Allegan and St Joe

With the season beginning to wind down over the last few weeks our girls have had to endure some emotional highs and lows. Although our Trojans performed well against Allegan on Oct 14^th things did not go exactly as planned. Allegan was primed, ready and I believe well rested. They had their eyes on a victory this night even if it meant sacrificing some end of the season time drops to do so. Allegan swam well and deserved the win by out touching us in a few key races that ultimately made the difference. Allegan 96 Plainwell 90.

Even though Plainwell came in beat up, sick, and short on numbers gutsy performances were evident everywhere. In the medley relay Ernst, Gauthier, Nyberg and Seiler finished 2^nd.  L. Jones took 2^nd in the 200 free and Abby Ernst came away with 1^st place in the IM. Aaryn Jewell just got touched out in the 50 free finishing in 2^nd and Kim Jones walked away with the top spot in diving. The butterfly event was another close race with Aaryn Jewell grabbing second While Abby Ernst also took 2^nd in the 100 free. Our 200 Free relay team of L Jones, Gauthier, Ernst and Jewell earned a hard fought 1^st and Emma Seiler cruised to 1^st in the 100 back. The breaststroke event was also close with Karlee Gauthier finishing in 2nd and our relay team of Jones, Jewell, Nyberg and Seiler would end the night with a second place showing in the 400 free relay event.

Two days later and coming off a very emotional Allegan meet PHS would take on visiting St. Joe. It would have been easy for our girls to lay down for this strong division two opponent but that’s not who they are and they proved it by reaching deep and performing well all night. When we look back on this season I believe the St Joe meet will be viewed as the meet and win that showed our girls true heart. Well done Trojan Swim & Dive!  Plainwell 100      St. Joe 86

PHS v. St Joe Results

200 Medley: 1^st Ernst,Gauthier,Nyberg,Seiler/ 3^rd Brignall,Sing,Hills,Jones/ 5^th Oaks,Havenaar,Havenaar,Hillmann

200 Free: 2^nd L. Jones/ 4^th V. Klein/ 6^th M. Betz

200 IM: 2^nd A. Ernst/ 4^th A. Singh/ 5^th M. Havenaar

50 Free: 1^st A. Jewell/3^rd E. Seiler/5^th C. Keator/ 7^th K. Havenaar

Diving: 1^st K. Jones/4^th E. Zimmer/6^th J. Clemens

100 Fly: 1^st A. Jewell/3^rd J. Nyberg/5^th C. Hills

100 Free: 2^nd L. Jones/3^rd E. Seiler/4^th K. Oakes

500 Free: 2^nd K. Gauthier/3^rd V. Klein/6^th K. Havenaar

200 F Relay: 2^nd Seiler,Jones,Jewell,Gauthier/3^rd Singh,Keator,Oakes,Klein/5^th Havenaar, Brignal, Havenaar,?

100 Back: 1^st A. Ernst/3^rd J. Nyberg/6^th C. Hills

100 Breast: 3^rd K. Gauthier/4^th A. Singh/5^th M. Havenaar

400 F Relay: 1^st L. Jones, Ernst,Nyberg,Jewell/ 3^rd Keator,Brignall,Oakes,Klein/ 5^th     Havenaar,Betz,Hills,?  

 

 

 

Plainwell vs. Marshall

For those fortunate enough to be in attendance Tuesday night they certainly got more than their money’s worth in entrance fees when Plainwell hosted new conference member Marshall. A rivalry was created on this night that will not soon be forgotten as both teams battled through 12 events on way to the season’s closest finish. The final score would be 97 to 89 with Plainwell edging out Marshall for what was a closer meet than the score indicated. If you were there all you had to do was look to the stands to see this was a close meet. The crowd’s intensity and excitement sure was a sight to see. I can’t help but think it may have in some small way helped our girls reach a little deeper in route to this memorable win.  

