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Girls Varsity Swimming 2008

2008 CAAC Blue Championship
A very strong conference meet was concluded on Saturday night with our Comets racing to a second place finish both in the meet and overall in the CAAC Blue. There were many terrific performances on both days so I will do my best to mention as many as possible. The biggest accomplishment of the weekend to me was the fact that our girls were able to take all 36 entries in the meet and send them all to swimming or diving on Saturday. Last year we had 35 out of 36 and this year we were able to breakthrough and accomplish that very team oriented goal.

The 200 Medley Relay team of Kassie Briggs, Lydia Kramer, Hillary Albert and Olivia McCormick swam to a 3rd place finish to get things going for our girls and proved to be an early sign of the fast swimming to come. Michelle Pitchford had a very strong showing at this meet as she was able to swim to two 3rd place finishes in the 200 Free and 100 Back respecitvely. Elizabeth Sullivan and Lydia Kramer both closed out their final conference meets with strong efforts as Elizabeth captured 4th place in both the 500 Free and 50 Free while Lydia swam to a pair of 6th place finishes in the 200 IM and 100 Breaststoke. Morgan Lowery and Olivia McCormick swam the same events and each recorded strong finishes that aided the team effort as they swam to Top 12 finishes in both the 50 and 100 Freestyle events. Another strong contributor was Hillary Albert as she placed 6th in the 200 Free and 3rd in the 100 Butterfly, just a few tenths from her first ever individual state cut. Erika Miller, Monica Pomaville and Kayla Bedaine each placed into the Top 16 of the 100 Butterfly while Erika and Monica did the same in the 100 Backstroke as well. Lauren Stensen and Lindsay Brown both showed that they are a force to be reckoned with in the future as both made their first appearances in the championship finals in their first ever conference meet. Our 500 swimmers really showed up well as Allison Rehagen was able to swim to a lifetime best in taking 8th in the 200 Free and 5th in the 500 Free. Also in the 500 Free Jennie Brown swam to a lifetime best of 6:00.57, Kenzie Gatewood placed 12th in lifetime best form and Dayle McLeod took full advantage of her first ever individual conference swim as she placed 12th and knocked 12 seconds off her lifetime best in the process. Onahlea Price and Kassie Briggs followed up their strong freshman seasons with even more successful sophomore campaigns as both were able to place in the top 16 in two events.

Our 4 divers did an outstanding job this weekend as they were able to finish very highly and produce a lot of points for the team. Leading the way was Dana McNeil who finished in 5th place with a score of 305.20 and she was followed by Beth Engel in 9th, Harmony McDonald in 10th and Sarah Pawlak in 12th in her debut at the conference meet. The divers certainly did a great job all season and Harmony, Dana and Beth all have regionals to look forward to.

On the state cut front our girls were able to swim to 4 more state cuts for the season in the 200 Freestyle Relay, 400 Freestyle Relay and the 200 IM and 100 Breaststroke. The team of Morgan Lowery, Michelle Pitchford, Elizabeth Sullivan and Katie Simon swam to an impressive 1:44.62 in the 200 Freestyle Relay and after subbing Olivia McCormick for Morgan in the 400 Free Relay the girls were able to swim to our 2nd relay cut of the weekend while placing 3rd in the 400 Free Relay. Individually Katie Simon lost a very tight race in the 200 IM but was able to lower her existing school record in the event. She saved her best for last as she sprinted to a convincing victory in the 100 Breaststroke and set a school record in the process. Her time of 1:07.95 obliterated the previous school record set in 1989.

Congrats to all on a fine meet and we look forward to our efforts at 2nd shave on Tuesday, followed by diving regionals and the culmination of our season at the Division 1 State Meet at Eastern Michigan University in 2 weeks.

GL vs. Jackson
Our young ladies saved their strongest performance of the season for the final dual meet of the year vs the Jackson Vikings. It was senior night and the seniors certainly shined the brightest as seniors were involved in all 12 Grand Ledge event wins. This win pushes our final dual meet record to 9-1 and 5-1 in the CAAC Blue. I am very impressed with the girls efforts this season.  A 9-1 record is soemthing for every swimmer to be proud of. 

In a meet that was closer than the final score reflected the difference was our senior poise and leadership. Getting things going for the evening was the Medley Relay team of senior Morgan Lowery, senior Katie Simon, junior Hillary Albert and senior Michelle Pitchford as they captured a win and started the avalanche that was to come. The 200 Freestyle saw a great swim and season best from senior Elizabeth Sullivan. Elizabeth's finish and length was able to capture the win by less that 1 tenth of a second. In the 200 IM Katie Simon and senior Lydia Kramer teamed with freshman Lindsay Brown to take 1st, 3rd and 5th in the event. The 50 Free featured Morgan Lowery taking 1st with a very solid time. Really stealing the show for the night were the divers. They were led by, you guessed it, senior Dana McNeil as she dove her way to a victory and the 9th best 6 dive score in GL history. Joining in the fun was our other three divers, Beth and Harmony each had lifetime best scores and Sarah was 2 points away from her best score as well. Congratulations also goes out to Dana, Harmony and Beth for their qualification for the Regional Diving Meet later this season.

After the divers impressive performance Katie and Hillary took first and second in the 100 Fly and then were matched in the 100 Free by Michelle and Morgan as they went 1-2 as well. The 500 Free saw three strong performances from Jennie Brown, Allison Rehagen and Elizabeth Sullivan, with Elizabeth taking the win. The team of Morgan, Olivia McCormick, Lydia and Elizabeth won the 200 Freestyle Relay while Michelle and Lydia won the 100 Back and 100 Breast respectively. Onahlea Price and Lindsay also chimed in in the Breaststroke as they completed the 1-2-3 sweep of the event. The final event of the evening went to Katie, Olivia, Michelle and Elizabeth in the 400 Free Relay to complete the sweep of events. Also putting together a great relay was our 'B' 200 Freestyle Relay of Monica Pomaville, Kenzie Gatewood, Erika Miller and Lindsay Brown.

Congrats to all the seniors on their tremendous careers and on an outstanding effort in their final dual meet. Morgan Lowery, Elizabeth Sullivan, Jennie Brown, Hannah Wiese, Michelle Pitchford, Dayle McLeod, Erika Miller, Monica Pomaville, Allison Rehagen, Lydia Kramer, Dana McNeil and Katie Simon have all contributed greatly to this program and for that we are all grateful.  Each of these seniors will be missed. 

GL vs. Everett
We had some great swims tonight from a number of our girls.  Congrats to our breaststrokers who, in some cases, swam almost two full breaststroke races... and in a first for me, a dual meet ended with the 100 breaststroke and not the 400 freestyle relay. We had best times throughout our victory over a much improved Everett team this evening. With the 138-42 win our dual meet record was pushed to 8-1 with our meet next Thursday against Jackson being our final tune up before the conference meet.

Getting the lifetime best parade going was all four of our 200 IM swimmers. Michelle Pitchford took the victory while Dayle McLeod, Hannah Wiese and Jastin Brewer all registered lifetime bests. Meanwhile Kayla Bedaine and Lauren Stensen registered lifetime best swims in the 200 Freestyle. Next Kassie Briggs grabbed a win and lifetime best in the 100 Fly by 6 seconds and Onahlea Price and Lindsay Brown both registered best times in the 100 Free. Peri McLeod knocked 16 seconds off her best 500 Free time and Elizabeth Sullivan swam to a best in the 100 Backstroke. The breaststroke provided even more best swims with Erika Miller and Kayla Bedaine getting best times and Morgan Lowery took the victory.

Very nice effort tonight. Time to get excited about Senior Night and our last dual meet of the season against a very tough Jackson team.
 

Congrats to the following girls who made the Swimming honor-roll in the LSJ today.  They were Michelle Pitchford, Katie Simon, Hillary Albert, Elizabeth Sullivan, Bethany Engel, Dana McNeil, Olivia McCormick and Kassie Briggs. 

GL vs. Eaton Rapids
The girls added another "w" to our record tonight, improving our season dual meet record to 7-1.  Junior Olivia McCormick led the way with two victories as the Comets won the meet 135-49.

 
Our Divers had an impressive night with Dana McNeil hitting her last dive to take a three point lead over Christina Gearhart from Eaton Rapids.  Dana finished with a lifetime high score of 182.90.  Divers Harmony McDonald and Sarah Pawlak also had their best scores, 160.60 and 130.05 respectively.  Beth Engel finished in 3rd place with a solid score of 170.90. 
 
Olivia won both the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke.  After taking more than a month off of swimming the breaststroke she swam a fast 1:20.89. Lindsay Brown continued her streak of strong dual meets. She swam to a third place in the 200 freestyle with a lifetime best time of 2:16.61.  Lindsay just missed winning her first high school event with another fast swim, and best time, in the 100 butterfly.  Ona Price also had a  huge time drop, swimming to a 6:34.20 in the 500 freestyle.  She showed far more excitement after finishing with a 50 second time drop than she did when she found out she was swimming the 500 :-)  Erika Miller picked up a win in the 50 freestyle and also swam to a lifetime best in her 50 freestyle relay split swimming to a 29.36.  Seniors Katie Simon and Michelle Pitchford battled twice on the night, in the 50 freestyle and 500 freestyle.  Michelle picked up two best times, 26.40 in the 50 and 5:42.51 in the 500. Katie added to our best time count for the night by winning the 500 with a time of 5:39.99.  Freshman Peri McLeod added two more best times swimming a 1:35.12 in the 100 breaststroke and a 3:01.49 in the 200 IM. 
 
Kenzie Gatewood, also having a strong night, picked up a win in the 100 backstroke.  And all three Comet relays also picked up wins. The 200 Medley Relay of Kassie Briggs, Lydia Kramer, Simon and Pitchford, the 200 Freestyle Relay of Allison Rehagen, Elizabeth Sullivan, Monica Pomaville and Erika Miller, and the 400 freestyle Relay of Lindsay Brown, Rehagen, Hillary Albert and Sullivan.  Congrats on a strong meet ladies!
 
