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!

2015 State Meet

Dundee was our temporary home while the girls prepared for the competition at the EMU Michael Jones (no relation) natatorium. Plainwell had a nice batch of qualifiers to keep the loyal Trojan fans entertained throughout the weekend. After a grueling day at the pool Friday, the girls still had the energy to escort Coach around Cabela’s before turning in for the night. Saturday we awoke to snow showers which made the drive home both treacherous and long.

Plainwell finished the meet in 16^th place with 44 points. Great team effort! 

Medley Relay placed 12^th

Ernst, Burgess, Nyberg, Jones. Splits 27.82, 34.98, 28.12, 25.98 Time 1:56.90

Diving

Emily Zimmer 19th 216.20

Leah Brady 20^th 210.45

Sarah Shannon 23^th 134.65

Jaidin Clemens qualified but chose to start her wrestling season, great job this year!

100 Freestyle

Abby Ernst 11^th (55.66 prelims) 55.64 Finals

Jessica Nyberg 13^th (56.26 prelims) 56.30 Finals

Jones Friday 36^th 58.05 prelims

200 Freestyle Relay

Nyberg, Keator, Varley, Jones. Splits 26.13, 26.35, 26.22, 26.10 time 1:44.70

100 Backstroke

Abby Ernst 3rd (58.95 prelims) 58.53 Finals

400 Freestyle Relay 13th

Nyberg, Jones, Varley, Ernst. Splits 57.65, 57.65, 57.47, 54.90 Time 4:47.67

Allison Singh and Veronica Klein qualified but did not compete nice job this year ladies!

                   Brian Ernst

          SCMSC All Conference Awards

Abby Ernst- 200MedleyRelay 1^st, 200 Freestyle 4^th, 100 Back 2^nd, 400 Free Relay 1^st

Marlee Burgess- 200 Medley Relay 1^st

Jessica Nyberg- 200MedleyRelay 1^st, 100 Butterfly 4^th, 100 Back 8th, 400 Free Relay 1^st

Laura Jones- 200MedleyRelay 1^st, 50Freestyle 7^th, 100 Freestyle 5th, 400 Free Relay 1^st

Veronica Klein- 500 Freestyle 6^th

Cassy Keator- 50Freestyle 8^th, 100 Freestyle 7th, - 200Freestyle Relay 4^th, 400 Free Relay 1^st

Emily Zimmer- 1 Meter Diving 4th

Leah Brady- 1 Meter Diving 8th

Shanyn Jewell- 100 Butterfly 8^th

Allison Singh- 200 Freestyle Relay 4^th

Emma Varley - 100 Freestyle 8th, 200Freestyle Relay 4^th, 400 Free Relay 1^st

            2015 Conference Meet

Shaved legs and Speed Suits were the style as the girls competed in the 2015 conference meet. Coach had the girls tapered and ready to go as the prelims started on Friday. In the second year of the expanded league everyone knew what to expect from the other teams and the Plainwell team looked confident during the warm ups. Great individual efforts from all of the girls put Plainwell in a great position leading into Saturday. Plainwell pursued Marshall all day, but in the end their depth was just a little too much and Plainwell comfortably took second place. There were many outstanding personal records set on the weekend and they are listed below. 

Medley Relay

Plainwell A (Ernst, Burgess, Nyberg, Jones) placed themselves nicely in 3^rd on Friday and came out swinging on Saturday to take 1^st. Splits 28.34, 34.83, 27.77, 25.85 winning time 1:56.79

Plainwell B (Hills, Singh, Jewell, Lamorandier) placed in 10^th place both days. Splits 32.83, 35.14, 29.84, 27.79, final time of 2:05.54

Plainwell C (McKenzie, DeLaet, Pierce, Hillmann) Placed 17^th on Friday Splits 34.85, 41.09, 35.95, 30.98, final time of 2:22.87

Burgess Friday 13^th, Saturday 14^th (-1.2 drop from seed time)  

200 Freestyle

Ernst Friday 5^th, Saturday 4^th (-.5 drop from seed time)

Klein Friday 9^th, Saturday 9^th (-4.5 drop from seed time)

Havenaar Friday 18^th (-3.21 drop from seed time)

