Swimmers take eighth in state 400 relay

By Joe Winter

The highest finish for the Raider girls swim team at the state meet was eighth, but that doesn't show just how successful the local swimmers were.

The team as a whole had tapered its practice yardage so it would have the best success and peak at sectionals, rather than state. Hudson, in its first state tourney competing with Division I teams, rather than smaller schools, tied for 21st place with Madison East with 32 points, three in back of West Bend East.

The 400 yard freestyle team was seeded sixth, for example, but considering the taper was happy with their eighth-place finish. The 3:44.39 time of seniors Lara Naegeli and Bridget Worrell, sophomore Amy Cahoy and senior Leah Moeller was only one-quarter second out of seventh.

The best individual finish for the Raiders was by Cahoy in the 200 individual medley, tenth with 2:12.67. She also was 14th in the 100 butterfly with 1:01.38, in a tighter finish that was only 0.09 seconds out of 13th. Both of Cahoy's times were faster than at sectionals, in the case of the 200 medley by a full second.

"We did an excellent job at state," said Coach Veronica Colvin. "Many of the girls improved their times from last week, which is difficult to do on their second taper. I am very pleased with their finish and their season."

Hudson's other individual event participant, Moeller, tied for 19th in the 100 freestyle with a 56.07 time. Moeller, whose time was a half-second faster than at sectionals, was 0.15 seconds ahead of the 21st place finisher and 0.16 seconds out of 18th.

The other two qualifying relays finished out of the top 20. In the 200 freestyle relay, Cahoy, sophomore Jenille Junco, Worrell and Moeller scored a 1:45.13 time that beat Waukesha South/Mukwanago by 0.2 seconds. In the 200 medley relay, Naegeli, junior Laura Dumke, Moeller and Worrell were 23rd with 1:58.89. An Eau Claire North foursome, which couldn't crack two minutes, was 24th.

Rival Eau Claire Memorial finished seventh with 111 points, even though their swimmers dropped from their sectional times. Memorial had tapered in a way that would allow a peak at sectionals, thus keeping Hudson at bay.