SANDUSKY – Having a team so deep in capable swimmers, young and old, that finding a place for them all to be able to compete is a problem a lot of coaches would like to have.
That is the situation Ross swim coaches Phil Moran and Tina Moses are grappling with. They have to strike the right balance between getting everyone enough work to continue individual progress in their events, finding which events everyone is best-suited to compete in, all the while making sure everyone has at least something to do.
While both coaches did some tinkering with their lineups Tuesday evening, the result of the duel meet was as-expected: another win for both teams as the boys defeated Sandusky Perkins 117-98 and the Lady Giants won 154-64.
“We could have loaded the meet and scored a lot more points, but what purpose does that necessarily serve?” boys coach Phil Moran said. “…We gave a lot of swims to the younger kids and they did fairly well. We had quite a few events we didn’t get first but we were right in there.
“…It puts a little more pressure on the younger kids to step up, and that’s not a bad thing.”
Putting the onus of the meet on the shoulders of the younger and less-experienced swimmers gives Moran and his coaches a chance to see how they perform with a little extra pressure, which could be helpful later in the season should a young swimmer be called upon to fill in for a veteran out ill or nursing an injury.
“A lot of these guys are having to adjust to swimming in a high school meet where the events come bang, bang, back-to-back,” Moran said. “Some of them came up through club swimming and they might have a 30-minute break where they can cool down and warm back up before they swim. Perkins doesn’t have a warm-up/cool-down pool so these guys have lactic acid build up in their body and had to go through a lot quicker pace and tempo than they’re used to and that’s a challenging experience for a lot of them.”
The boys had first-place finishes from the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays, with Tate Williams, William Taylor and Andrew Evans swimming on all three with Dylan Weisenauer the fourth leg in the 200 events and Mitchell Mullholand taking part in the 400.
Williams won the 50 freestyle while Evans won the 100 freestyle and Zach Farrier won the 1-meter diving.
“Some of my seniors swam well, Trey Ickes and Oliver Ellis swam better and had some (time) drops,” Moran said. “Some younger guys had some improvement, I put them in events I’m not sure they’ve ever swam, certainly not in high school.”
As for the girls’ competition, Olivia DeRodes and Alexis Prenzlin each won a pair of individual events. DeRodes won the 50 freestyle and the 100 backstroke while Prenzlin took first in the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke.
Rilee Overmyer won the 100 freestyle while MaKennah Fitzgerald won the 200 freestyle.
The Lady Giants also won all three relays. Fitzgerald, Lauren Zimmerman, AnneMarie Moses and Mara Brown combined to win the 200 medley relay; Brown, Overmyer, Zimmerman and Fitzgerald won the 200 freestyle; and Faith Zimmerman, Shelby Level, Overmyer and DeRodes won the 400 freestyle.
Boys results
Team scores: Fremont Ross 117, Perkins 98
First place finishes:
200 medley relay: Fremont Ross (Dylan Weisenauer, Andrew Evans, Tate Williams, William Taylor), 1:44.27
50 freestyle: Fremont Ross, Tate Williams, 24.54
1 meter diving: Fremont Ross, Zach Farrier, 166.1
100 freestyle: Fremont Ross, Andrew Evans, 50.65
200 freestyle relay: Fremont Ross (Dylan Weisenauer, William Taylor, Tate Williams, Andrew Evans), 1:34.97
400 freestyle relay: Fremont Ross (Tate Williams, Mitchell Mullholand, William Taylor, Andrew Evans), 3:28.27
Girls results
Team scores: Fremont Ross 154, Perkins 64
First place finishes:
200 medley relay: Fremont Ross (MaKennah Fitzgerald, Lauren Zimmerman, AnneMarie Moses, Mara Brown), 1:55.98
200 freestyle: Fremont Ross, MaKennah Fitzgerald, 2:12.62
50 freestyle: Fremont Ross, Olivia DeRodes, 25.55
100 butterfly: Fremont Ross, Alexis Prenzlin, 1:03.38
100 freestyle: Fremont Ross, Rilee Overmyer, 1:01.49
200 freestyle relay: Fremont Ross (Mara Brown, Rilee Overmyer, Lauren Zimmerman, MaKennah Fitzgerald), 1:50.26
100 backstroke: Fremont Ross, Olivia DeRodes, 1:06.19
100 breaststroke: Fremont Ross, Alexis Prenzlin, 1:09.79
400 freestyle relay: Fremont Ross (Faith Zimmerman, Shelby Level, Rilee Overmyer, Olivia DeRodes), 4:00.89