The Collegian

Issue date: 2/19/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Courtesy of Jeff and Joan Verhoef The 200 medley relay team broke a school record and qualified for nationals (from left to right) sophomore Alicia LeDuc, senior Anne Verhoef, freshman Linda Okonkowski and junior Meredith Scott.

The Hillsdale swim team gave the performance of a lifetime, finishing strong by racking up records and personal bests in the GLIACs last week.

"All season, it was just getting them to put forth the effort to be the best that they could be and believe in themselves," head coach Kurt Kirner said.

Charger effort paid off and resulted in 15 new school records, 42 lifetime best times, four swimmers qualifying for nationals and the team taking fifth overall in the conference.

"It was beyond what would normally occur in a championship," Kirner said. "If we had that many people having lifetime best times and breaking school records, it really doesn't matter where we stand."

The team started strong the first day of the conference meet. The 200-yard medley relay team, composed of freshman Linda Okonkowski, sophomore Alicia LeDuc, junior Meredith Scott and senior Anne Verhoef, initiated the weekend's streak of record-breaking by knocking the previous record out of the water by about two seconds, while qualifying for nationals at the same time.

When the team learned about their national qualification, Kirner said team morale when through the roof. Teammates were screaming on the bus back to the hotel.

"It opened the door and everyone believed that they could do it," Kirner said.

From there, all the swimmers gave peak performances. Thursday night, freshman Nikki Dyer clocked in her first record in the 500 freestyle, placing eighth overall, impressing Kirner and her teammates with her performance. Verhoef and Okonkowski added to their record-breaking runs with Verhoef touching in at sixth in the 50 freestyle and Okonkowski achieving third in the 200 IM.

Friday evening, Leduc stroked solidly to fourth in 100 backstroke, and Okonkowski and Verhoef continued their individual streaks. Okonkowski swam a close race in the 100 butterfly, taking third, and Verhoef touched in at sixth in the 100 breaststroke.

On the final day, the Chargers went all out. Dyer swam into ninth and racked up another record in the 1000 freestyle. Verhoef finished on a high note in the 100 freestyle, placing third overall and bringing her record total to seven in both individual and relay events. Okonkowski swam into fifth in the 200 butterfly, topping off her record-breaking streak with a satisfying end.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools