Trojans Depth Too Much For Allegan

Plainwell 113   Allegan 71

It was pretty clear from the start of the meet which team was going to eventually emerge victorious.  Of course it was Plainwell.  The Lady Tigers brought only a dozen or less swimmers onto the deck for the conference duel.  What the Allegan squad lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality winning a fair share of the evening events.  But who placed second through fifth?  Oh that would be the talented and deep Trojan squad.  So let’s get to the play by play of this one. 

The opening stanza of the tilt between the Tigers and Trojans was a precursor of the short and entertaining meet.  The Lady Tigers took first in the medley relay, but guess who finished second through fourth? One word, Plainwell.  In the 200 freestyle several swimmers stepped-up their game with stalwart performances by Lindenbach, Pierce, and Lamorandier.  The other gut buster event, the 200 IM, showcased a near photo finish by Hills and Havenaar for second place (fun to watch).  In the 50 drag race, Keator, Varley, McKenzie, Valina Encinal, King, and Lindsey all set the water aflame. 

Our divers continue to make huge gains off the one meter board and swept the competition.  From a spectator perspective, the dives look better from above than from the side.  Fox, Uridge, and the undefeated Emily Zimmer dominated the board by going first through third.  BINGO, they are showing improvement. 

In the second half of the match, the Trojans flexed their muscles and extended their lead.  The 100 fly had good performances by Jewell, DeLaet, and Moore.  The Trojans pulled out the brooms sweeping the 100 free with Jones and Varley leading the way.  In the marathon event, Lindenbach, Lamorandier, Betz, and Evans all showed the crowd what it means to be tough by having solid swims.  The 200 free relay did not disappoint with Keator almost breaking into the 25 second range with her split.  Wicked fast!  Backstrokers Vanslambrouck, Havenaar, and Hills continue to swim well.  Finally, we had a noteworthy breaststroke by Burgess to finish the evening.  It was a subdued but effective performance by the Trojans.

                  By: Jeff Braginton

Trojans Unable to Find Spartan’s Achilles Heel 

Plainwell 75  B.C. Lakeview 111 

After suffering their first defeat, the wounded Trojans treaded water into their meet with the Spartans.  Being a non conference meet, it was clear Coach Murphy wanted to mix things up a bit to allow all swimmers to step-up in new events.  Many of the ladies took the opportunity to showcase their skills.  Here are some notable performances as the Trojans grappled the Spartans:

200 Free-  Ali Pierce and Hailee Lamorandier swam well

200 IM-  Colby Hills and Maddie Betz were solid

50 Free- Carly Braginton was on a collision course for third

Diving-  Tessa Vann, Alex Uridge, and the undefeated Emily Zimmer were off the deep end with fantastic dives

100 Fly-  Mikah Havenaar jetted into third

100 Free- Kylee King had a nice swim

500 Free- Always a noteworthy performance by Hailee Lamorandier, Colby Hills, Naomi DeLaet, and Gabby Evans

100 Breaststroke- Shannon Jewell, Lauren VanLent, and Grace Doerr did well

400 Free Relay- Lindenbach, Keator, Betz, and Burgess churned the waters to second 

Special Shout-Out!  The Lakeview pool is awesome.  Mr. Burns, from Simpsons fame, made a cameo appearance as referee for the event.  Thank you for your service sir.  

                By: Jeff Braginton

Lady Trojans Spurred by the RedHawks  

 

Plainwell 84  Marshall 102 

Rivalry? You bet.  This meet had it all with fierce competition between two evenly matched teams.  The tone of the meet was set early with a hotly contested medley relay with Marshall just out-touching the Lady Trojans.  From this point forward, Plainwell trailed the entire meet, unable to catch-up with the fired-up RedHawks.  Despite losing their first meet, the Trojans had many bright spots and stellar performances. 

Notable Performances:

50 Free Kylee King and Casey Keator

Diving Alex Uridge and the undefeated Emily Zimmer.  Sophia Fox is showing improvement.