Betz Friday 21^st 

200 Individual Medley

Jewell Friday 9^th, Saturday 9^th (-7.5 drop from seed time)

Burgess Friday 13^th, Saturday 12^th (-1.62 drop from seed time)

Singh Friday 17^th

Moore Friday 23rd (-7.18 drop from seed time) 

50 Freestyle

Keator Friday 7^th, Saturday 8^th (-.99 drop from seed time)

Jones Friday 8^th, Saturday 7^th (-.77 drop from seed time)

Varley Friday 11^th, Saturday 11^th (-.77 drop from seed time)

Widman Friday 21^st (-2.32 drop from seed time)

Pierce Friday 22^st (-.19 drop from seed time)

Hillmann Friday 26^th

McKenzie Friday 27^th 

Evans Friday 29^st (-.46 drop from seed time) 

Diving

 All 4 girls dove on Saturday, great job ladies.

Emily Zimmer 4^th 367.90

Leah Brady 8^th 306.35

Sarah Shannon 9^th 295.45

Jaidin Clemens 10^th 284.30 

100 Butterfly

Nyberg Friday 4^th, Saturday 4^th (-1.55 drop from seed time)

Jewell Friday 7^th, Saturday 8^th (-4.14 drop from seed time)

Hills Friday 9^th, Saturday 10^th (-2.9. drop from seed time)

Pierce Friday 19th (-1.35 drop from seed time) 

100 Freestyle

Jones Friday 3rd, Saturday 5^th (-2.32 drop from seed time)

Keator Friday 7^th, Saturday 7^th (-1.62 drop from seed time)

Varley Friday 7^th, Saturday 8^th (-2.18 drop from seed time)

DeLaet Friday 24th (-1.30 drop from seed time)

Widman Friday 27th (-3.42 drop from seed time)

McKenzie Friday 28^th (-2.42 drop from seed time) 

500 Freestyle

Klein Friday 6^th, Saturday 6^th (-8.87 drop from seed time)

Betz Friday 12^th, Saturday 13^th (-2.28 drop from seed time)

Lamorandier Friday 13^th, Saturday 15^th (-5.35 drop from seed time)

Havenaar Friday 18^th (-8.29 drop from seed time)

Hillmann Friday 23rd (-8.43 drop from seed time) 

200 Freestyle Relay

Plainwell A (Keator, Singh, Varley, Jones) placed themselves nicely in 3^rd on Friday and Saturday took 3rd. Splits 26.77, 27.40, 26.51, 26.16 winning time 1:46.84 Sate qualifying time

Plainwell B (Moore,  Jewell, Burgess, Klein) placed in 9^th place both days. Splits 29.08, 27.53, 28.35, 28.12, final time of 1:53.07

 

Plainwell C (Hillmann, DeLaet, Widman, Evans) Placed 16^th on both days. . Splits 33.26, 29.94, 30.58, 31.99, final time of 2:05.77 

100 Backstroke

Ernst Friday 2nd, Saturday 2^nd 1:00.73

Nyberg Friday 8^th, Saturday 8^th (-1.68 drop from seed time)

Hills Friday 15^th, Saturday 15^th (-3.91. drop from seed time)

Lamorandier Friday 19^th

Moore Friday 20^th 

100 Breaststroke

Singh Friday 16^th, Saturday 12^th (-4 drop from seed time)

DeLaet Friday 22^th (-2.63 drop from seed time)

Evans Friday 26^th 

400 Freestyle Relay

Plainwell A (Nyberg, Varley, Keator, Ernst) placed themselves nicely in 3^rd on Friday and Saturday took 1st. Splits 56.57, 58.92, 58.2, 55.88  winning time 4:04.33 (-14.76drop from seed time) One of the most exciting races of the weekend

Plainwell B (Betz, Havenaar, Lamorandier, Klein) placed in 8^th place both days. Splits 1:04.81, 1:04.22, 1:04.50, 1:01.74, final time of 4:15.27

Plainwell C (Pierce, Evans, Widman, McKenzie) Placed 17^th on Friday. Splits 1:09.66, 1:14.34, 1:10.91, 1:09.63, final time of 4:44.54

 

          Brian Ernst