Dolphins carry quality over quantity into Conference
A half dozen members of the Wisconsin Dells Dolphins Swim Team claimed conference championships at the Tri-County Conference Championship meet held recently at the indoor pool in Baraboo. Actually, four members - Caleb Fedewa, Nick Schwantz, Brock Temple and Christopher Gantz shared one as members of the team's 13-14-Year-Old-Boys Free Relay squad. The foursome completed the event in 1:47.96, touching the wall nearly three seconds in front of second place Cross Plains, the team that won the meet. Two other team members: Katie Coughlin in the 11-12-Year-Old Girls 50 Meter Backstroke and Stacey Swatek in the 13-14-Year-Old Girls 50m Breaststroke, picked up Individual conference championships. As a team, it was a good news, bad news day for the locals. The good news - its 856 point total was more than 100 better than the same meet in 2007. However, it appears everyone improved this past year and the Dolphins actually dropped slightly, from seventh to eighth in overall team rankings Competitors started the two day event, only the top competitors returning Sunday for 'A' and 'B' Finals. Following is a closer look at the finalists from the Wisconsin Dells Dolphins in each division. 8 and Under Girls Claire Nate was the team's lone 'A' Finalist, swimming to a third place overall finish in the 25m breast in 22.69 seconds, less than one second behind the race winner. Nate also competed in the 'B' Final of the 25m Butterfly, finishing fifth in 24.06 seconds, just over two seconds and two spots in front of seventh place teammate Ella Schwantz. Cheyenne Marston and Jamie Pfeiffer cleared a path for each other in the Freestyle finals. In the 25m 'B' Final, Marston finished fourth in 19.09 seconds with Pfeifer right behind her in 19.84 seconds. They traded places in the 50m version of the same stroke, Pfeifer touching the wall fifth in the 'B' Final in 45.03 and Marston next in 45.87. Schwantz took fifth in the 25m Backstroke 'B' Final in 23.96 seconds while the 25m Breast 'B' Event featured a pair of Dells competitors, Lauren Myklebust second in 24.42 seconds and Grace Myklebust eighth in 30.82. Relay teams fared well, Schwantz, Lauren Myklebust, Nate, and Pfeifer grabbing seventh spot overall in the Medley Relay (1:32.42) while Marston, Schwantz, Nate and Pfeifer teamed up for a solid fourth place showing in the Free Relay in 1:21.30. Another Dolphin's team, made up of Tasha Sosinsky, Lauren Myklebust, Grace Myklebust and Addie Platt finished 15th overall in the same event in 1:56.82. 8 and Under Boys Kevin Coughlin had a busy and ultimately, successful weekend for the Dolphins, competing in two individual events and playing a part in both relays as well. The lone 'A' Finalist in the division for the Dolphins, Coughlin finished sixth in the 'A' Final of the 25m Fly in 23.48. The Dolphins picked up double honors in the event, Chester Isaacson 9-10-Year-Old Girls Ivy Fedewa led this division for the Dolphins with two individual final swims and played part in a relay as well. The team's lone 'A' Final result came in the 50m Breast where Fedewa finished fifth overall in 45.29 seconds and she added a third place showing in the 100m Individual Medley 'B' Final in 1:35.42. Ashley Cook was the only other Individual finalist, returning the second day for a solid seventh place showing in the 100m Freestyle in 1:28.63. In relays, the team of Fedewa, Cook, Valerie Scoville and Jenna Fisher ranked 10th in the Free Relay with a time of 2:42.37. The Medley Relay team of Gabby Christensen, Scoville, Fisher and Cook ranked 12th in 3:15.72. 11-12-Year-Old Girls Coughlin picked up a first and second place showing in a couple of the weekend's closer finishes. In the 'A' Final of the 50m Back, Coughlin hit the wall in 31.91 seconds, just 3/100 of a tick in front of second place finisher Karley Licking from Cross Plains and picked up a conference championship with the result. The Dells' squad swept the event's top results as Jessica Myklebust added a first place finish in the 'B' final with her time of 36.82. Later, in the 50m Fly 'A' Final, Coughlin was in another close finish, this time ranked second, just under a half second behind race winner Samantha Andryk, another Cross Plains competitor. The Dolphins were also represented in the 'A' Finals by Nikki Ripp who wrapped up a seventh place showing in the 50m Breast in 39.82 seconds. She added a second place finish in the 100m Free 'B' Final in 1:10.10. Carly Pfeifer had some nice results as well, finishing second in the 100m IM 'B' Final in 1:23.51 and third in the 50m Free 'B' Final in 32.48. Samantha Scoville was just over a half second behind Pfeifer in the 50m Free, placing seventh and added an eighth place showing in the 50m Breast 'B' final in 44.11 seconds. Faith Bristow, Becca Frederiksen, Kylee Temple and Naomie Gammeter represented the team in the Medley Relay with a 12th place finish. Redemption came in the Free Relay for Myklebust, Coughlin, Ripp and Pfeifer, their time of 2:05.75 good enough for third spot overall. Gammeter, Tierney Ison, Faith Bristow and Frederiksen finished 12th overall in 2:38.46. 