Emerson, Pomfret lead state swim contingent
The Wildcat boys swimming and diving team will be well represented at this weekend’s WIAA State Championships in Madison.By: Bob Burrows, River Falls Journal
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The Wildcat boys swimming and diving team will be well represented at this weekend’s WIAA State Championships in Madison.
The Cats will be sending four individuals and two relay teams to the state meet, which gets underway with diving competition at 2:30 p.m. Friday. Wildcat senior and first-year diver Ben Lowery will be among the 16 competitors after placing fourth at last week’s sectional in Stevens Point with a score of 265.85.
Joining Lowery at state as individual qualifiers will be senior Eric Emerson in the 50 and 100 freestyles, junior Roland Pomfret in the 500 freestyle, and sophomore Tim Weller in the 100 backstroke.
Also competing at state will be the Cats’ 200 medley relay team of Weller, senior Troy Veith, sophomore Andrew Yelken and junior Navid Rahgozar and the 400 freestyle relay team of senior Mason Saari, Yelken, Pomfret and Emerson, who set a new school record at last week’s sectional meet with a second place time of 3 minutes, 25.9 seconds.
Wildcat head coach Brady McAdams said every Wildcat who competed in the sectional meet set a new personal best time.
“The guys have really worked hard this season,” he said. “Since Nov. 17 when the season kicked off, the guys have swum over 120 miles and done well over 10,000 push-ups to get ready for this meet. There were days that I know each one them didn’t really feel like swimming; it’s hard to get up every day, manage schoolwork, family life, a grueling practice schedule and just being a teenager. This team has shown the character of men they will become and I think that is something their parents can be proud of. ”
Emerson and Pomfret each won sectional championships Saturday. Emerson won the 100 freestyle with a time of 48.41 seconds, and also took second in the 50 freestyle in 22.0 seconds. This is the fourth straight year Emerson has qualified for the state meet. He’s finished third in the 100 freestyle the last two years and enters this year’s meet with the second fastest qualifying time.
Pomfret won the 500 freestyle in 5:07.65 to qualify for his second state meet. He was a member of the Wildcats state-qualifying 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams in 2008.
Weller earned his first trip to state as an extra qualifier with fifth place time of 59.18 seconds in the 100 backstroke Saturday while the Cats’ 200 medley relay team of Weller, Veith, Yelken and Rahgozar qualified with a second place time of 1:48.1.
Yelken fell short of qualifying in the 100 butterfly despite posting a third place time of 58.73 seconds. Sean Helling also came close after taking fifth in diving behind Lowery with a score of 220.9 while Pomfret finished fifth in the 200 freestyle in 1:54.66.
The Cats finished fourth in the final team standings with 284 points. Ashwaubenon won the sectional team title with 399.5 followed by Berlin/Green Lake with 305 and Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door with 294.
Tags: sports, wildcat, swimming
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