Archives > Sports > Schools
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Swam-song: Peaks, valleys for Allen, Plano Senior at state swim meet
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@starlocalnews.com
Fresh off District 9-5A and Region III-5A Championships, the ingredients were there for the Allen girls swim team to make a statement at the Class 5A State Swimming and Diving Championships.
The Lady Eagles put themselves in an advantageous position Saturday, eying a top-five finish from the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin.
Miscues, however, proved to be Allen's undoing as it finished 13th.
The Lady Eagles tallied 51.50 points, well behind state champion Southlake Carroll's 235. The Dragons also captured state gold on the boys side (279).
The Plano Senior boys team managed to crack the top 10, converting its five entries at the meet into a ninth-place finish (76).
"We were excited," said Philip Wiggins, Plano head coach. "The guys did a great job and being able to finish in the top 10 was very exciting."
The Wildcats narrowly missed the medal stand in two events, with the 200-yard freestyle relay grouping of senior Jay Friestad, freshman Duncan Lee, juniors Carter Constien and Kyle Whieldon placing fourth (1:25.75).
"That was a great swim for those guys," Wiggins said. "We made a switch in the order (swimming Friestad as the first leg and Lee second) and it worked out well for us. I was very impressed with that swim, especially with three of those guys returning this year."
Junior Kendra Keiser enjoyed similar success, taking fourth in the 1-meter dive (462.95 points) in her state debut and etching her place in Wildcats' lore along the way.
"It was very exciting for Kendra to get fourth in her first time at the state meet," Wiggins said. "Not only that, but she broke our school diving record that has been around since 1991."
Sophomore Axl Osborne claimed eighth in the boys diving competition (431.50), while Whieldon added finishes of eighth in the 200 free (1:41.63) and 11th n the 100 free (47.49). The junior also swam the trail leg of the 400 free relay (3:10.96, ninth) alongside Lee, Friestad and Constien.
There was a bit more frustration for the Lady Eagles.
The team's hopeful top-five finish never manifested, as despite sending three relays to state, only one of those units logged an official time after Allen's 200 and 400 free relays were disqualified.
"Two disqualifications on relays are tough to deal with," Mitchell said. "You're going after wins in relays and things can mess up just a tad. I know one of those relays was off by .08, which is just a fingernail. That's just the way it goes."
Only the 200 medley relay of freshman Sofie Underdahl, juniors Jennifer Brennecke, Sarah Vinezeano and senior Alyssa Stubblefield finished intact for ninth place (1:49.39).
"I think it's just people get into a position where they're hyped up," Mitchell said. "We went through starts over and over and over, but it's entirely different when you get in an atmosphere like the state meet where every second counts. Whether it's the person coming into the wall or the person coming off the block, you try so hard to make it perfect and when they're not, unfortunate things happen."
With relays counting up to 40 points, if Allen's two disqualified relays had matched their preliminary swims (10th in the 200 free and eighth in the 400 free), that would have counted for 36 points in the finals and improved Allen's overall standing to sixth.
Lady Eagles in individual action included Brennecke, who garnered a pair of 12th-place swims in the 200 individual medley (2:09.71) and 100 breaststroke (1:07.45). Vinezeano added seventh in the 100 butterfly (57.01) while sophomore Thomas Kim represented the Allen boys squad by placing 12th in the 200 IM (1:55.66).
"I don't think it takes away from the season the girls had," Mitchell said. "This was an incredible season, winning regionals by 200 points and qualifying so many people for state. This was like the cherry on top; we just didn't get the cherry."
Also on hand in Austin were the Plano East boys, which placed 25th overall (24).
Fourteen of those points came courtesy of senior Nicolas Bergstein, who placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke (57.19). The race was as narrowly contested an event as there was at state, with just two-tenths of a second separating second and fifth place.
The Panthers also received a 12th-place relay swim from sophomore Phillip Chang, Bergstein, junior Alex Alfonso and senior Shane Kok (1:37.99).
Plano West rounded out the local state swim slate with senior Brian Waggoner in the 50 free (21.95, 14th) and sophomore Darren Loh in the 100 backstroke (52.42, 10th).
For continued news and coverage on the local sports scene, follow @MWelchSCN on Twitter.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Allen «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