The girls will next be in action on Thursday at Hill swimming against Lansing Everett.  Our group of twelve seniors are down to their final two dual meets.

GL vs. Holt
We called for a team effort on Thursday night and we received just that as our depth, from top to bottom, was too much for the hosts to overcome. With our 103-83 victory over Holt the girls secured their place in Grand Ledge Swimming lore as the first team in at least 3 decades to defeat the Rams.

Pacing our effort was our seniors starting with Michelle Pitchford and Katie Simon. These two '07 Dream Teamers lived up to the hype as Michelle captured the 200 Free and won the 100 Free in state cut time. Katie countered with a near state cut swim in the 200 IM (2:18.47) and a victory, lifetime best and state cut in the 100 Breast (1:10.56). Also getting in the act was Elizabeth Sullivan and Lydia Kramer. Elizabeth swam to a lifetime best unshaved in the 200 Free and Lydia recorded a season best while snagging 2nd in the 200 IM. Erika Miller and Allison Rehagen also showed great senior power as Allison registered best unshaved swims in both the 200 and 500 Free and Erika had a best unshaved in the 100 Back. Finally Morgan Lowery may have come up with the swim of the evening by snaring 3rd in the 50 Free to avoid a Holt sweep.

The diving portion of the meet went very well and was extremlely competitive. In the end Beth and Dana were able to secure 3rd and 4th, while Harmony logged a lifetime best score of 153.75. Kassie Briggs and Lindsay Brown both had career nights as they both swam to two individual lifetime best swims in the 50 Free and 100 Back for Kassie and 200 IM and 100 Breast for Lindsay. Hillary Albert claimed a victory in the 100 Butterfly and Kenzie Gatewood showed a lot of grit and determination fo swim this evening. Kenzie spent the morning in the ER and spent the afternoon anchoring three of our B relays and claiming a big 5th place in the 100 Free. Kayla Bedaine also swam to a best unshaved in the 100 Fly and Monica Pomaville had a very nice meet in the 100 Fly and 100 Free.

GL vs. Lansing Eastern
Our girls had a great meet tonight.  Very impressive swims... and our team's atmosphere of support for each swim was great to be a part of.  The girls move to 5-1 on the seeason with the 140-37 victory over Lansing Eastern.  We recorded 30 lifetime bests and won 11 of the 12 events. 


The stars of the meet emerged in the form of sophomore Kassie Briggs and Junior Olivia McCormick. Kassie swam to lifetime best swims in the 200 Free by 4 seconds and the 500 Free by a staggering 44 seconds! Her time of 6:02.52 is a resounding sign that she is more than just a backstroker. Joining her in that race and dropping significant time as well was McCormick who dropped 16 seconds in her 500 Free to 6:03.59. She then turned around and anchored our stated qualifying 200 Freestyle Relay. That relay, made up of Olivia, Katie Simon, Elizabeth Sullivan and Michelle Pitchford, recorded a very fast 1:46.04. Lauren Stensen showed how high her potential could be with a blistering 1:11.27 in the 100 Butterfly. Onahlea Price had a pair of huge drops in the 100 Back and 200 Free tonight as she contiues her move to being an all-around solid swimmer.

Possibly stealing the show tonight was junior Beth Engel. Beth had a breakout performance in recording a lifetime best 6 dive score of 185.05. Harmony McDonald and Sarah Pawlak also represented well with Harmony showing her potential with one of the best inward dives you'll see this season.

The event winners for the night: 200 Medley Relay of Hillary Albert, Kayla Bedaine, Kenzie Gatewood and Jennie Brown, 200 and 500 free for Kassie Briggs, Kenzie in the 50 Free, Lauren Stensen in the 100 Butterfly, Dayle McLeod in the 100 Free, Allison Rehagen in the 100 Backstroke, Hillary in the 100 Breaststroke and the 400 Freestyle Relay team of Jennie Brown, Lindsay Brown, Kassie Briggs and Onahlea Price.

GL at Haslett Invite
The Senior Class made it 3 out of 4 titles at the Haslett Invite this weekend. Our young ladies were able to swim and diver their way to a convincing 162 point victory over second place Haslett and a total of 539 points. Swimmer of the Meet honors went to both Haslett Star Tiffany Orrichio and our own Katie Simon who was victorious in the 200 Medley Relay, 200 IM, 100 Fly and 400 Free Relay.

Leading the way in this meet along with Katie was fellow senior Jennie Brown. Jennie blazed her way to a tremendous 500 Free at 6:07.07 and a lifetime best of 2:20.29 in the 200 Free. Also having a very strong meet was Michelle Pitchford. Michelle had best unshaved swims in both the 200 Free and 100 Back as she placed 2nd in both events. Katie and Michelle teamed with Lydia Kramer and Elizabeth Sullivan to capture the 200 Medley Relay and then with Elizabeth and Olivia McCormick to win the 400 Free Relay. The 400 Free Relay time of 3:52.63 is a season best and best unshaved under Coach Marsh. Congrats to Olivia for her lifetime best in the 50 Free and he best unshaved swim of 59.85 in the 100 Free on the 400 Free Relay. Our divers had a great performance in the way of 4 lifetime best 11 Dive performances. I know Coach Kyle came away very pleased with those performances and everyone else enjoyed Harmony and Beth's performance on the 200 Free Relay.

Annika Van Wieren and Jastin Brewer both grabbed lifetime best swims in the 200 IM and 50 Free respectively. Dayle McLeod and Alyssa Miller highlighted the 200 Free by both swimming to lifetime best times. Meanwhile Onahlea Price registered a very impressive 36.42 on her Breaststroke leg of the 200 Medley Relay. For the meet we had 29 medal earning swims and 41 point earning swims with one mysterious DQ credited to Kassie Briggs in her 4th place worthy 100 Backstroke.

Great job by all and congratulations on our 2nd Invitational win this season. Next up for the team is the Lansing Eastern Quakers next Thursday. 

GL vs. East Lansing
The girls got back to their winning ways this evening in impressive fashion over a young East Lansing team 141-45. There were plenty of great races and our girls continued their hot week of swimming and really competed well.

Junior Kayla Bedaine had a standout performance as she swam to a blistering lifetime best time of 1:07.93 and knocked more than 2 seconds off of her previous best. Hero award of the meet would have go to freshman Alyssa Miller for her fine efforts in the 200 IM and 500 Free. She competed very strongly and received two lifetime best times for her troubles. Junior Hillary Albert nabbed a victory in the 100 Freestyle in lifetime best fashion while Monica Pomaville splashed onto the scene as a legitimate butterflyer. Taking the plunge in the 500 Free tonight was Lauren Stenson who had a very evenly paced raced and recorded a best time of 6:42.87. Allison Rehagen swam her way to her first win of the season in the 200 IM and Michelle Pitchford raced to two victories herself in the 500 Free and 100 Breast. Sophomore Annika Van Wieren showed impressive fight in recording a lifetime best and applying the lessons learned from Wednesday's finishing drills in her 200 Free 5th place finish. Lindsey Brown and Kassie Briggs swapped favorite events and each recorded a lifetime best in the others specialty the Back and Breast. Finally Lydia Kramer raced to a win in the 200 Freestyle and Katie Simon came away victorious in both the 50 Free and 100 Backstroke.

Great job to all the girls on a great night of fast swimming. Next up our seniors try to make it 3 out of 4 years as champions of the Haslett Invite. This meet always provides fast swimming and lots of excitement.

GL vs. Okemos
A very hotly contested meet tonight resulted in our girls first blemish of the season as we succumbed to Okemos 66-120. Great swims were abundant for both teams on this evening in the marquee meet of the season in the CAAC Blue.

Leading the way for our girls and registering our lone event win for the night was senior captain Katie Simon who swam to a lifetime best and state qualifying time of 1:11.22 in the 100 Breast. Katie matched that state cut earlier in the meet with a lifetime best unshaved of 1:02.32 in the 100 Butterfly. Also having a big night was senior captain Elizabeth Sullivan. Elizabeth came away with 3 unshaved lifetime best swims in the 200 Free, 500 Free and 100 Free respectively. Senior Erika Miller had her best meet of the season as she blazed her way to a 1:13.48 100 Backstroke and an awesome 31.88 50 Fly.

All three divers had incredible performances as Dana McNeil had a season best of 172.80 and Harmony McDonald reached 139.65. Also in the breakout category Allison Rehagen continues her resurgence as she had lifetime best unshaved swims in the 200 Free and 500 Free respectively. Sophomores Kassie Briggs and Onahlea Price each logged lifetime bests in the 200 IM and 100 Back for Kassie and 100 Breast for Onahlea. Freshman Alyssa Miller had her best meet so far as she raced to lifetime bests in the 100 Free and 50 Free. Morgan Lowery continues to make substantial improvement and showed off that improvement via 4 impressive sprints tonight.

Great job to all the participants this evening. 11 state cuts were made between the teams and 4 pool records fell. Next up we visit the East Lansing Trojans on Thursday.

GL at St. Johns
Our dual meet record was pushed to 3-0 tonight as our girls swam and dove to a 105-81 win over CAAC Red power St. Johns. The Redwings are always tough and well coached, a victory over this team is never a small task and our girls provided the teamwork to make it happen.

Leading our attack was Michelle Pitchford who was the only 4 event winner of the night as she came away victorious in the 200 Medley Relay, 200 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke and 400 Freestyle Relay. Michelle's hard work this summer is really paying off in the early part of this season. She looks to have a great senior year.  Katie Simon and Dana McNeil were victorious individually in the 100 Fly and Diving events respectively. Katie was clipped for first in the 100 Breast by St. Johns Dream Teamer Alayna Childers but still swam to a D1 State Time in her oppositions specialty.

