By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School boys swimming team bested several bigger teams Jan. 23 at the Red Devil Swim and Dive Invite at Kenosha Bradford High School and finished fifth out of 15 schools.
The Elks beat Burlington Co-op 92-78 Jan. 18 in a Southern Lakes Conference dual meet at Burlington.
Elkhorn competed in a SLC meet Tuesday at home on Senior Night against Jefferson/Cambridge. The Elks swim Saturday in the Racine Invitational at Park High School in Racine.
“I think we swam really well,” Jamie Richardson said of the Red Devil. “We had a lot of good, personal bests for the day. I think our B relays really swam well – they dropped a lot of time, which is always the right direction.”
Richardson said it is a good sign when B relays are dropping time and scoring points in large meets. The Elks scored 332 points in the Red Devil. Greenfield/Greendale/Pius XI won the meet (433). Badger, the only other SLC team in the field, finished third (393).
Swimmers earned medals through sixth place at the Red Devil. Brevin Kruse finished third in the 100-yard backstroke in 1 minute, 1.60 seconds for the Elks’ best individual finish.
“The 100 backstroke is kind of his bread and butter stroke,” Richardson said. “He was just on point.”
Logan Radlein finished fifth in the 200 individual medley in 2:15.78 and dropped 3.52 seconds for a lifetime-best time.
Radlein led a strong Elks contingent in the individual medley. Kruse finished 10th (2:24.21) and dropped 3.177 seconds. Dakota Bliefeld finished 14th (2:27.47) and dropped 8.54 seconds. Justin Pflanzer finished 25th (2:57.57) and dropped four seconds.
“It was a really fun race to watch,” said Richardson, who said the Elks got more and more pumped as their teammates dropped time.
Brett Schmieden, Connor LaFavor, Logan Radlein and William Pyle finished sixth in the 200freestyle relay (1:41.31) and Kailb Gorecki finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.04).
LaFavor, Kruse, Jacob Truesdale and Radlein finished seventh in the 400 freestyle relay (3:51.42). Schmieden finished eighth in the 50 freestyle (24.64) and dropped .18 seconds. Radlein finished ninth in the 100 butterfly (1:01.47).
Derek Gauger finished ninth in the 100 backstroke in a high school-best time of 1:06.67 and dropped 1.78 seconds. Noak Barkes finished 16th in the 500 (6:07.87) and dropped 4.26 seconds.
The Elks won just four events and used their depth to swim to victory against Burlington Co-op.
“Our depth came through,” Richardson said. “It was a close meet. It was tied at the break.”
Gorecki won the 100 breaststroke (1:19.11) and Kruse won the 100 backstroke (1:09.22). Schmieden won the 50 freestyle (28.07) and swam with Radlein, Ben Davis and LaFavor on Elkhorn’s first-place 200 freestyle relay (1:55.35).
Richardson said the Elks finished second, third and fourth in the 400 freestyle relay, which provided a huge amount of points that helped the Elks’ cause.
Following that the Elks won the 200 freestyle relay and finished well in the backstroke and breaststroke to seal the victory.
