Warsaw Swimmers Cruise Past PlymouthWarsaw was stellar across the board Tuesday.
The Warsaw boys and girls swim teams dominated Plymouth in a home Northern Lakes Conference meet on senior night.
“It was good to see consistency across the meet,” said Warsaw coach Anthony DeBrota. “Kids are dropping (times). Whatever we’re doing in practice, it’s working.”
Warsaw’s girls team (5-1 NLC) won 132-53, while the boys won 129-51.
DeBrota lavished praise on the seniors on their special night.
“A lot of what you see now, and what you’ll see for the next couple years, is gonna be a product of their leadership,” he said. “It’s one of those things you can’t really replace. They’re gonna be missed, but it’s gonna be nice having them while we do.”
The Lady Tigers won 10 of 12 events, including a 400-yard freestyle relay race that starkly impressed DeBrota.
Taylor?Gunter, Carolina Pazos Fernandez, Lillian Boston and Grace Scholl teamed up to win the event in 4:08.51.
“You had Gracie Scholl, Lillian Boston, they’re both really coming around for us in our sprints,” DeBrota said. “That’s really helping us.”
Gunter swam her best time of the season with a with a time of 1:06.20 in the 100 butterfly.
“Just seeing our top kids, if they weren’t getting those personal records, (they were) getting faster than what they have been this season,” DeBrota said.
Gunter also was part of Warsaw’s winning 200 medley relay team, along with seniors Delaney Wihebrink, Maddie Ray and Olivia Herman, who shined on their own night with a time of 2:01.06.
The same foursome won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:51.35.
Herman won the 50 freestyle in 26.23 seconds, while Wihebrink took the 100 freestyle in 57.01 and 100 breaststroke in 1:11.51.
Another senior, Dineli Presteguin ,took first in the 200 freestyle in 2:19.17.
Warsaw’s seniors weren’t the only ones who excelled.
Freshman Mariana Malagon came off the block strong for a 2:36.54, first-place finish in the 200 individual medley.
“It was good to see Mariana, for our freshmen, really stepping it up in the IM,” DeBrota said.
Pazos Fernandez won the 500 freestyle in 5:58.18.
On the boys side, the?Tigers (4-2 NLC) took 11 of 12 events.
The 200 medley relay squad of Grant Knight, Nick Bazzoni, Alex Cook and Michael Ray breezed by the competition in 1:44.28.
Zach Lalonde took the 200 freestyle in 1:56.70 and the 100 backstroke in 1:01.67, while Bazzoni won the 200 individual medley in 2:10.75 and Cook, a senior, won the 50 freestyle in 23.30 and the 100 butterfly in 1:00.10.
“Lalonde in the 200 freestyle, that was good to see,” DeBrota said.
Knight won the 100 freestyle in 50.44 and 100 breaststroke in 58.95, while Jackson Moeller placed first in the 500 freestyle in 6:19.92.
LaLonde, Knight, Ray and Cook teamed up in the 200 freestyle relay to win in 1:33.63.
Lalonde, Ray and Bazzoni were joined by Nathan Taylor in the 400 freestyle relay to top the competition in 3:38.53.
Plymouth took both diving competitions. Lyndsey Price topped all girls with a score of 165.90, while Justin Moser placed first amongst the boys with a score of 184.95.
Plymouth’s only other win came when Graci Holm won the 100 backstroke in 1:07.19.
DeBrota said the win should build confidence heading into a long stretch of practices.
“It was good to see that there was some excitement with everybody across the board,” DeBrota said. “That puts everybody with high hopes when we’re coming up on Christmas break, and dark times with practices.”