The 200 IM was a very successful event this evening as Kassie Briggs was able to fight off illness and notch a lifetime best of 2:36.42 and freshman Lindsay Brown swam to a lifetime best of 2:39.02. We continue to show strong prowess in the 100 Freestyle as Monica Pomaville, Erika Miller, Dayle McLeod, Kenzie Gatewood and Lauren Stenson all logged impressive times for this point in the season. Allison Rehagen showed her true colors tonight as she shaved 17 seconds off of her season best to a 6:11.43 in the 500 Freestyle. The 200 Freestyle Relay team of Katie, Lydia, Olivia and Elizabeth logged a season best time of 1:50.04 while capturing 1st in the event. Finally Morgan Lowery continues her return to full health as she swam to two 2nd place finishes in the 50 Free and 100 Backstroke.

Next week will be a busy one as the team is back in action against CAAC Blue League favorite Okemos on Tuesday. The team is away at East Lansing on Thursday and looks to repeat as champions of the Haslett Invitational on Saturday. 
 

GL at Marshall Quad
Our trip to Marshall on Saturday was a success as our girls swam to a victory over Sturgis, Marshall and Bridgman. The meet was the definition of a team effort as we came away with 6 event wins and many others grabbed very high finishes.

Getting the day started was the team made up of our four senior captains Michelle Pitchford, Lydia Kramer, Katie Simon and Elizabeth Sullivan as they swam to victory in the 200 Medley Relay. Katie followed that up with a victory in the 200 Freestyle and a second place finish in the 500 Freestyle. Michelle captured 1st in the 100 Backstroke and 2nd in the 100 Freestyle. Lydia swam to a 1st place finish of her own in the 100 Breaststroke and 3rd in the 200 IM. Elizabeth snagged 3rd and 4th in the 50 and 500 Freestyle respectively.

Junior Hillary Albert came away victorious in the 100 Fly and the team of junior Olivia McCormick, Elizabeth, Michelle and Katie sprinted to victory in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Also showing up well and having a great meet was Dayle McLeod. Dayle had another gutsy performance in her 500 race and came away with the win to place 6th overall. Equaling that performance was Jennie Brown who used her final wall of the 100 Fly to come away with the win in her heat and an overall finish of 7th. Peri McLeod swam to her first time under 30 while anchoring the Medley Relay that placed 5th and returned to swim a very fast 100 Freestyle. Fellow freshman Alyssa Miller, Lauren Stenson and Lindsey Brown performed well in their events as well with Brown leading the way with a 4th place finish in the 100 Breast. Just a touch behind in that event was sophomore Onahlea Price.

Great job by all. We are back in action Thursday vs perennial CAAC Red power St. John's. 

GL vs. Battle Creek Central
Our young ladies were back in action on Tuesday night as we played host to the Bearcats of Battle Creek Central. With the aid of our 1-2-3 finish in the 400 Free Relay our girls improved their season record to 2-0 by a 122-64 margin.

Leading the way was two senior captains in Michelle Pitchford and Katie Simon. Michelle notched a 56.95 in the 100 Free to capture the victory and her first state cut of the season. Katie swam to an impressive win in the 100 Breast and was rewarded with her second state cut of the season in 1:12.27. With Katie's cut in the 100 Free our season total now sits at three.

Not to be outdone was a pair of hard charging seniors in Jennie Brown and Dayle McLeod. Jennie claimed second in the 200 Freestyle in 2:20.91 and placing 4th in the 100 Fly at 1:19.76. Both times were good for lifetime best performances. Dayle also was impressive in her 500 Freestyle as she clocked a lifetime best of 6:18.93 in her specialty to place 2nd. Junior Kayla Bedaine also wowed the crowd with 2 lifetime bests in the 50 Free and 100 Backstroke respectively. Freshman Lindsey Brown grabbed 3rd in the 500 Free to cap a 1-2-3 GL finish in the event and knock roughly 50 seconds from her best time! Classmate Lauren Stenson was very impressive in recording a 1:17.68 100 Backstroke.

Not lost in the excitement of the meet was the triumphant return from mononucleosis for 2-time State Qualifier Morgan Lowery. Morgan swam to a victory in the 50 Freestyle and swam very strong in her other races. Other event winners included Hillary Albert (100 Back), Elizabeth Sullivan (200 IM), Lydia Kramer (200 Freestyle), Dana McNeil (Diving) and Kenzie Gatewood (500 Free). Congratulations girls and good luck this weekend as we travel to the Marshall Quad.
 

GL at Waverly
After a couple of days of school and tough workouts the girls looked like a different team when swimming a dual meet with Waverly last Thursday.  Just a week earlier, the season got off to a rocky start while swimming at the thirtieth annual Waverly Relays.  We certainly looked tougher and far more excited... it was good to see. 

Junior Hillary Albert and Freshman Lindsay Brown earned swimmer of the meet status for their strong swims.  Lindsay had best times in all of her swims including a great swim in the 100 breaststroke with a time off 1:22.71.  Hillary had a great race in the butterfly, swimming a strong second 50 to take second place over Waverly standout Emily Fairless. 


A number of other GL Swimmers also had a strong meet.  Sophomore Ona Price also had a good night, with a personal best time in the 50 free and a strong 100 breaststroke that was just 1 second from her lifetime best.  Kassie Briggs continued to swim well as she swam an early season lifetime best in the 100 backstroke while taking third place.  Diver Dana McNeil got the win with a score of 149.75. She was followed closely by Junior Bethany Engel who finished second.  Senior Katie Simon had a two win night taking convincing victories in the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly.  Katie capped off her night by making a Division 1 state cut in the 100 freestyle while leading off the 400 freestyle relay.  Seniors Michelle Pitchford and Lydia Kramer also picked up wins in their strongest events, the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, respectively.  Other Grand Ledge Swimmers who earned personal best times Thursday include Peri McLeod, Alyssa Miller, Lauren Stensen and Dayle McLeod. 
The girls swam a strong meet and started off what we hope will be a long run of dual meet victories this season. Up next is the our home opener, against Battle Creek Central on Tuesday. 
 

GL at Waverly Relays
Quite the bumpy beginning for this season's version of the Grand Ledge Swimming and Diving Team. We swam a solid meet good enough to place 2nd in the 12 team meet but had to settle for 6th due to some uncharacteristic mistakes on the starting blocks. Even with DQ's of two relays that placed 2nd we placed in the top half of the meet that included many teams we will see later on this season.

Leading the way was the breakout performance of sophomore Kassie Briggs who amassed lifetime best swims on 1:02.07 in the 100 Free, 31.88 in the 50 Back and 29.94 on her relay 50 Back. Kayla Bedaine (50 Fly), Onahlea Price (50 Free) and Michelle Pitchford (200 Free) chipped in with either a lifetime best or a best unshaved time. Congrats ladies on a fine performance.

Next up we face off with our rivals from down the road the Waverly LC Warriors.
 

Water Polo 2008
GL-W-LC End of Year Banquet

The Grand Ledge-Waverly-Lansing Catholic 2008 Water Polo season officially culminated with our banquet on Wednesday night. It was a great night to reflect on a tremendously successful season for our sophomore water polo program. After going 4-10 last season our varsity improved to 14-13 and our JV went from 3-4 last season to 9-1 this year. We improved from top to bottom this season and this night was a great way to celebrate that fact.

The night was highlighted by the presentation of the awards and they were as follows: Most Dedicated and MVP went to Lydia Kramer. Most Improved went to Jessica Hileman, Rookie of the Year went to Liz Hoard and JV MVP went to Monica Pomaville. Defensive Player of the Year was awarded to Frankie Crowell and the Oil Can Award was presented to Katie Simon. We also announced our captains for the 2009 season with Lydia Kramer, Emily Fairless and Elizabeth Sullivan being voted captains by their teammates.

Congratulations to all the girls for their outstanding effort and on a wonderful season. Thank you to our seniors Carrie, Jenny, Jessica, Frankie and Taylor. Good luck in your future endeavors and thank you for your contributions to this program, you will be missed.

Academic All-State
Hillary Albert
Kenzie Gatewood
Emily Fairless
Katie Simon
Elizabeth Sullivan
Liz Hoard
Lydia Kramer
Allison Rehagen
Monica Pomaville

All Region Honorees
2nd Team - Katie Simon
Honorable Mention - Lydia Kramer
THANK YOU PARENTS!!!  Special thank you to all the parents that drove this weekend and throughout the entire season. We certainly could not have accomplished what we accomplished without your unbelievable support. We truly have top notch parental support, thank you so much.

GL-W-LC at Michigan Water Polo East Regional Tournament
The 2008 season of the Grand Ledge-Waverly-Lansing Catholic Water Polo team came to a close on a very high note at the Regional Tournament this weekend at Birmingham Groves. We went 1-2 on the weekend with losses to #3 Ann Arbor Pioneer and #9 Okemos, while capturing a victory over our cross-town rivals Holt-EL.

We kicked off the tourney on Friday versus the 3rd ranked team in the state Ann Arbor Pioneer. Our girls fell 5-11 but really played very strong against a very seasoned opponent. I was extremely pleased with the way our girls did not back down and played without fear against a true juggernaut opponent. Pioneer raced to a 4 to 0 lead but our girls responded very strongly and closed the gap to 2-5 by halftime. Our offensive firepower came courtesy of Emily Fairless as she netted 3 goals on well placed shots that had the opposing goalie guessing. Also getting in the scoring act was Katie Simon who notched 2 more goals to her season tally. Liz Hoard played a strong game while making 6 saves and Lydia Kramer played very aggressive defensively as she had 4 swipes. Erika Miller and Shelby Becker played  very strong games as well with Erika logging a drawn kick-out and Shelby setting up a goal with her passing.