It all started early in the first event of the night with the Medley relay team of Jones, Seiler, Ernst and Nyberg just edging out Marshall for first place in a very tight race. In the 200 free Jewell would claim the top spot and Abby Ernst earned 2nd in the IM. The 50 free was a nail biter with Seiler and L. Jones going 1 & 2.  K. Jones took first in diving with a very strong performance while Zimmer grabbed a well-deserved 2nd with a personal best score of 222. Nyberg looked strong in the 100 fly by finishing in 2nd. In the 100 free Jewell just got edged out by .03 seconds to finish in 2^nd. The 500 free proved exciting with Ernst finishing in 1st and Klein digging deep and battling to the end for 2^nd. Seiler would grab the top spot with a state qualifying time in the 100 back and Gauthier would take 2^nd with one of her best times of the year in the 100 breast. With each race being close it would take every last team members best effort and contribution to pull off this important win. Expect Marshall to be looking for payback at the conference finals come November.  Results below…

200 Free: 1^st Jewell, 3^rd Klein, 4^th Gauthier,

200 IM: 1^st Ernst, 5^th Burgess, 6^th M. Havenaar

50 Free: 1^st Seiler, 2^nd Jones, 4^th Varley, 7^th Keator, 8^th Oakes, 9^th K. Havenaar

Diving: 1^st Jones, 2^nd Zimmer, 5^th Clemens

100 Fly: 2^nd Nyberg, 5^th Hills, 6^th Brignall

100 Free: 2^nd Jewell, 4^th Jones, 6^th Burgess, 7^th Keator, 10^th Betz, 11^th Hillmann

500 Free: 1^st Ernst, 2^nd Klein, 6^th K. Havenaar

100 Back: 1^st Seiler, 3^rd Nyberg, 5^th Brignall

100 Breast: 2^nd Gauthier, 5^th Sing, M. Havenaar

 

 

On Sept 23^rd PHS traveled to the unfamiliar Sturgis pool for the inaugural conference matchup. The Sturgis program has a large team and an impressive history of strong swimming. The team size and tradition would not help them on this day as Plainwell’s depth and talent were too much for hosting Sturgis. Final score

Plainwell 124               Sturgis 61 

Juniors and Seniors

At seasons midpoint we are starting to see our junior and senior swimmers come into their own. The week before we witnessed Veronica Klein break that 6 minute barrier with a very strong first place showing in the 500 free. Karlee Gauthier would repeat the feat this week with her own best time of 5:53 in the 500 free against Sturgis for first place. It looks like coach may have just found a couple very strong 500 competitors to take to conference. Also stepping up for the Trojans, Allison Singh and Jessica Nyberg. After missing most of last season with injury Allison has come back with vengeance and is a much stronger swimmer. The end of season will show her true progress while Nyberg continues to perform well in her back and free events. If things continue to progress for her she will be a top candidate for the state relays in November. Kari Havenaar and Kaitlin Oaks have found their niche respectively in the fly and free events and are putting up good times and scoring valuable points. Our senior diver and newcomer Molly Wright continues to improve and should be a factor at conference while Kim Jones continues to be the class of the conference and is sure to be a top contender come state finals at Oakland. Kim also had a very strong showing at the Holland invite taking first place overall. Junior Emma Seiler is splitting time between diving and swimming but has the most impact in her free style events. Emma has caught some visiting coaches by surprise by topping the podium with strong swims in the 50 free. Also representing the junior class well is Abby Ernst who has already qualified for state in the IM and 100 back.  Abby is one of the best backstroke specialists in the conference and will be a top contender at state. Abby continues to rack up valuable first place finishes in all her events along with senior Aaryn Jewell. Aaryn feels at home swimming distance or sprint events and is capable of top finishes where ever coach needs her. The question is will coach have her defend her first place conference title in the 200 free or will she pursue that top spot in the 50 free? Stay tuned for more news. With the bulk of our conference schedule in front of us we are sure to be witness to some top notch performances.

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Plainwell 105, Harper Creek 81

On Sept 16 Plainwell hosted new conference rival Harper Creek in a well anticipated match up. The thought coming in to this matchup was that this would be a close one. It wasn’t necessary which team would take the top finishes in each event (both teams were sure to earn their share) but rather which team would take the 4^th and 5^th place points in those events. This is where coaching, team depth, strategy and the will to win pay off. Our Trojans were up to the challenge and got off to a great start by winning the first five events. They were able to keep that momentum rolling through the 2^nd half of the meet with very strong performances by all-securing the win.

Freshmen and Sophomores

With a hand full of meets under their belts our Freshmen swimmers are starting to settle in. Cassy Keator is posting great freestyle times, Colby Hills backstroke looks great and Mikah Havenaar looks to be a very good IM’er. Marlee Burgess continues to surprise by dropping time every week in all strokes, Maddie Betz stroke looks great and she just may be a 200 specialist while Jaidin Clemens has dove well with good finishes.  Our Sophomores; Kylee Hillmann continues to get stronger and is ready to break out, Jacqueline Brignall’s back and fly look very good and Amelia Patmore’s improved starts and turns are helping her drop time fast. Emily Zimmer continues to dive well, score high and add valuable diving points, Emma Varley has posted some great 50/100 free times and will be fighting for those top relay spots soon while Laura Jones is sprinting well adding points in clutch races where the team needs it.