500 Free Super Sarah Lindenbach qualified for state with a gutsy swim

100 Free Abby McKenzie and Madison Moore good swims

200 Free Relay Riemen, Evans, Vanslambrouck, and Terpstra looked solid

100 Backstroke  Super Sarah Lindenbach reigned supreme again

100 Breaststroke  Lauren VanLent and Marlee Burgess nice job 

It's easy to be a gracious winner and it’s much tougher to be a good “loser”.  We will certainly see what this team is made of in the next couple weeks.  Prediction, the Lady Trojans will settle the score with Marshall at the conference meet.  At least, let’s hope so. 

Special Shout Out-  Coach Murphy.  Thank you for carrying yourself with integrity and class.  You provide a good example for our ladies without outrageous gamesmanship and deckside antics.  I am extremely happy you are our coach.  It isn’t easy, but keep up the good fight.

                      By: Jeff Braginton

September 27, 2016 

                 Plainwell 98  TK/DK/Hastings 88 

Tuesday night’s dual meet with the combined TK/DK/Hastings team brought everything from a Ninja Turtle sighting on the deck to a Burgess birthday breaststroke.  The TK/DK/Hastings team, yes that’s mouthful, brought the Lady Trojans their first major test of the season.  With the outcome uncertain until the final events, the swimmers stepped-up to separate themselves from a deep and talented adversary. 

During the first half of the meet, Plainwell flexed its might with several noteworthy performances.  The medley relay squad posted its second state qualifying time setting the tone for the majority of the meet.  Casey Keator dominated the 50 freestyle by speeding to a sub 27 second time.  The 200 IM also had stellar performances by Sarah Lindenbach and Marlee “Birthday” Burgess.  Which brings us to the diving.  Eleven, yes eleven, divers took the deck to enthrall the near capacity crowd in high drama above the crystalline blue waters of lake P-Well.  Once again, Emily Zimmer did not disappoint with a solid and very important first place finish.  Julia Rhodes also had a noteworthy series of dives for the Plainwell team. 

With excitement building, the Trojans brought their “A” game in the second half of the meet.  The 100 yard freestyle featured team captain Laura Jones smashing the one minute barrier in a close sprint finish.  Gabby Evans also performed well in the exhibition round by defeating the competition by several lengths, nice swim.  Sarah Lindenbach had another state qualifying time in the backstroke; additionally, Tori Vanslambrouck and Colby Hills had solid swims in the event.  With the meet coming down to the wire, the 500 freestyle swimmers entered the pool showing gutsy and inspiring performances by Maddie Betz, Carly Braginton, and Hailee Lamorandier.  Lap counters did a nice job also.  Flip, dip, and shake that sign.  The meet looked in hand after Marlee Burgess and Shanyn Jewell went one and two in the breaststroke.  Both the 200 and 400 free relays swam well with the shorter edition a second short of qualifying for state.  Prediction, next week they qualify. 

Our Lady Trojans were tested and passed with flying colors, blue and white.  However, there are bigger flippers to fry on the horizon with Marshall coming to town.  Bring the family, friends, football team, the mayor, and anyone else to next Tuesday’s October 4th meet.  It will be an epic event!

 Special Shout Out!  Nice work Madison Moore on your varsity 50 free! 

                       By: Jeff Braginton

PLAINWELL 114.5  STURGIS 71.5

Fresh off a big win at home over Harper Creek our Lady Trojans found themselves traveling some 60 miles south taking on Sturgis for what would be our 2^nd conference win in as many weeks. Although the score reflected a convincing win our girls understandably looked tired and a little flat to start the meet. Maybe it was the long bus ride or even the letdown after coming off a big win the previous week? Perhaps the high yardage workouts this time of year are starting to take their toll. Whatever the reason, it was apparent we lacked some energy at the start of this night.  In the end our Lady Trojans fought hard, found a way to come together and ran away with this meet. We saw some character tonight! Good job ladies you’re becoming a team.