After a pleasant hotel stay down the road Friday night our girls took on our CAAC rival Okemos early Saturday morning. We came out firing on all cylinders but quickly our mistakes in the passing game cost us dearly. After grabbing a 2-1 lead our girls were outscored 2-14 the rest of the way in a game where the final score (4-15) was not indicative of how even our teams are. Our major issues came when we were saddled with 10 ejection fouls and by making 22 turnovers. Scoring goals in the game was Lydia (2), Morgan Lowery and Katie. Kenzie Gatewood and Elizabeth Sullivan played a great game defensively as they had 2 steals a piece with Kassie Briggs chipping in a theft as well. Kayla Bedaine had great movement from her 2 meter position and so did Allison Rehagen who shook off a pair of claw marks to the face sustained at the hands of a Pioneer player the day before. Liz was steady in goal by making 4 saves and recording 1 steal.

The final game of the season and tournament came against a familiar foe as our girls locked up with Holt-EL for the sixth time and final time this season. I was extremely pleased with our execution during this game as our girls dominated the 2nd half and took home 7th place at Regionals with a 10-3 victory. I was especially proud of the fact that our season ended last season with a 9 goal loss to Holt-EL. Our efforts all season were rewarded with a very well played game by our girls on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. With the score 4-3 heading into the 4th period it looked as though the team with ball last may squeak out a narrow win. However, our girls exploded to score the last six goals of the game to post the final tally. We received a much welcomed boost offensively from Frankie Crowell as she played her final water polo game and cashed in two goals from the outside to finish with 2 goals, 1 assist and 3 steals. Frankie's defense is really what makes her invaluable so when she contributes offensively it is a welcomed bonus. Scoring our other goals was Lydia and Katie who both slammed home 4 goals. Liz saved her best for last as she climbed the ladder a few times during this one and made 8 very crucial saves. Unsung hero awards for this game go to our defense with Frankie, Jessica Hileman, Kenzie, Monica Pomaville, Elizabeth, Shelby and Allison standing out with excellent help defense. Lydia led the way in the steals category with 7 and Emily continued to show a knack for facilitating our offense in the form of 3 assists.

This game truly was a great way to end the season especially since the victory pushed our team to a winning record for the season of 14-13. This season saw our team take tremendous strides on all levels and in all facets of the game. I look forward to seeing everyone at the banquet on May 28th at Grand Ledge High School. The banquet will be semi-formal (no jeans or tennis shoes) for the girls and come as you are for all parents.
 

GL-W-LC at Districts
Our remarkable showing at the district tournament concluded on Saturday as we played No. 5 Dexter and Holt-EL. We fell early in the day to the eventual champion Dexter 5-11 and then lost a close game to Holt-EL 9-11. Our efforts for the weekend were truly remarkable considering all of the outside factors happening with ours girl's schedules. Many sacrificed prom or put off prom plans in order to be there and ensure a great showing for our schools and that effort is greatly appreciated. Huge thank you to all the parents for providing rides and enabling our girls to pull this weekend off. And again a big thank you to our girls for their dedication and unbelievable efforts.

As for the games themselves we certainly were able to see the very best Dexter had to offer. They did a tremendous job of passing and taking shots that were well placed and always on target. It was clear early that they were a team on a mission, but to our credit our girls stuck it out and fought valiantly to the end. We trailed 8-1 at half and I gave the girls the goal of winning the second half as a way to prove we were better than we showed in the first half. 2nd half score: GL-W-LC 4 Dexter 3. We played with a lot of pride and showed great fight, something that was welcomed by their coach. In our cage Liz Hoard played a very solid game as she turned away many very nice attempts en route to making 7 saves with 2 steals. Lydia Kramer played the 1st period in net and recorded 4 saves and then shifted her attention to scoring goals rather than stopping them. She was very effective as she managed 3 goals and 4 steals. Also getting in the scoring act was Emily Fairless with 2 goals. Leading the way in the assist category was Monica Pomaville with 2 and in steals we were led by Lydia (4) and Morgan Lowery who grabbed 3 steals. We were also able to convert our first ever 6 on 4 opportunity with great success as Lydia rocketed home one of her 3 goals. Dexter is a great team and we have played them fairly well twice this season. We just need to keep taking steps forward.

In our final game of the tournament we played a familiar foe in Holt-EL. In our 5th game with our CAAC rivals we were clipped 9-11. Our girls showed great resiliency and played one of the more entertaining games of the tournament. This marked the first time Lydia played a game from start to finish in the field, a trend that may continue as we go forward this season and next. Lydia showed off her cannon arm by scoring 5 goals and grabbing 4 steals. Katie Simon reappeared in the goal scoring department as she logged a hat trick with 3 goals, one on an elegant put back set up by an Emily Fairless shot. Elizabeth Sullivan capped our scoring with a nifty move from her 2-meter position. Liz showed she is more than capable in net as she made 13 saves and kept us close throughout. Emily facilitated our offense very well with 4 assists and displayed a tenacity in playing hole defense that has previously been absent. Unsung hero of the game would be Morgan as she drew a 5-meter shot (Lydia cashed it in) and provided 2 assists. Really a solid team effort throughout the game. Erika Miller, Allison Rehagen, Kenzie Gatewood and Monica really played tough defense and made Holt-EL rely on well placed long range shots for their offense. Kudos as well to Kassie Briggs and Kayla Bedaine on very strong showings in their first few games at the varsity level, these experiences should prove invaluable looking ahead to next season.

Our record at the district tournament was 1-2 and moves our season record to 13-11. 13 wins for a team that recorded 4 all of last season is an amazing accomplishment for such a young program. We get to try to add to that total next week as we take on the Ann Arbor Pioneer varsity squad in our first game at the Regional Tournament.

GL-W-LC vs. Haslett at Districts

History was made Friday night at the Central District Tournament as our girls, in our 2nd year of existence, defeated a very game Haslett team to advance to the  Regional  Tournament  next week.  Huge congratulations to our girls on a fine effort all season and in this game. Making the Regional Tourney is a very nice stepping stone for our water polo program.

As for the game we scored first and never trailed as we were able to overwhelm Haslett-Williamston by a score of 12-4. Leading the way offensively was Katie Simon as she converted 5 goals while making 3 assists. Also contributing offensively was Emily Fairless (2), Kayla Bedaine (1), Erika Miller (1) and Elizabeth Sullivan (1). Rounding out the scoring and stepping up tremendously was Jessica Hileman who scored 2 goals and was (as always) tough defensively. Jessica really helped change the momentum of the game, as Haslett had closed within two just before halftime, by converting a 5-meter free shot into a goal. We regained the momentum with that shot and we enacted something that has been worked on in practice extensively. After that shot our junior standout goalkeeper Lydia Kramer clamped down and did not allow a goal the rest of the way. She finished with 12 saves, 1 assist and 3 steals for the evening. Special congrats as well to Kenzie Gatewood and Frankie Crowell as they mad life hard for Haslett all night with very tough defense. Frankie snagged 6 steals while Kenzie pestered every hole set in her reach. Elizabeth led the way in the steals category with 7. Emily really played maybe her best game to date as she found success in a variety of ways. In addition to her 2 goals, she recorded 3 assists, 3 steals and did a great job of being mobile on the offensive end.

Wonderful effort all around by our young ladies. They have certainly given us all something to be very proud of. Our march continues tomorrow at Mason vs district favorite Dexter at 11 AM and then another game later in the day, time TBA.

GL-W-LC at Pioneer Invite
We had an incredible weekend at the Pioneer Invitational as our girls played to a 3-1 record and a 9th place finish in the 16 team field. Our goals for the weekend were to play a lot of people and get back to having fun playing the game of water polo. I believe we succeeded in both of the those categories and our play displayed that fact.

Our first game came Friday night and was to be our only loss of the weekend in a tight game with AA Pioneer's A JV team. Though we fell, 6-8, we had great efforts throughout and were led in scoring by Katie Simon who netted 3 goals and Emily Fairless who scored 2 goals. Also getting in the scoring act was Lydia Kramer from her goalie position as she scored from half court as the 3rd period buzzer sounded. Leading the assist category was Morgan Lowery with 2, while Shelby Becker and Frankie Crowell each contributed 3 steals. Monica Pomaville and Hillary Albert each threw in an assist as well in a game that featured a wide array of substituting.

Our second game came on Saturday against the Ann Arbor Pioneer C JV team. We were able to dominate this game from start to finish and capture a 10-0 victory as our fill-in goalie Taylor Warstler made the saves she needed to and snagged a shutout in her 2nd ever game in net. Taylor made 4 saves to go along with 1 assist. In the goal scoring category we were led by our fill-in hole set Lydia Kramer. Lydia took full advantage of her role by cashing in 3 goals with 2 assists, 2 drawn kick-outs and 3 steals. Also getting in the scoring act was Kassie Briggs (2), Emily Fairless (2), Kayla Bedaine (1) and Elizabeth Sullivan (1). Capping the scoring was Kenzie Gatewood who notched her first career goal on a great five-meter shot. Monica Pomaville and Jessica Hileman led the way defensively with 4 and 2 goals a piece.

In our third game we were matched against the Okemos 'B' team which is composed of JV players and varsity subs for the Chieftains. In an extremely exciting game we were able to come away with an 8-7 sudden death overtime victory. Again leading the way offensively was Lydia by virtue of her scoring 5 goals (1 in each period including the overtime game winner). Kenzie, Elizabeth and Monica also scored goals while Emily, Morgan and Katie Simon contributed 1 assist each. Defensively Erika Miller and Jennie Brown both excelled and tallied 2 steals apiece. In goal, Liz Hoard fought off sickness made 7 saves and turned away three 6 on 5 opportunities. Liz showed great dedication by making the tournament though she was not feeling 100%.

