel found that its time of 2:05.64 in the 200-yard medley relay was just short of Medford’s 2:04.59.
Cihlar, who won the co-op’s only event of the evening, was part of several other races that ended with narrow margins. She won the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 59.36, using a strong second 50 yards to pass her opponent and finish seven-tenths of a second before Medford’s Chelsea Gebauer. She took second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:12.25, narrowly holding off the third place who came in with a time of 1:12.25. She was also part of the 400-yard freestyle relay of herself, Schraufnagel, Hailey Meyer, and Lilly Graun that took second in 4:31.12, which was only a second-anda- half faster than the third place Medford relay.
Jakel also had her fair share of close calls. Her second place finish in the 50-yard freestyle was a second behind first place Sydney Sperl of Medford, but she just barely outpaced two other Medford swimmers. Jakel finished with a time of 29.42, while Medford’s swimmers came in with times of 29.53 and 30.09. Graun was not far behind with a time of 30.36, making the second through fourth place finishers all recording times within a second of each other.
Jakel also came in second to Sperl in the 100-yard butterfly, where the Raider swimmer’s time of 1:11.64 beat Jakel’s time of 1:12.99. Jakel had a narrow lead in the first 50 yards, but Sperl had a quick second leg to claim the victory.
The 100-yard breaststroke also had three swimmers finish within two seconds of each other. Boyer took second in the event with a time of 1:20.88.
Other second place finishes included Boyer in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:27.85 and Schraufnagel in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:32.77.
In all, the Colby/Abby team had 16 new PRs at Medford, which more accurately demonstrates the team’s performance than their overall team score.
The co-op will be back at home this Thursday, September 29. It will be both senior and parents night for the Colby/ Abby swimmers as they take on Tomahawk for their final home meet of the season. The meet is set to begin at 5:30 p.m.
