W@W Spartan swimmers do well!

The Spartan Swim & Dive Team had the crowd on their feet in last night’s dual duel. The boys had great races and took first in half of the events, but for the most part had only two entries to their three per event and fell to the Lions 111 to 61. Most of the guys’ team had personal bests in converted times, but John Toll, in his lead-off leg of the 400 free relay added to his qualifications for the State Meet in the 100 free with a converted time of 50.74.  

In a nail-biting, give-and-take, race-for-race, event-by-event competition, the Spartan girls stole the victory from the Lions 93-92. The team worked together famously. Caroline Still and Emma Eisler had some picture-perfect finishes. Annalise Peters, Sarah Kraus, and Katie Witwer kicked it into passing gear like never before. Several individuals, as always, swam some personal bests and tackled first attempts. Many of the swimmers gave their hearts for this one. Coach Melson and Coach K remarked at the effort Lauren Reid made in finishing her first 500; they noted the Spartan heart of Patricia Williams in doing her absolute best to overcome injury, yet the “Spartan of the evening” was Allie Gasway who gutted out a 1:01 100 free split in the 400 free relay, an all-time personal best by 2 full seconds, and a best for this year by 4 seconds, in order for her team to be the victor in the meet. When she entered the water with her opponent almost a half-pool length ahead of her, Gasway just cranked it up and never looked back. It was an awesome way to end the dual meet season for the Spartans. The next meet is the big Metro Meet on Homecoming Day.