The final game of the day for our girls was our third go round with Ann Arbor Pioneer, this time in the form of their JV B team. We played very well defensively and secured a 7-1 victory for our third victory on the day. Our efforts defensively were led by Emily as she snagged a season high 6 steals. Liz made 12 saves in goal and recorded 1 steal as well. Allison Rehagen shrugged off a pop to the nose in the Okemos game to play very strong at her 5-meter position while grabbing a handful of steals. Lydia finished off her great day with 3 goals and 2 steals. Also scoring goals was Katie (1), Emily (1) and Morgan (2). The most intriguing stat of the game had to be the fact that we had 7 assists by 7 different people on all 7 goals.

Our record improves to 12-9 for the season and we get back into action this Friday at Mason for the District Tournament.
 

GL-W-LC vs. Chelsea
We concluded our regular season tonight with a win for the JV and a loss for the varsity at Chelsea.

The JV was led by strong efforts from all members. Leading the way in scoring was our two leading scorers for the season in Michelle Pitchford and Kayla Bedaine who both knocked home 2 goals. Also netting goals was Ona Price, Shelby Becker, Jenny Sturdevant and Jennie Brown. We did a very nice job of passing the ball the entire game in what became our most balanced scoring game of the season and even came through late to push to the 8-6 victory. That concludes the regular season schedule for the JV who began the season 0-1. They then rattled off 9 straight wins to finish the season an incredible 9-1. The season is not over however as we still have the Pioneer Invite and the district tournament.

The varsity game was a contrast in styles of play. With our girls being very inexperienced with the shallow water we were beaten 3-5. We won the two periods that were played in our deep end 3-2 but was unable to solve the riddle when Chelsea had the shallow water. This was certainly a trying loss and one that teams must grow and learn from. That is exactly what we will do heading forward into the rest of the season. We received goals from Elizabeth Sullivan, Emily Fairless and Katie Simon and were led in steals by Frankie Crowell with 4. Morgan Lowery drew 2 kick-out fouls and we received strong contributions from our bench in Kenzie Gatewood and Monica Pomaville. I'm sure everyone on the varsity is happy to put this game in the rear view and get set for this weekend and the district championships. The loss drops our overall record to 9-8 on the season.
 
GL-W-LC vs. Holt-EL
A contrast in emotions on Friday night as our girls took on Holt-EL for the 4th time this season. The varsity got off to an extremely slow start and fell behind by 5 early. We eventually suffered a tough 5-9 loss while the JV swam to a dominating 9-0 effort for their 3rd win in as many games vs the combined efforts of Holt and East Lansing.

Kicking things off the varsity was caught quite off guard early on and it showed on the scoreboard as we trailed 5-0 after 1 period. We definitely were out-coached this evening as Holt-EL did a great job shutting down our primary offensive weapons and finding another source of offense proved to be too tall a task. This certainly gives me, as a coach, and our girls a tremendous challenge in finding another consistent source of offense going forward. We were led offensively by Katie Simon who logged her 54th and 55th goal of the season to break our single season record for goals. She also contributed 2 assists while making 2 steals. Morgan Lowery and Emily Fairless also scored goals with Morgan contributing an assist as well. The highlight reel play of the night came courtesy of our goalie Lydia Kramer and she scored from beyond half court in the top left corner of the goal for her first goal from the goalie position. She also held her own while logging 16 saves with 1 assist and 1 steal. Defensively we were led by Elizabeth Sullivan who made a career high 6 steals and Jessica Hileman also did a great job on the defensive end by grabbing 4 steals. Our major issue this evening rested with shot selection and turnovers as we need to improve greatly in these two categories going forward with our season.

The JV game was full of highlights as we swam away with a strong 9-0 effort. Congratulations to Liz Hoard for her first career shutout while making 3 saves and making 2 steals. We were the best we have ever been tonight defensively and it showed while not only not allowing a goal but only allowing 3 shots. Leading the way in the steals category was Shelby Becker and Taylor Warstler who recorded 8 and 7 steals respectively. Erika Miller also helped out greatly as she had 4 steals to go with her 1 goal and 1 assist. Shelby and Taylor also scored 2 goals each to complete a great all around game by both girls. Also scoring goals was Jennie Brown (2), Jennie Sturdevant (1) and Michelle Pitchford (1). Both of Jennie Brown's goals were great moves on the goaltender and were hammered home with authority. Also contributing on the defensive end was Dayle McLeod as she made several strong plays for the ball.

The JV ran their win streak to 8 games while moving to 8-1 while the varsity fell to 9-7 on the season. We are back in action next week on Thursday for our final regular season match-up of the season at Chelsea. We then travel to Ann Arbor Pioneer for a 4 game tournament on Friday and Saturday. Our 4 games at Ann Arbor are against Saline, AA Pioneer, Chelsea and Holt-EL.


GL-W-LC vs. Dexter

Our second to last home game concluded with a split with Dexter as the JV came away with an 8-5 win while the varsity fell 4-9.

The JV kicked things off with a quick start that netted zero goals as Dexter's goalie turned away our initial burst. Dexter then turned the tables and jumped on top by a goal mid way through the first. Our girls showed great resolve however and pushed back to take a 6-2 halftime lead. We were dealt a serious blow to our defense early in the 3rd period as defensive specialist and captain Monica Pomaville was ejected after picking up her 3rd personal foul. We responded very well to close out the game and capture the 8-5 win. We were led in goal scoring by Kayla Bedaine (3) who continues to be aggressive offensively and her goal tally is now at 12 after scoring none last season. Also getting in the scoring act was Kassie Briggs who netted 2 to move her total to 11. Monica Pomaville, Shelby Becker and Taylor Warstler also chipped in a goal apiece. Liz Hoard continues to be very solid in net as she had 5 saves and 2 steals against 5 goals allowed. Shelby led the team defensively with a career high 5 steals and Jennie Brown led the team with 2 assists.

The varsity opened with a flurry against the No. 6 team in all of Michigan as we jumped on top on a backhand from Katie Simon. After Dexter responded Morgan Lowery hammered home her 21st goal of the season for a 2-1 GL-W-LC lead. Dexter scored again late in the 1st and we entered the 2nd period all square at 2. However, in the 2nd Dexter showed its experience and went on a 6-0 run to lead 8-2 at the half. Our girls certainly did not go away as they fought back and won the 2nd half 2-1. In fact if not for our poor 2nd period we outscored this team 4-3. We received a very balanced effort tonight with everyone chipping in with solid efforts. Aside from Morgan and Katie, Emily Fairless and Erika Miller also put home goals. Katie's goal was her 53rd goal of the year which is 1 shy of Lydia's team record set last season. Speaking of our junior goalie standout she made 12 saves with 1 steal and continues to prove she is one of the best in the area. Frankie Crowell also was impressive defensively as she made 4 steals and played very solid offensively as well.

Overall the JV turned in a very solid performance while the varsity proved tonight that they can hang with the elite teams in the state. The varsity falls to 9-6 while the JV wins its 7th straight and jumps to an incredible 7-1. Be sure to come out Friday for senior night vs district and CAAC rival Holt-EL.
 
GL-W-LC at Mason Bulldog Tourney
The Mason Bulldog Invitational began Friday night with a victory for our varsity over the Okemos 'B' squad 20-8. The 20 goals is the most our team has ever scored and the 12 goal margin is also the best in the short existence of our water polo program. After falling behind 1-0 our girls really clamped down and scored at will the rest of the way. Leading the assault was Katie Simon who had a career high 9 goals. Morgan Lowery grabbed 3 goals of her own while Erika Miller, Jessica Hileman, Monica Pomaville, Elizabeth Sullivan and Michelle Pitchford also scored a goal. Lydia Kramer made 6 saves in goal before playing part of the 4th period in the field. The result? 3 goals in 3 minutes of play. Katie made her debut in goal and made one save. Emily Fairless led our team in assists with 3 and Erika Miller led us defensively with 2 steals. It was a great opportunity for some of our JV girls to play up with the varsity and hopefully that experience will help propel them for the rest of the season. Our record improves to 7-4 with 3 varsity and 1 JV game remaining in this tournament.
 
After a lopsided win on Friday night against the Okemos 'B' team our girls got a dose of reality vs the Okemos 'A' team bright and early Saturday morning. Our girls certainly put together a great effort in this game though we were defeated 6-14. Our goal scorers were Katie Simon (3), Emily Fairless, Lydia Kramer and Monica Pomaville. Lydia made 10 saves while Taylor Warstler made he debut in goal by making 3 saves. This was a respect game for our girls as we have been destroyed every other time we played Okemos who is ranked 8th in the state. We played them tough and served notice that we are pushovers no longer.

Our next game was the JV team taking on the Holt-EL JV. This game was highly competitive and was extremely important as many of our newer girls played a ton of minutes. Our girls fought very hard for our 11-5 win on a night where our bench was limited to 3 players. The highlight of the game had to be the first goal of Annika Van Wieren's career. She made a nifty move and pocketed the ball in the back corner of Holt-EL's net. Michelle Pitchford also broke out in this game as she recorded a career high 8 goals. Not to bad for a girl in her first year of playing water polo. Hillary Albert and Shelby Becker also recorded goals to cap our scoring. Taylor Warstler played very well in her first full game in net. She contributed 9 saves and only allowed 5 goals. Kassie Briggs and Monica Pomaville each contributed greatly as well as Kassie had many tremendous shots turned away and Monica played excellent hole defense. This was the 5th win in a row for our JV team and we improved to 5-1.

