The Milan News-Leader
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Big Reds cruise past Riverview, look forward
Milan wins dual meet handily, 62-23, despite being 'a little flat'
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 17, 2008
The Milan boys' swim team might not have made many state cuts or set a ton of new lifetime bests in their dual meet last Thursday at Riverview.
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But head coach Dan Heikka wasn't too worried about it, noting that the Pirates' smaller pool and the unusually long drive to Riverview meant that he wasn't expecting blazing times — and that his Big Reds still came away with a decisive victory, 63-26 in their only dual meet against a Huron League opponent this season.
"I think we did well," Heikka said. "We had some nice swims. But we also felt a little flat. It's hard to draw parallels because the context is so different. It's hard to say too much about it."
What Heikka was confident about saying is that several of the team's least experienced swimmers, freshmen new to the sport this season like Joseph Martin and Steven Howell, have shown that they're ready to help the team as it enters the season's busiest stretch.
"The new kids to the sport look a lot better, more confident," Heikka said. "They're showing they can handle what these meets are about, and that's what's important for these next couple of dual meets."
Heikka also said that some of the times from Riverview, while not as impressive as they could be on their face, actually show that the team is ready to make a series of state cuts as they continue to benefit from their holiday training and battle quicker swimmers in upcoming meets.
"I think when we see some top-end competition over the next few weeks, we're going to get those cuts," he said.
The Big Reds started the Riverview meet in style as the "A" 200-yard medley relay team of Kray Cornelison, Dylan Shearer, Ian Pendleton, and Justin Beaudrie and the "B" team of Tyler DiGesare, Westen Schroeder, Tyler Fisher, and Zack Olson finished 1-2. In the 200 freestyle, Tim Hochradel took first with Trevor Pratt finishing fifth in his first meet for the Big Reds since returning from injury.
Pendleton swam a state-cut time of 2:11.96 to win the 200 individual medley in a rare appearance for him in the IM. In the 50 freestyle, Cornelsion and Beaudrie swam 24.00 and 25.00 to finish first and third, respectively. Pendleton (1:00 flat) and freshman Fisher (1:02.2) took first and second in the 100 butterfly, with Fisher dropping more than a second-and-a-half off his previous best time. John Nuckels took third.
"We're really excited about what he's doing," Heikka said of Fisher's surprising time.
Beaudrie set a new lifetime best of 54.67 while winning the 100 freestyle. Hochradel came within 1.2 seconds of a new state cut in the 500 freestyle, winning the event in 5:18.14. Shearer placed second in 5:53.2 in his first attempt at the 500 at the varsity level.
The Big Reds narrowly missed yet another cut when Olson, Pendleton, Matt Smith, and Beaudrie won the 200 freestyle in 1:38.29. Heikka said the "B" relay of Pratt, Martin, Howell, and Mark Hokeson also had a "nice swim." Fisher (in a personal-best 1:08.65) and DiGesare finished 1-2 in the 100 backstroke while fellow freshman Shearer won the 100 breaststroke in a personal-best 1:15.49. Jeremy Robison also set a new lifetime best in the event, swimming 1:24.80 for third.
In the 400 freestyle relay Hochradel, Olson, Smith, and Beaudrie combined to swim a first-place time of 3:43.50, with the "B" team of Francisco Contreras, Martin, Howell, and DiGesare placing third and the "C" relay of Myles Martin, Schroeder, Hokeson, and Fisher close behind them.
After swimming a tri-meet against third-ranked Tecumseh and Division 1 Monroe Tuesday night, Milan will face Chelsea at home next Tuesday.
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