After Sturgis won the first relay race of the night Plainwell stormed back with Maddie Betz grabbing the top spot in the 200 free. Hailee Lamorandier took 2^nd while Grace Doerr finished in 6^th.  Shanyn Jewell grabbed 2^nd in the 200IM with Mikah Havenaar and Carly Braginton finishing in 3^rd and 4^th. Cassy Keator won the 50 free with a time of 27.00 flat while Burgess and Varley had a very close battle for 3^rd and 4^th.

In the diving the outcome was in question until Emily Zimmers final dive of the night moved her into the top spot. Alex Uridge took 4^th, Sofia Fox 5^th and Joslyn Miller who dove exhibition scored an impressive 137.60.

Coming out of the diving break Colby Hills, Laura Jones and Naomi DeLaet would take an impressive 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the 100 Fly while Marlee Burgess, Mikah Havenaar and Madison Moore would Place 1,3,4 in the 100 Free.^. Sarah Lindenbach had another very good 500 Free taking 1st. Maddie Bets followed in 2nd and Hailee Lamorandier 4th.  Carly Braginton found herself in 2^nd place at the end of the 100 Backstroke with Colby Hills close by for 3^rd and Tori Vanslambrouck 5^th. One of the closest races of the night came in the 100 Breaststroke with a three way battle for the top spot. The victory would go to Shanyn Jewell with Sarah Lindenbach right behind for 3^rd and Lauren Vanlent 4^th.

Showing some noticeable improvement in both form and speed in the 100 Free event was Kylee King, Abbey McKenzie, Gabby Evans, Sydni Rieman, Addie Terpstra and Julie Widman. Also swimming well in the 50 Free was Kylee King, Addie Terpstra, Ashleigh England, Vallina Encinal Andrea, Bailey Williams and Emma Lindsey. Nice job Ladies!

               PLAINWELL 111 HARPER CEEK 75

On September 13^th our lady Trojans hosted the Harper Creek Beavers in their first conference meet.  Setting the start for the season our girls prepared for what was sure to be a good meet as the beavers are always a tough opponent.

Harper Creek brought some depth but our lady Trojans placed well.  Building team points placing two swimmers in the top 3 spots in most races.  The freshman class is bringing good depth for PHS building stronger and stronger times with each meet.  The same applies for our divers with some good freshman talent adding to our diving group.   As a result the Trojans brought home their first conference win for the season with a score of 111-75 over Harper Creek. 

With this early season showing the ladies are well on their way to reaching individual and team goals.  Some personal best times were recorded by: Maddie Betz, Marlee Burgess, Hailee Lamorandier, Julie Widman and Grace Doerr.  Emily Zimmer edged out a talented Devon Larson of Harper Creek for the top spot in diving with a score of 231.75.  We saw state qualifying times for Sarah Lindenbach in the 100 backstroke (1:03.29) and for the 200 medley relay team of Lindenbach, Burgess, Braginton and Varley (1:59.36)
                           By; Lori Jewell

Welcome to another fantastic season of Plainwell Swim & Dive for 2016

Please come out and show your support as Coach Andrea Murphy leads our Trojan Swim & Dive team to another winning season. For 2016 the Trojans are 34 strong and are led by Seniors Emma Varley, Emily Zimmer, Laura Jones and Andrea Vallina Encinal. Also returning for Plainwell will  be a much deeper, stronger and more experienced Junior and Sophomore class that should pick up where they left off at the end of last season. New to the team this year we are also joined by a very large talented Freshman group that will sure to be valuable contributors all season long and into conference finals...

The Trojan Swim & Dive team has gained some valuable experience in its first two weeks of competition. Kicking off the season we traveled to Harper Creek for a relay meet, hosted Wayland in a scrimmage at home then invited Kalamazoo Central to our first official home dual meet of the season. All three meetings went extremely well. The Freshman got their first taste of high school competition. The Seniors got a change to lead the underclassmen and the Sophomores and Juniors got a chance to knock some cobwebs off and step up in their new roles. All in all a great two weeks that left the Trojans official dual meet record at 1-0. Great Start Ladies!