The best game of the day and probably the tournament came in our game against Holt-EL. Our girls controlled the action early and never trailed as we captured a thrilling 7-6 victory. Holt-EL beat us last year by 14,9 and 9 goals last year and 1 and 2 goals this year. For our girls to breakthrough and capture a victory against this team says a lot about our continued improvement. Leading the way offensively was Katie with 5 goals and Elizabeth Sullivan who passed for 2 assists and made 3 steals. Emily Fairless scored 2 goals with her last score being the game winner with 30 seconds to play. We were really saved by Lydia in goal as she made a career high 19 saves and turned away countless opportunities from point blank range. Monica and Kenzie Gatewood did a tremendous job in hole defense today as they both stepped up and made life difficult for Holt-EL's hole players. Jessica Hileman also came up very big by playing very strong help defense in assisting Monica and Kenzie in the hole. Really an exemplary performance from our girls.

Our final game of the tournament game was in the 3rd place game vs Chelsea. Chelsea defeated us 7-13 last season. On Saturday we took down yet another team with more experience to capture 3rd place in a field of 8 teams by a score of 6-4. This was certainly a test of our stamina as we have played 6 games in 3 days. We passed the test with a tough victory against the team that will likely be standing between us and a trip to regionals in May. Leading our team in scoring again was Katie who grabbed 5 goals with Erika Miller hammering home our other goal. Erika also led the team with 2 assists while contributing 3 steals as well. Leading our girls in the steals category was Elizabeth with a career high 6 steals. Lydia again was brilliant in goal as she made 6 saves and really controlled the game from her goalie position. Enough cannot be said about the job Kenzie did in hole defense in this game. She played heavy minutes for the first time this year and responded with a very good performance defensively. Aiding in that effort again was Jessica Hileman who did a great job of playing both her girl and helping in hole D.

Overall I was extremely pleased with our performances this week. For the week we went 6-1 as a team and Katie Simon was among the tournament leaders with 21 goals in our 4 games. As stated earlier our JV moved to 5-1 on the year and the varsity improved to 9-5. Our improvement has been stellar all season so lets continue that trend next week as we face off against 6th ranked Dexter and Holt-EL at home.

GL-W-LC vs. Portage Northern

We got back into action after a long Spring Break tonight and the rust was evident early on for both the varsity and JV teams. The varsity broke through and scored an 8-6 win, while the JV cruised to a 10-3 victory over the visiting Portage Northern team.

Kicking the night off was the varsity team that found a very tough battle from this Portage Northern team. They were very sound defensively and it showed as we were unable to run our fast break like we would like to. We made a very strong adjustment in the game and found other ways to score, this is a very good sign that our girls are really starting to become complete water polo players. Katie Simon scored 5 goals to lead our scoring charge. Katie is starting to calm down and be more confident with her surroundings, thus, making better decisions. Emily Fairless, Frankie Crowell and Elizabeth Sullivan also netted goals for our team. Lydia Kramer continues to shine in goal as she recorded 17 saves with 2 steals and 1 assist. Crowell led us in steals again with 4 and we were 1 for 1 in power play opportunities. Kenzie Gatewood and Jessica Hileman continue to contribute in a big way off the bench with good defense and solid decision making.

Finally the JV played a very strong game and captured a strong 7 goal win. Liz Hoard had an outstanding game in goal as she made 6 saves and forced at least 6 more over the net with her strong presence. Kayla Bedaine played her best game for sure as she logged 3 goals and all 3 were very aggressive moves. Kassie Briggs matched Bedaine's total with 3 goals of her own while Michelle Pitchford, Jennie Brown, Jenny Sturdevant and Taylor Warstler each cashed in a goal apiece. We utilized pump fakes very well in this game and it showed with a very solid shooting percentage. Monica Pomaville had 4 assists to go along with 6 steals as she played very good hole defense. Shelby Becker also made a lot of plays that do not show up in the stat sheet as she harassed the hole set for Portage Northern and prevented good scoring opportunities.

Both teams performed very well and both games served as an example of the improvement our teams have shown. Certainly last year the varsity does not win the game tonight and the JV game would have been much closer. We have come a long way since last year and still have a tremendous distance to go if we want to finish this season where we would like to. Portage Northern has had a team for a very long time and for us to notch a pair of wins against them says a lot about our progress. The JV improves to 5-1 while the varsity moves to 6-4 on the season. The Mason Invitational this weekend is up next, our endurance will surely be tested.

GL-W-LC vs. Haslett (round 2)
With our varsity playing first the action heated up very quickly on Tuesday night at Grand Ledge High School as we hosted Williamston/Haslett in the 2nd of our match ups this season. The result was a 12-6 win for our varsity and a 9-4 win for the JV.

The varsity game got going quickly in our favor as we scored the games first 3 goals and quickly H/W was asking for timeout. Showing they are a well coached team they bounced back and scored two goals of their own to end the period at 3-2. We would go on to win the next 3 periods as well and the game at 12-6. Our leading scorer on the night was Morgan "The Nightmare" Lowery as she raced to a career high 5 goals. Katie Simon did her part and scored 4 goals (one in each period) though she was very well defended. Elizabeth Sullivan tallied another goal and so did Allison Rehagen on a very nice shot to the far corner of the goal. Emily Fairless showed off a very nice backhand goal late in the game to round out the scoring. Lydia Kramer made 9 saves with one assist and 3 steals. Defensively we were led by Frankie Crowell who continues to show a knack for the ball which was evinced by her 11 steals! Elizabeth and Jessica Hileman also played great defense by grabbing 3 and 2 steals a piece. Katie Simon also registered a career high 6 assists.

The JV game followed the same pattern as we were able to strike early and then Haslett/Williamston adjusted and offensively things slowed a bit. We still were able to capture a 9-4 win behind the best game of the season for junior Goalie Liz Hoard. Liz made many tremendous saves and covered rebounds very well. She finished with 8 saves and 1 steal. Our leading goal scorer for the game was Kayla Bedaine who netted a hat trick with 3 goals. Michelle Pitchford and Monica Pomaville each scored 2 goals as well. Contributing two goals in addition was Jenny Sturdevant who had a breakout game both defensively and offensively. Jenny moved well without the ball and made the most of her scoring opportunities as she scored on both of her shot attempts. Defensively this was the best game we have played against a very worthy opponent. We had 8 assists on 9 goals which is indicative of our good passing and unselfishness. Monica in particular continues to shine for the JV as she logged a very full game with 2 goals, 2 assists and 7 steals. Shelby Becker made her debut with the JV and quickly contributed an assist and 2 steals. The sky is the limit for our only lefty on the team.

Great game tonight from both teams. Our varsity improved its record to 5-4, the first time our girls have had a winning record in a season! The JV moved to an impressive 4-1. Remember our game on Friday is canceled so our next game doesn't come for at least another week. Have a great Spring Break.

East Kentwood Tournament
We had a very exciting two days at East Kentwood during their Spring Fling Tourney. We played 4 games in 2 days vs Ann Arbor Pioneer JV, East Kentwood JV, Rockford JV and Holt-EL varsity to cap the weekend. With this tournament being our first of the season I believe our girls did a very good job of representing our schools and ourselves very well by coming away from the weekend with a 2-2 record.
Our first game of the weekend was Friday night vs perennial state power Ann Arbor Pioneer. Pioneer jumped on us early 2-0 but we were able to survive that spurt and capture an 11-8 victory. Katie Simon scored all 4 of her goals in the 1st period to lead our team in that category. Morgan Lowery banged home 3 goals as well in her only appearance of the weekend. Hillary Albert, Elizabeth Sullivan and Emily Fairless each notched a goal. Lansing Catholic senior Jessica Hileman scored her first goal of the season on a nice shot in the 2nd period. Lydia Kramer blocked 11 shots, passed for 3 assists, made 3 steals and was overall very strong in goal. Simon also logged 4 assists.

Our first game on Saturday was against the host team the East Kentwood Falcons. We played our best team game of the season as we grabbed a 14-4 victory. Our 14 goals were scored by 10 different players and we registered a season high 19 steals. Lydia played goal in the first half and left to play the field after leading us to a 6-0 lead on 6 saves. Liz Hoard took over in the 2nd half and played very well by grabbing 2 saves. Scoring goals for our team was Frankie Crowell, Erika Miller, Katie Simon (2), Hillary Albert (2), Jessica Hileman, Monica Pomaville (2), Elizabeth Sullivan, Allison Rehagen, Emily Fairless and Lydia Kramer (2). Frankie also recorded a team best 7 steals in the game.

Our game vs Rockford was a humbling experience as the Rams came out tough, played that way the entire game and claimed a 4-8 win. Rockford is a very well coached team and very skilled in every part of the game. Playing games like these are really good learning experiences for the rest of the season and the fact that we played them tough should help our confidence going forward. We trailed by as many as 7 but closed with a nice flurry to get within 4 goals. Katie Simon scored all 4 of our goals in a variety of ways including her now patented back hand. The rest of our girls had some very nice scoring opportunities but the Rockford goalie was equal to the task and made several tremendous saves. Lydia made 8 saves while Kenzie Gatewood made 2 steals in the game.

The final game of the night was a anti-climatic finish vs Holt-EL. We have certainly played better games than we did in this one but were still able to come within one goal of victory, losing 7-8. We were plagued by turnovers in the 1st and 2nd period and dug ourselves a hole we could not recover from. We played a much stronger 2nd half and were able to swim to a 4-1 advantage in said half. Frankie Crowell played very tenacious defense (something that is becoming her specialty) and made 6 more steals in this game. Elizabeth Sullivan led the way in scoring with 3 goals while Katie Simon put two more home. Allison Rehagen and Emily Fairless rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece. Lydia made 7 saves and had 4 steals. Freshman Kassie Briggs played a strong game, chipped in an assist and played strong defense.

Congrats to all the girls on a very strong showing at the tourney this weekend. Our girls won 4 games all year last year (3 over Haslett) and already this season our girls have been victorious 4 times. The experience we gained this weekend will be invaluable as we go forward this season and into the post season. Our record moves to 4-4 on the season.
 

