By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
It turned into a day of impressive individual performances from the Elkhorn Area High School girls swimming team Sept. 20 at the Hononegah Invitational.
Hononegah Community High School, located in Rockton, Ill., played host to the meet. Rockton is near Rockford.
Elks coach Jamie Richardson said no team title is awarded at Hononegah. Competitors can race four times across five individual events, and there are no relays. Points are tabulated and ranked by grade.
Bethany Buikema finished second among seniors. Megan Leahy finished third and Rachel Anderson fourth.
Audrey Earle finished 11th among juniors and Gabby Pinnow finished sixth among sophomores. Sarah Broga finished fourth among Freshmen.
“I like the meet, personally, because typically in a regular meet they only get to swim two individual events,” Richardson said. “Now I get to see them in four individual events and get some good times. That’s very helpful at this time of the season.”
Richardson said the Elks finished with 68 personal best times in the 104 events in which Elkhorn participated.
“I like to celebrate those things as team, because that’s huge, and I think it’s good motivation to continue to work hard,” Richardson said. “They like to see that hard work pay off.”
Broga finished in the top six in each of her events. Broga finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1 minute, 22 seconds and fourth in the 100 butterfly (1:14). Broga finished fifth in the 50 freestyle (29.58) and 100 freestyle (1:06).
Richardson said Pinnow is swimming faster at this point in the season than at the same point last season. Pinnow’s best finish is fifth in the 100 freestyle (1:02).
Richardson also praised Amanda Papenfus, who participated in the freshman meet. Papenfus’s best finish at Hononegah is ninth in the 100 freestyle (1:09).
Buikema won the 100 freestyle (58.80) finished second in the 100 butterfly (1:07), third in the 100 backstroke (1:09) and 50 freestyle (27.51).
Leahy won the 50 freestyle (26.52) and finished third in the 100 breaststroke (1:20) and 100 freestyle (58.89). Leahy finished fourth in the 100 backstroke (1:10).
Anderson won the 100 breaststroke (1:15) and finished fifth in the 50 freestyle (27.98).
Elkhorn competed Tuesday at home in a SLC meet against Burlington Combined.
Up next for the Elks is the Bradford Invitational Saturday at Kenosha Bradford High School. The Elks are one of the few WIAA Division 2 teams in the 12-team field.
“The more we swim against better teams, the better we get,” Richardson said. “You don’t get much out of swimming against weak teams. You’ve got to rise to the occasion.”
