By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
Four members of the Elkhorn Area High School girls swim team get to finish their seasons in Madison in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2 State Girls Swimming & Diving Championships.
Paige Murphy in the 100-yard backstroke and Murphy, Rachel Larson, Gabby Pinnow and Anna Manak in the 200 individual medley qualified for state after competing Saturday at sectional meet at New Berlin Eisenhower High School.
The winner of each event at each of four Division 2 sectional meets and the next 12 fastest individuals and relay teams, statewide, advance to the state meet.
The meet begins today and concludes Saturday at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium.
Murphy finished third in the backstroke in 1:00.35, which is more than a second better than her seed time of 1:01.57. Eisenhower’s Maddie Guman won the race (58.66).
“She had a really nice start, and came out really well,” Elks coach Jamie Richardson said of Murphy. “To get your momentum going and hold on for the rest of the race – she was really fast off of the start.”
Murphy, Larson, Pinnow and Manak finished the 200 medley relay in fifth place (1:57.50). Eisenhower won the relay (1:50.36).
“All of them dropped time,” Richardson said. “That’s key. They dropped a little more than 2.5 seconds from their seed time, so that was fantastic.”
Pinnow dropped .62 seconds in the 50 butterfly, Larson dropped .48 seconds in the breaststroke, Manak dropped .23 seconds in the freestyle and Murphy dropped .08 seconds in the backstroke.
Richardson praised Josie Longhorn, in her final competition with the Elks. Longhorn dropped 6.46 seconds from her previous best and finished sixth in the 200 freestyle (2:07.03).
Longhorn finished 12th in the 100 freestyle (58.33) and dropped more than three seconds from her seed time.
“She looked up at the board and could not believe her time,” Richardson said. “Her enthusiasm just made our day. She was just so happy. That’s one of the reasons you coach – to see those moments.”
Emma Olson finished 11th in the 100 freestyle (1:06.64) and gave Richardson the performance she wanted to see all season. Olson dropped more than three seconds from her seed time.
“It was the Emma I’ve been waiting to see all season,” Richardson said. “It was just great to see her drop that time. I knew she could do it all season.”
Emily Kruse finished 24th in the 500 (6:14.50), but dropped five seconds from her seed time and reached her personal goal of finishing each split in less than 39 seconds, Richardson said.
The Elks finished seventh in the sectional’s team standings with 169 points. Whitefish Bay won the team title (317.5). Among Southern Lakes Conference teams Whitewater finished eighth (159.5) and Delavan-Darien finished 13th (36).