GL-W-LC vs. Mason
Our young ladies on both the JV and Varsity squads notched two wins in impressive fashion Tuesday night in Mason vs the Bulldogs. The JV were victorious 12-2 and the varsity captured an 11-0 victory.

The JV girls were led by a stellar performance from junior captain Monica Pomaville. Monica played excellent hole defense and also logged 2 goals, 3 assists and 2 steals. Kassie Briggs and Taylor Warstler each grabbed hat tricks and Carrie Hileman netted 2 more goals while battling asthma. Kayla Bedaine added another goal for the season and freshman Ona Price scored her first career goal while playing her best game to date. Liz Hoard also played her best game while recording 10 saves on 12 shots. Annika Van Wieren drew a kick-out and made her first career assist.

The varsity game saw history made as junior goaltender Lydia Kramer recorded the first shutout in Grand Ledge-Waverly-LC history. Lydia made 11 saves and also grabbed 5 steals. The key to our success was not only Lydia's outstanding play but also the play of our other defenders. Everyone on the roster contributed to our shutout. Mason defeated our varsity 9-5 last season in a game that Mason led 9-1. This game saw our girls score 5 goals in the first period! Leading our team in goal scoring was Morgan Lowery with 4 goals. Katie Simon overcame a tough day out of the pool to score 3 goals and pass for 2 assists. Also recording scores were Frankie Crowell, Elizabeth Sullivan, Emily Fairless and Allison Rehagen. Crowell also nabbed 5 steals to lead us in that category.  Jessica Hileman and Kenzie Gatewood led us defensively with countless "hustle" plays to prevent scoring opportunities for Mason.

We made a lot of great decisions in these two games and really looked as though we were understanding the game and getting to where we needed to be. A+ effort in this game and a very high grade in execution as well. The JV improves to 3-1, while the varsity move to .500 at 2-2.

GL-W-LC vs. Holt-East Lansing
What fun and competitive games Friday night at Holt for our young ladies. The JV came away with a 12-10 victory while the varsity dropped a heart breaker 8-10.
The JV game saw our girls jump out to quick lead after 3 very good fast break goals that were executed to perfection. However, Holt-EL showed great resiliency and was able close to within 1 goal at 11-10 late in the game. In the end though we were able to execute late and add an insurance goal from freshman Kassie Briggs. Leading our team in scoring was Michelle Pitchford who notched 4 more goals tonight including a buzzer beater (March Madness worthy) at the end of the 3rd period.. That makes 8 goals for Michelle in 2 games! Also breaking out offensively was Lansing Catholic senior Carrie Hileman. Carrie racked up her first ever hat trick and did a great job leading our counter attack. Kassie Briggs logged 2 goals with 4 assists while Jennie Brown, Kayla Bedaine and Monica Pomaville all chipped in 1 goal each. As a team we had 15 steals and really helped trigger our counterattack. Liz Hoard had her best game as a water polo player and made 6 saves and certainly has benefited from her past experiences. Ona Price played some tough defense while Annika Van Wieren contributed some strong minutes off the bench.
The varsity game looked like it may be a route early for Holt-EL as they jumped to a quick 2-0 lead and our girls seemed to be caught a bit of guard. We recovered to tie the game before the end of the period at 2 and remained deadlocked at 5 at the half. From there Holt-EL went on to outscore our girls 5-3 in the second half but not before our girls served notice that they are here to compete and won't back down to anyone. We played this team, that beat us by 14,9 and 9 goals last season, even for two periods and won the 4th period 3-2. Losing the third period 3-0 was the only time our girls slipped up. Lydia Kramer put on an impressive display in net and made 16 saves while drawing praise from numerous people watching the game. Our fast break counterattack was on full display tonight led by Morgan Lowery who banged home 3 goals. Elizabeth Sullivan scored 2 goals and Emily Fairless put a score home as well. Waverly senior Frankie Crowell played her best game to date by recording 2 assists and 4 steals. Finally Katie Simon scored 2 goals despite being hampered by foul trouble early and fouling out early in the 3rd period. Kenzie Gatewood and Lansing Catholic senior Jessica Hileman contributed greatly on the defensive end with both notching 2 steals and making some very good hustle plays that don't show up in the stat sheet.
As stated earlier I was very proud of the effort our girls showed tonight in a very spirited match-up where the more experienced team came away victorious but a tremendous amount of respect was exchanged both ways. Great job girls! The JV moves to 2-1 and the varsity falls to 1-2.

GL-W-LC vs. Haslett-Williamston
We earned our first victory of the season Thursday night for both the JV and Varsity team vs a tough Haslett-Williamston team. The quality of play was vastly improved from when our teams got together last season but the result was the same for our girls.
The JV game was a tale of two halves for our first year junior goalie Liz Hoard. Liz thrived in the second half and made 8 saves for the game and made 1 steal. We were led in scoring by another first year junior in Michelle Pitchford as she scored her first goal of the season and then followed that with 3 more for a total of 4 for the game. Waverly senior Jenny Sturdevant got involved with some tough D and netted her first goal of the season. Junior Monica Pomaville cashed in with 2 goals and senior Taylor Warstler and junior Jennie Brown both contributed a goal apiece. Junior Dayle McLeod and freshman Kassie Briggs led the way with 2 assists each. It was a very exciting game that saw our girls play very tough and really get a chance to showcase the skills we have learned in the first week of the season. Final score 9-6 GL-Waverly-LC
The varsity game was a spirited affair with our girls coming away victorious 11-6. Our girls showcased our fast break/counter offense in fine fashion and it paid off with a flurry of quick goals. Offensively junior Katie Simon scored 4 goals, had 2 assists and 1 steal while not committing a turnover. Lansing Catholic junior emily Fairless, juniors Elizabeth Sullivan and Morgan Lowery came away with their first goals of the year as all three put 2 shots in the net. Senior Lauren Brown capped the scoring with her first goal of the season. Sophomore Kenzie Gatewood and junior Allison Rehagen both recorded assists on very unselfish plays. In a night where we scored 11 goals it was hard for any defender to steal the show but junior Lydia Kramer certainly played an awesome game. Lydia recorded 18 saves while also grabbing 6 steals and being the catalyst of our fast break attack.
Great games by both teams. Both teams moved to 1-1 for the season.

GL-W-LC vs. Okemos

The 2008 season of the Grand Ledge-Waverly-Lansing Catholic Womens Water Polo Team kicked off against perennial state powerhouse Okemos. Our JV dropped a tough game 3-13, while the varsity fell short 1-19.
I was very pleased with both teams effort and poise in tough games. Scoring for the JV was sophomore Kayla Bedaine, freshman Kassie Briggs and senior Taylor Warstler. Freshman Ona Price also did a good job by contributing 2 steals and playing tough throughout. Junior Liz Hoard played her first game in goal and made 4 very nice saves and learned a tremendous amount.
In the varsity game our inexperience was exposed though we did play considerably more competitive than we did last season. Our lone goal was netted by junior Katie Simon on a nifty backhand in the 4th period. Junior Lydia Kramer played very well in her first game as the regular goaltender. The future looks very bright for both teams. Very fine effort to begin the season as both teams drop to 0-1 on the young season.

Boys Varsity 2007-2008
 

2008 Banquet a Success
The 2007-2008 edition of the Grand Ledge Mens Swimming and Diving officially concluded last night as our banquet came to a close with a number of highlights. To kick the night off freshman Eric Bayley was recognized with the Rookie of the Year Award for his efforts in the 200 and 500 Free events. The Most Spirited Award was presented to junior Paul Cleaveland and freshman Mike Mandley for their enthusiasm and commraderie this season. The most difficult award of the night proved to be the Most Improved Award as so many candidates were viable options. Finally the team voting settled on sophomore Paul Wilkes who increased his varsity point total by over 100 points from last year. The MVP vote was a landslide victory for junior John Fitzgerald as he excelled in a number of events and scored at the Division 1 State Meet. The prestigious Linda Seibold Outstanding Senior Award was given to senior Garrett Kromer for outstanding achievement in and out of the pool and for 4 great years as Grand Ledge Swimmer. Past winners of the Seibold Award include Spencer Johnson, Nick Ballou and Hugh MacDowell. Finally the 2008-2009 captains were announced and our number jumped from 2 to 6 as Max King, Brad Bouchard, Paul Cleaveland and Jordan Mannor join Fitzgerald and Kentner as captains next season. As for other post season awards John Fitzgerald was honored by the area coaches as a member of the Zone 7 All Area 1st Team Selection. Sophomore Anthony Mauro received 2nd Team honors while junior Curtis Kentner and Paul Wilkes received Honorable Mention accolades for their contributions this season. Congrats on a fine season to all team members and I am sure we are all looking forward to getting back at it next season.

