Friday, May. 16, 2008

Ravens in thick of state title race

After the state swimming prelims May 16 it was apparent that the Olathe Northwest girls could take first place and win their first state championship in the finals the next day. Of course, they could just as easily fall out of the top three altogether and go home without a trophy.

That's how close it is at the top this year, where the Ravens, Free State, Blue Valley North and BV Northwest were separated by a projected six points after the swimming prelims in Topeka.

Before any of the preliminary diving results had been tabulated the Ravens projected at third place, but the rankings are very fluid among the top four squads. In any case, Northwest coach Hank Krusen said he was happy with the way his charges swam on the first day of state.

"It was a fantastic meet for us today," Krusen said. "Everybody dropped time and dropped a considerable amount of time. ... Our girls probably swam as well as anybody."

One of the keys for Northwest in the finals will be the relays. After winning the 200-yard medley relay at the Sunflower League meet, the Ravens finished more than a second behind league rival Free State in the state prelims.

The Ravens will also be seeded behind the Firebirds in the 400-yard freestyle relay and both races will be key because the relays count for double points in the team standings.

In the individual events the Ravens will rely on Maddy Dalcamo, Paige Morris, Natalie Morris, Marley Suckow and Cami Hansberry.

Dalcamo kept her top-seed status in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle, though BV Northwest junior Parker Watson is closing in on her. Dalcamo is also still looking for All-America times in the two events after coming incredibly close at league.

"We knew that when we got here Parker would be there," Krusen said, "I hope (Dalcamo) gets her All-America. That's the goal, but tomorrow is all about beating people. That's what we're going for and hopefully the time will be there with that."

Dalcamo remains Northwest's best hope for an individual state championship, though some other Ravens are in contention.

Suckow will go into the breaststroke seeded third, but catching Trinity Academy's Jamie Bruce will be a serious challenge. Natalie Morris will be seeded fourth in the butterfly, but Topeka West's Emily Dicus looks like the clear frontrunner in that event.

The highlight of the prelims for Olathe East was the backstroke, where junior Brianna Winkler reached a year-long goal by finishing in 1:00.51 and breaking a long-standing school record.

Winkler's record lasted only a couple of minutes, though. On the next heat East senior Michelle Eggers jumped in the pool and swam the backstroke in 1:00.39.

"I was so happy for her after she swam," Eggers said. "Then I swam it and looked up (at the scoreboard) and felt really bad, because I wanted her to break it. But we're both really happy for each other."

Olathe East coach Dave Youker said he couldn't remember another time when two different swimmers broke the same school record at the state meet.

The two will compete for the record again in the state finals. While Winkler has been a backstroke standout for the better part of two seasons, Eggers has only been swimming the event in the last few meets for East.

She said she had plenty of experience from her recreational and club swimming days, though.

"I've always been a backstroker, since I was like 10," Eggers said. "When I was 10 years old I won the 50(-yard) back in Division I."

Olathe South junior Cora Powers finished right behind Eggers and Winkler in the backstroke with a time of 1:00.81. South junior Alyson Ramsey is also looked good in prelims, finishing second in the diving to Shawnee Mission East's Logan Kline.

STATE SWIMMING PRELIMS

Friday, May 16 at Hummer Natatorium in Topeka

Olathe state finals qualifiers: 200-yard medley relay — 3rd- ONW, 1:50.37; 9th- OE, 1:54.77. 200-yard freestyle — 8th- Michelle Eggers, OE, 1:57.59; 10th- Paige Morris, ONW, 1:58.27. 200-yard individual medley — 6th- Natalie Morris, ONW, 2:10.51; 15th- Marley Suckow, ONW, 2:14.83. 50-yard freestyle — 1st- Maddy Dalcamo, ONW, 24.13; 13th- Cami Hansberry, ONW, 25.51; 16th- Brianna Winkler, OE, 25.74. 100-yard butterfly — 4th- N. Morris, ONW, 57.89. 100-yard freestyle — 1st- Dalcamo, ONW, 52.14. 500-yard freestyle — 7th- P. Morris, ONW, 5:16.88. 200-yard freestyle relay — 5th- OE, 1:42.92; 7th- ONW, 1:43.98. 100-yard backstroke — 7th- Eggers, OE, 1:00.39; 8th- Winkler, OE, 1:00.51; 9th- Cora Powers, OS, 1:00.81. 100-yard breaststroke — 3rd- Suckow, ONW, 1:06.54; 9th- Powers, OS, 1:08.54. 400-yard freestyle relay — 2nd- ONW, 3:38.03; 10th- OE, 3:46.69. Diving — 2nd- Alyson Ramsey, OS, 181.25; 16th- Elsa Pageler, ONW, 141.55.

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