By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
Much like complaining about shoveling or breaking your ice scraper, the Elkhorn Area High School boys swimming team winning the Southern Lakes Conference Relays is becoming an early winter rite of passage.
The Elks won the SLC Relays for the fifth consecutive season Dec. 4 at Whitewater High School. The Elks finished with a team total of 426 points.
Badger Combined finished second (378), Burlington Combined third (320) and Jefferson fourth (318). Delavan-Darien finished fifth (308) and Platteville/Lancaster sixth (252).
“I truly think it was a team effort,” Elks coach Jamie Richardson said. “Both our “A” and “B” teams came though.”
The Elks started hot by finishing first and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay, which Richardson said help set the tone for meet.
Kyle Gorst, Eli Burtard, Brett Schmieden and William Pyle won in 1 minute, 40.26 seconds and Connor LaFavor, Hans Brancel, Dakota Biefeld and Phillip Meersman finished fourth (1:51.88).
The 400 individual medley relay of Brenden Finley, Jacob Truesdale, Pyle and Logan Radlein followed with another win, this time in 4:27.35.
“It helped a snowball effect happen,” Richardson said. “We got ourselves on kind of a roll and it just kept going.”
The Elks finished with 27 personal best times in various legs of the relays. Richardson said such a feat in a week with three meets is “awesome.”
Elkhorn finished with 51 personal bests and placed fifth as a team Dec. 6 in the Cougar Relays at Janesville Craig High School.
Elkhorn’s “A” team finished with 106 points. Greenfield/Greendale/Pius won with 172.