Highlights:

200 Med Relay: 1^st place: Abby Earnst,Jessica Nyberg,Karlee Gauthier, Laura Jones

                          3^rd place: Colby Hills, Mikah Havenaar, Jaqueline Brignall, Kim Jones

                              5^th Kylee Hillman, Cassy Keator, Maddie Betz, Emma Varley

200 Free: 1^st Aaryn Jewell, 3^rd Veronica Klein,6^th Kari Havenaar

200 IM: 1^st Abby Earnst, 3^rd Karlee Gauthier, 4^th Marlee Burgess

50 Free: 1^st Emma Seiler, 3^rd Laura Jones, 4^th Emma Varley, 7^th Kari Havenaar, 8^th Kylee Hillmann, 9^th Cassy Keator

Diving: 1^st Kim Jones 4^th Emily Zimmer,5^th Jaidin Clemens

100 Fly: 2^nd Jessica Nyberg, 3^rd Colby Hills, 5^th Jaqueline Brignall

100 Free: 1^st Aaryn Jewell, 3^rd Emma Seiler, 4^th Laura Jones,7^th Kaitlin Oakes, 8^th Marlee Burgess, 9^th Mikah Havenaar

500 Free: 1^st Veronica Klein, 5^th Allison Singh, 6^th Maddie Bets

200 F Relay: 1^st Karlee Gauthier, Aaryn Jewell,Emma Seiler, Laura Jones

                       3^rd Emma Varley,Marlee Burgess,Kaitlin Oakes,Veronica Klein

                       5^th Kylee Hillman,Colby Hills,CassyKeator,Maddie Betz

100 Back: 1^st Abby Earnst, 4^th Jessica Nyberg, 6^th Jaqueline Brignall

100 Breast: 2^nd Karlee Gauthier, 3^rd Allison Singh

400 F Relay: 2^nd Marlee Burgess,Colby Hills,Veronica Klein,Kaitlin Oakes

                       4^th Maddie Betz, Cassy Keator,Emma Varley,Kari Havenaar

Plainwell vs Mattawan and Wayland

On Sept 11^th Plainwell Swim & Dive hosted Wayland and Mattawan for its first double dual meet of the season. For those unfamiliar the meet is scored as if two separate meets were run at the same time. Meet one is scored PHS vs Mattawan and Meet two is scored PHS vs Wayland. You do not get a first, second and third place for a three team meet rather a win loss head to head with each team. This can add a whole new dimension to the strategy involved. To further complicate issues all has not been forgot when Plainwell traveled to division 2 Mattawan last year for one of the most exciting meets of the season. The meet was not decided until the last girl touched the wall in the last event of the night. In the end our Trojans narrowly edged out Mattawan by two points for the victory. As you can imagine this year tensions would be high knowing that Mattawan would be looking for payback. This year they would not get their revenge. Our swimmers and divers were ready, performed well and took home the W in both meets.  Great effort by all!                                

Trojans 107   Mattawan 78         

Trojans 142   Wayland 42

1^st Place finishes turned in by:

Kim Jones: Diving 1^st Place           
Aaryn Jewell: 100 and 200 Yd Free 1^st Place
Abby Ernst: 200 IM and 100 Back 1^st Place             
Veronica Klein: 500 Yd Free 1^st Place

 

Welcome to the 2014 Swim & Dive season

The season of change

We are off and swimming to another fabulous season of PHS Women’s Swim & Dive. This season is sure to provide additional excitement along with a much higher level of competition due to the increased number of conference teams in 2014. Sturgis, Harper Creek and Marshall have entered the fray bringing our November 7 & 8 conference finals team count to 8. Also on the schedule this season are 2 invitationals, a relay meet and some very strong non-conference teams.

The 2014 season started with PHS traveling to Harper Creek for a very interesting relay meet. This would be our swimmers/divers first look at this season’s conference competition. Our girls performed well in the pool and on the board by leaving with the win and more importantly an understanding that this season would be a little different. Work needed to be done this year if PHS Swim & Dive was to enjoy the success they have grown accustom to.

