By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School boys swimming team finished near the top of a tough field Jan. 10 at the Connor Burke Relays at Fort Atkinson High School.
The Elks finished third with a team total of 115 points. Fort Atkinson won the meet (147).
Milton finished second (140), Whitewater fourth (110) and Delavan-Darien fifth (89). Watertown finished sixth (80), Jefferson seventh (30), Fort Atkinson B eighth (20) and Milton B ninth (13). Elkhorn’s B team finished 10th (10).
“I think we did well,” Elks coach Jamie Richardson said. “We faced Fort earlier this season, and they’re a tough team and they ended up winning that meet. Milton is always a tough team. I think that’s a good place to finish.”
The Elks lost 104-66 Dec. 2 in a non-conference dual meet at home against Fort Atkinson.
Elkhorn’s Kyle Gorst, Brenden Finley, Brett Schmieden and William Pyle finished third in the 400-yard medley relay in 4 minutes, 9.99 seconds.
Ethan Coffey, Dakota Biefeld, Logan Radlein and Efrain Padilla finished third in the 200 medley freshmen-sophomore relay (2:09.93).
Schmieden, Pyle and Gorst finished third in the 150 yard 25-50-75 freestyle relay (1:18.78) and Truesdale, Schmieden and Radlein finished third in the 150 yard 25-50-75 butterfly relay (1:24.15).
Gorst, Burtard and Pyle finished third in the 450 yard 25-50-75 freestyle relay (4:11.92) and Biefeld, Gorecki and Finley finished third in the 300 yard 50-100-150 breaststroke relay (3:38.92).
Padilla, Biefeld, Coffey and Radlein finished third in the 250 yard 25-50-75-100 freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior relay (2:31.36).
Richardson said Ben Davis in the 100 freestyle dropped 11 seconds between Saturday’s meet and the Elks’ Jan. 6 Southern Lakes Conference dual meet at Whitewater.
“He’s knocking on some varsity doors,” Richardson said. “That’s why I’m excited for him. He’s brand-new to swimming, and it’s one of those where you’re really excited.”
The Elks defeated Whitewater 96-74 on the strength of the depth in their lineup. Elkhorn finished either first, second or first and second in each event.
“We didn’t take last in any race, and that’s huge, too,” Richardson said. “When you finish sixth, you don’t score any points. We talk about that a lot as a team – you have to beat someone, or you don’t score any points.”