 

Congrats John
MHSAA D1 Swimming States

Our team's outstanding season was capped with a sensational individual performance this weekend by junior Co-Captain John Fitzgerald in the 2008 Division 1 State Championships at Oakland University. John moved up from his 20th seed to place 14th in the prelims of the 500 Free with a lifetime best time of 4:55.06! That is less than a second from breaking the oldest school record left on the men's or women's side. John returned for the consolation finals on Saturday and swam a great race to finish in 15th place overall. The team finished in 34th place at the state meet and along the way John became the first male to score at the D1 State Meet for GL since Joe Pierson captured the State Title in the 100 Breaststroke in 2001. Congratulations to John on a fine season and a fine showing at the State Meet.
Coach Townsend
 

Second Shave
We certainly followed up our impressive conference performance with a very strong encore Tuesday night at the 2nd Shave Meet back at Holt. Our guys registered another 67 lifetime best swims and really laid the foundation for an excellent effort next season. Our young men go from a young rebuilding team this season to one of the teams contending for a conference title next season.
The junior class really made a statement tonight and nobody epitomized that fact quite like Jordan Mannor. Jordan swam to a 2:06.79 in the 200 Free (roughly a 12 second drop) and a 1:04.78 in the 100 Fly (over a 7 second drop). He finished off the night by splitting a 54.84 on the 400 Free Relay. Fellow junior Jason Robeson also had a huge night as he swam to a 2:28.03 finish in the 200 IM and a 1:08.74 in the 100 Fly for two substantial time drops in both events. Brad Bouchard had a great 500 Free and clocked a 6:02.19, while captain Curtis Kentner swam to a lifetime best of 5:20.65 in that same 500 Free. Noah Staten trimmed over 15 seconds from his 100 Fly time while registering a 1:15.41 in that event. John Fitzgerald had 3 swims and 3 lifetime best swims on the night as he swam to a 57.96 100 Fly and 58.15 100 Backstroke.
The rest of the non-juniors also had a great meet led by Anthony Mauro who notched lifetime bests in the 200 Free (1:57.26) and 500 Free (5:23.80). Freshman Andrew Bristol swam to a 1:25.75 in the 100 Breast while Doug Barger eclipsed the 1:10 mark in the 100 Free, coming in at 1:08.10. David Smith dropped 24 seconds from his 500 Free in going 5:56.52 and sophomore Paul Wilkes swam to lifetime bests of 2:01.93 and 5:34.72 in the 200 Free and 500 Free. Mike Mandley showed some promise in the Breaststroke as he dropped 4 seconds to a 1:18.35.
Closing out their swimming careers were our seniors Garrett Kromer and Nick Kenny. Nick had a lifetime best in the 50 Breast as well as the 100 Free. Meanwhile Garrett recorded a lifetime best in the 200 IM and the 500 Free. Both seniors contributions will be missed in and out of the pool. Thank you for your fine efforts for Grand Ledge Swimming and Diving.
Congrats to our guys on a terrific season. We definitely accomplished the goals I made personally before the season began and I look fondly on what the future might hold. Hopefully a strong contingent of Grand Ledge fans can make it to Oakland University's pool to cheer on our own John Fitzgerald as he makes a bid at our school record in the 500 Freestyle at the Division 1 State Meet on March 7th.
Coach Townsend

CAAC
See pictures taken by Mr. and Mrs. Pawlak HERE
  LSJ Article featuring picture of Paul Wilkes
HERE
Be sure to see the LSJ photo gallery featuring picture of John Fitzgerald
HERE
CAAC Blue results
HERE
Check out our updated varsity records... Congrats John!!!

What an impressive weekend by our young men. We were able to move from our pre-meet seeding of 6th and capture 5th just 7 points from 4th place. For the season we tied for 4th in the CAAC Blue with East Lansing courtesy of our victory in the dual meet season. We recorded a staggering 69 lifetime bests on Friday and another 34 on Saturday for a grand total of 103 LIFETIME BESTS! We had so many unbelievable accomplishments it would be impossible to mention them all right now so I'll just throw out some highlights.
We were led in the meet by John Fitzgerald who won the 200 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle. John set the Grand Ledge School Record in the 200 Freestyle in 1:49.79, eclipsing Justin Mauro's year old record by nearly a full second. John also extended his season Friday with a Division 1 State Qualifying time and Holt Pool Record time of 4:57.34 in the 500 Freestyle. John is now less than 3 seconds from the school record of 4:54.49.
In that same 500 event we saw our biggest drops of the meet as sophomore Anthony Lugibihl dropped from a 7:03.73 to a 6:22.00 for a total drop of 41.73 seconds. Not to be out done freshman Casey Haggerty had his long awaited breakout swim as he went from being seeded 18th at 6:35.81 to scoring at 15th place in 5:53.57 for a drop of over 42 seconds.
Along with Casey our freshman class continued to contribute greatly as Chris Cornell (200 IM, 100 Breast), David Smith (200 IM, 100 Fly) and Eric Bayley (200 Free, 500 Free) scored in both of their individual events. Eric was the Consolation Finals Champion in the 500 Free and David had to jump a rival swimmer in the seedings in order to score in the 200 IM.
The senior class also represented itself very well as Nick Kenny swam to a 15th and 7th place finish in the 50 Free and 100 Breaststroke. Garrett Kromer did a very nice job as he raked in 2 lifetime bests in the 100 Free and 100 Breast.
Others scoring individually were juniors Max King (100 Fly, 100 Back), Brad Bouchard (100 Back), Jordan Mannor (100 Free), Noah Staten (100 Free) and Jason Robeson (50 Free).
Leading our Saturday charge was Curtis Kentner who blazed to a Consolation victory in the 200 IM (2:13.91) and a 10th place finish in the 100 Fly (1:01.11). Also sophomores Anthony Mauro and Paul Wilkes swam outstanding as Anthony was 4th in the 50 Free and 5th in the 100 Free, while Paul was 7th in the 100 Back and 11th in the 200 IM. Both look to have very bright futures and are only sophomores.
From top to bottom our whole team had incredible time drops as Friday we had 58 swims and 57 lifetime bests. (Jordan redeemed his bad wall in the 50 by leading off the 200 Freestyle Relay in 24.52. A 1.27 second drop which would have placed him 13th in the 50 Free.) Guys like Mike Mandley and Paul Cleaveland made great strides as they look to be swimming on Saturday next season.
Congrats to all the guys on a memorable weekend and a fun season. The season concludes for everyone except Fitzgerald with the 2nd Shave meet back at Holt on Tuesday. - Coach Townsend

 

CAAC Week Info
Boys07WeekSheetCAACIntinerary.pdf

CAAC Preview

Tonight I received the heat sheets for the 2008 CAAC meet and it looks as though our young men have their work cut out for them. On paper we are in 6th place going into the meet with a score of 231 points. East Lansing is just ahead at 236, Everett is 4th at 239, Jackson 305, Holt 454 and Okemos appears to lead the way at 469.
We are led by John Fitzgerald who is the number 1 seed in both the 200 Free and 500 Free. John leads the 2 seed by nearly 5 seconds in the 200 and 10 seconds in the 500 Free. Hopefully a great taper will bring two conference titles and two Division 1 state cuts Johns way. Also figuring highly is Anthony Mauro and Curtis Kentner who are seeded in scoring position in both of their events and could certainly move up and help our team accomplish its goals.
After swimming only relays as a freshman, sophomore Paul Wilkes is seeded 13th in the 200 IM and 8th in the 100 Backstroke. Quite an improvement after only one season and hopefully more improvement is coming on Friday and Saturday. Freshman Eric Bayley finds himself seeded 8th in the 500 Freestyle, while classmate Chris Cornell is seeded 10th in the 100 Breaststroke. Junior Max King is in a good position as he is seeded 16th in both the 100 Fly and 100 Back and junior Brad Bouchard is seeded 12th in the Back as well.
The key to success in this meet is going to hinge greatly on the performance of our guys that are seeded just out of scoring. Those people include Garrett Kromer (22nd 100 Breast, 17th 100 Free), Jason Robeson (20th 100 Breast, 19th 50 Free) and Noah Staten (18th 100 Free). In position to score and looking to move up is Nick Kenny (50 Free, 100 Breast) and Jordan Mannor (50 Free, 100 Free). It will be key for our guys to improve on our positions on Friday and then do the same on Saturday if we any chance of catching Jackson, East Lansing or Everett.  -
Coach Townsend

GL vs. Ionia
What a grand way to cap the 2007-2008 dual meet season as our guys swam to a season record of 5-5 and a 112-74 win over the Ionia Bulldogs. We captured 7 first place finishes (8 if you count the 400 Free Relay which was DQ'ed but won by a healthy margin) and swam an overall strong meet.
The race of the night involved junior Curtis Kentner, sophomore Anthony Mauro and freshman Eric Bayley in the 500 Freestyle. Curtis provided the pace as Eric and Anthony kept things close throughout but in the end Eric was able to secure the win in a lifetime best of 5:31.02. Curtis and Anthony each swam to unshaved best swims of 5:33.40 and 5:33.15. Eric dropped 8 seconds from his best time, Curtis dropped 10 seconds off his best unshaved and Anthony dropped 14 seconds off his best unshaved. Also making an impact was junior Jordan Mannor who exploded to a lifetime best on the 400 Free Relay of 57.30. Jordan also posted strong times in the 50 and 100 Freestyles. Freshman David Smith captured his first varsity win as he swam to a lifetime best of 1:09.00 in the 100 Butterfly. He also notched a lifetime best in the 200 IM (2:31.20) to place 3rd. The 200 Freestyle Relay also came away victorious with the team of Jordan, Jason Robeson, Curtis and Anthony taking 1st by over a second. Junior Noah Staten and freshman Casey Haggerty had a great race in the 100 Free as both young men logged 1:02s. Seniors Nick Kenny and Garrett Kromer were sent off in fine fashion as Nick was a part of the winning 200 Medley Relay team and Garrett placed 4th in the 100 Breaststroke. Freshman Andrew Bristol swam to a best time in the 100 Breast of 1:33.82 and fellow freshman Doug Barger did the same in 1:47.04.
Very nice job to all swimmers and divers. Lets get charged up for the CAAC meet in only one and a half weeks. - Coach Townsend


GL vs. Jackson
Tonight we swam to 29 lifetime best swims and set up very well for our final meet of the season vs Ionia. Although we fell to the Jackson Vikings, 54-116, we had a number of great swims in a pool where good swims are hard to come by. The loss drops our record to 4-5 and 3-3 in the conference.
Highlights from the meet start with sophomore Paul Wilkes who dropped 6 seconds in his 200 Free (2:06.70) and another 2 seconds in his 100 Butterfly (1:11.43). Freshman Chris Cornell continues to make a strong push for Rookie of the Year as he recorded two lifetime bests in the 200 Free (2:10.73) and the 500 Free (6:13.28). Brad Bouchard established a strong seed time for the conf