Next up was a scrimmage with Kalamazoo Central and trip to South Haven. Both were good opportunities for our younger team members to get some valuable experience. Coach Dubois also utilizes these early meets to move girls around some and test them in different events. I am sure he learned some things about his team while coming away with a well deserved win at Kalamazoo. PHS also took a strong 2^nd at South Haven a few days later. They came up short only to the combined division 1 team of  Bridgeman, Stevensville, Niles and Lake Shore. Not bad in my book!

     2013 SWC Conference Champs!!!

Guest Writer: Rich Vanslambrouck
Photo: Wendy Gauthier

Ranked in the top 10 in the state, the lady Trojans entered the Allegan Aquatic Center for the SWC league championship confident in their abilities, but knowing the outcome was still in doubt.  After all, this was a team who lost 8 all-state competitors.  This was a team that struggled with illness and injuries in the very heart of the season. This was a team with just two seniors for leadership. So, it only stood that this conference championship, if achieved, would be special.

Throughout the season the lady Trojans showed their determination in gutting out victories over very good Division 2 teams and going undefeated in the league for an 11^th straight season. But, Alma brought some great swimmers capable of top podium spots.  Allegan was strong with highly improved divers on the board. And Otsego was as skilled and determined as they have ever been.

So then, did these other teams sense weakness? If so, their senses betrayed them. The lady Trojans left weakness like road kill on M89. The moment they took the deck, it was nothing but a show of strength and depth.  Plainwell brought 2 or 3 contenders in almost every championship event.

Aaryn Jewell was the “Jewel of the Pool” with a qualifying state time for the 50 free in the first leg of the 200 free on Friday. Then Aaryn really took over Saturday with a first place in the 200 free and a third place in the 500 free, both at state qualifying times. Her anchor leg in the 400 free secured another state qualifying time rewarding the efforts of her team mates Laura Jones, Jessica Nyberg and Karalyn VanSlambrouck.

Plainwell flashed their depth in many races with Karlayn VanSlambrouck and Kari Havennaar finishing 5^th and 8^th respectively in the 200 free, behind Aaryn’s first. The 200 IM was similiar with Abby Ernst taking 2^nd, Veronica Klein 5^th and Karlee Gathier 8^th. Laura Jones just out touched her teammate Emma Seiler in the 50 free to a 5th and 6^th position. Kaitlin Oakes soaked up the top of the podium in 9^th spot in the 50 free.

Angel Liceaga took 8^th in the 500 with a very strong 6:11.73. Karalyn Vanslambrouck, after fighting through mono was an unlikely contender in this most grueling event. However, through perseverance, she placed 4^th on the podium to help the Trojan team.

Abby Ernst looked smooth as silk taking first in the 100 backstroke. Jessica Nyberg finished 5^th and freshman surprise Jacqueline (Jax) Brignall finished 7^th. Emma Varley, battling back from illness finished 12^th. Kylee Hillman made a very nice showing in the 100 breast with championship round places by Veronica Klein (3^rd ) and Karlee Gauthier (5^th).

And when it came time for the lady Trojans to flex their muscle on the diving boards, they did it with style. Solid as ever, Kim Jones scored a 508.80 to take first place. Emily Zimmer had some super dives and finished 4^th with 329.50 and Rachel Moore 6^th with 179.50. These two freshman continue to improve under the tutelage of Coach Lyne. They, with returning state champ, Kim Jones are poised to be awesome next year.

And after the computer tallied the numbers, and the inflections of Greg Cornell’s announcements quieted, the scores sunk in.  The Lady Trojans realized with much excitement that they were the champions. And this year, it was special. One will never fully know what hall of fame coach John Duboise thought of this teams possibilities in the face of graduations, illness and injuries, but I suspect he is very pleased with the results. Plainwell is returning 8 girls to the  state.  The team gained strength and did not weaken through the season. They persevered.

Good luck to the seniors and captains, Karalyn VanSlambrouck and Cara Loftus. May the lessons and habits of champions and leaders perfected in four years of Plainwell swimming under coach John Duboise be with you your whole life and in everything you do.

And finally, as the other teams vacated the pool, losing by nearly 100 points at best, were they thinking about the SWC tradition of recognizing the seniors when only these two Plainwell women stepped out in front?  So, what is to come in 2014 must make them nervous. Indeed, for the Plainwell Lady Trojans, the future is bright. And that must be why they wore shades.