11-12-Year-Old Boys It was the same old story in this division, the Dolphins represented by quality rather than quantity. Max Obois has grown accustomed to being the team's lone representative in the age group and he added three solid 'B' Final showings in Baraboo. He won the 'B' Final of the 50m Free in 30.10, a tie that would have ranked him among the 'A' Division finalists. In the 50m Back he was third in the 'B' Final in 38.50 and he added a fifth place showing in the 100m IM in 1:24.85. 13-14-Year-Old-Girls Like the 11-12-Year-Old Boys, this division has some of the conference's best results, but not enough members to put together relays - although they did recruit a younger swimmer to help them in the Free Relay. Stacey Swatek picked up a conference championship title in the 50m Breast, touching the wall in 32.86 seconds, giving her a margin of just under a second on Baraboo's Gemm Pillsbury. Cassie Stowers was the team's only other representative in individual events in the division, her and Swatek combining for four 'A' Final appearances. Swatek added a third place showing in the 100m IM 'A' Final in 1:07.99 and was sixth in the 50 Free 'A' final in 27.53 while Stowers' best result was a solid fifth place showing in the 50m Back 'A' final in 32.47. Stowers picked up a sixth place finish in the 50m Free 'B' Final and an eighth place finish in the 100m IM 'B' event. One other rep, Sarah Bristow joined the pair along with 12-year-old Samantha Scoville to swim in the 200m Free Relay, finishing ninth as a team in 2:06.52. 13-14-Year-Old Boys. This division has probably been the team's most dominant this season and nothing changed at the Conference meet where six team members combined to swim in 15 finals, nine of them 'A' Finals and also brought home a conference championship crown in the Free Relay. Nick Schwantz, Brock Temple, Christopher Gantz and Caleb Fedewa made up the Free Relay team which took the Free Relay title in 1:47.96 and owned a somewhat comfortable margin of almost three seconds at the end over second place Cross Plains. Temple, Delmore, Fedewa and Gantz also wrapped up a podium spot in the Medley Relay, taking third in 2:02.19 while a second team made up of 12-Year-Old Max Obois, his nine-year-old brother Hans, Cody Marthaler and Hunter Christensen added a seventh place showing in the same event. Individually, Delmore, had the best result with a third place finish in the 50m Breast 'A' Final in 33.55 seconds, then added a fifth (50m Free - 30.38) and sixth (100m IM - 1:21.14) in 'B' Finals. While a third was the best result, Nick Schwantz had the most consistently good weekend, swimming in three 'A' Finals. He finished fifth in both the 100m IM (1:08.97)) and 50m Fly (30.74) and added a sixth place showing in the 50m Breast (35.65). Gantz and Fedewa also swam in a pair of 'A' Finals, Gantz taking fourth in the 50m Free (28.89) and fifth in the 200m Free (2:15.28) while Fedewa was seventh in both the 100m IM (1:09.48) and 50m Fly (31.18). Brock Temple was fourth in he 50m Back 'A' Final in 32.05 and added another fourth in the 50m Breast 'B' Final in 37.55. Kelby Freel rounded out the list with a trio of solid 'B' Final showings. His best was a fifth in 50m Back (41.60) while he added a seventh in the 50m Free (32.42) and eighth in 200m Free (2:51.42). 15-18-Year-Old-Girls It was a bittersweet weekend for Eva Clemens, the team's lone graduating 18-year-old, but she wrapped up her Dolphins-era in style, grabbing a couple of third place individual finishes and helping both the Medley and Free Relays to strong showings. Clemens touched the wall third in the 'A' Final of the 50m Free in 25.68 seconds and added a third place 'B' Final finish in the 50m Fly in 30.01. In the Medley Relay, Clemens teamed up with Alyssa Dorow, Abbi Delmore and Carley Heller, swimming anchor on a fourth place team (2:00.69). The Free Relay saw Clemens joined by Dorow, Heller and Nicole Gantz as the foursome finished sixth in 1:49.34. Another Free Relay team made up of Karin Clemens, Katie Gnadt, Jennifer Schroeder and Abbi Delmore finished 13th in 2:00.43. Dorow also wrapped up a top five showing for the team, finishing fifth in the 50m Back 'A' final in 30.33 seconds and also picked up a 1st place 'B' Final finish in the 100m IM in 1:08.43. Delmore also collected a win in the 'B' Final 50m Breast in 35.86 while adding a seventh place 'B' Final finish in the 100m IM in 1:14.34. Heller took sixth in the 50m Free 'B' Final (28.18) while Gantz was seventh in the 50m Back 'B' Final (34.56) and eighth in the 200m Free 'B' Final and Jennifer Schroeder took eighth in the 50m Breast 'B' Final in 37.81. 15-18-Year-Old-Boys Devin Winnes and Chad Marthaler both picked up individual results and a pair of relay teams scored for the Dolphins as well. Marthaler finished 7th in the 200m Free 'B' Final in 2:33.89 while Winnes was eighth in the 100m IM 'B' Final in 1:21.58. Both Marthaler and Winnes took part in the relays as well, joined in the Medley event by 14-Year-Old Kelby Freel and Albert Gnadt and taking 11th in 2:28.93. In the Free Relay, 13-Year-Old Cody Marthaler joined older brother Chad, Winnes and Gnadt in a 10th place finish taking 2:10.53. also grabbed fourth in the 'B' Final in 29.50. Coughlin was also seventh in the 25m Breast 'B' Final in 34.30. In the Free Relay, Coughlin and Isaacson were joined by Justin Fisher and Jordan Alexander, placing eighth overall in 1:41.18.