By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
Brett Schmieden’s victory in the 100 meter butterfly helped the Elkhorn Area High School boys swim team to a 98-72 Southern Lakes Conference dual meet victory Jan. 13 at home against Burlington Co-op.
“That just helped us start getting that momentum and getting us back on track,” Elks coach Jamie Richardson said of Schmieden’s win.
Richardson said Elkhorn trailed by two points at the meet’s break, which comes after the 50 freestyle. In the first even after the break, Schmieden won the 100 butterfly in 1 minute, 9.45 seconds.
Elkhorn’s Jacob Truesdale finished third (1:13.03) and Logan Radlein fourth (1:13.95). Swimmers earn points in a dual meet for finishing no worse than sixth in an event.
Richardson said the Elks’ participants in the 100 freestyle followed the lead of their teammates in the 100 butterfly.
Elkhorn’s William Pyle won the event (1:01.33) and led a 1-2-3 Elks finish. Connor LaFavor finished second (1:05.33) and Hans Brancel third (1:09.77) in a points swing Richardson said was huge for the final score.
Elkhorn won four events against Burlington Co-op, which consists of Burlington, Burlington Catholic Central, East Troy, Union Grove and Waterford high schools. Elkhorn’s Kyle Gorst won the 100 backstroke (1:09.91) and Brenden Finley won the 100 breaststroke (1:15.36).
Gorst dropped 2.7 seconds from his previous best time and finished second (2:11.12) in the 200 freestyle. Burlington’s Luke Herman won in 2:10.10.
Elkhorn is one of the area’s few pools measured in meters. Pro-rated for yards – the competition standard set by the WIAA – Gorst would have broken the two-minute mark.
“That’s kind of significant,” Richardson said. “That’s a fun one to see.”
The Elks’ 200 medley relay of Gorst, Schmieden, Finley and Pyle finished second (2:03.10). Finley finished second in the 200 individual medley (2:39.59) and dropped 1.09 seconds from his previous best time.
Schmieden finished second in the 50 freestyle (28.87) and Eli Burtard finished second in the 400 freestyle (5:00.91).
Elkhorn’s 200 freestyle relay of Radlein, Schmieden, Finley and Burtard finished second (1:54.90), as did the 400 freestyle relay of Brancel, Burtard, LaFavor and Pyle (4:23.32).
The Elks competed Monday against Jefferson/Cambridge in a SLC dual meet at Jefferson. Elkhorn swims Saturday in the Kenosha Bradford Invitational at Kenosha Bradford High School. The Elks are the only WIAA Division 2 team in the field. The remaining schools compete in the WIAA’s Division 1, and are larger.
“You’ve got to compete against the best to be the best,” Richardson said. “You only get better if you’re being pushed and have people to chase.”
