Warsaw Swim Teams Sink Bremen
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
While the Warsaw boys cruised to a 120-62 victory, the girls had a tougher time, but still prevailed, 101.5-82-5.[[In-content Ad]]"They had some good swimmers, and they have some depth too," Warsaw coach Terry Aukeman said of Bremen. "There were a lot of really good races that could have really gone either way tonight."
On top of losing the meet, the Lions also lost a coach in the process.
Citing a lack of time to devote to the team, Bremen coach Ken Olson announced his immediate resignation midway through his eighth year with the Lions, two spent as the diving coach.
"I'm working on master's (degree) in administration (at Bethel College), which takes 150 hours of internship," he said. "I have my two young daughters that are growing, and my wife, which I never get to see - with classes two nights a week, meets two nights a week and practices six nights a week. I tried as hard as I could this year to be able to finish with them, and finish the master's program up, but it's too much. I can't keep all the balls in the air, and that's unfair to them."
First-year assistant coach Katherine Ewers will now take over the Bremen swim program.
"I've given everything I can to the team," Olson, a Winona Lake resident, said. "I know Katie's going to be a great coach. She's going to take them where they need to go, and I feel comfortable enough stepping away and letting her take over."
Prior to stepping down, Olson saw his girls win nine of 12 events Thursday, but still come up 19 points short.
"It's always an interesting meet, because where we're strong they're weak, and where we're weak, they're strong," Olson said.
Using depth, the Lady Tigers found themselves increasing their lead with each event, despite not winning an event after sophomore Leah Moore took the 100 butterfly in 1:02.80, the sixth event of the night.
"We might have been a little more motivated because we had someone to work with," Aukeman said of his female swimmers chasing the Lions all night. "A couple of these races, if we flip-flop a couple of the finishes, it may make it a little bit different of a score. But I told the girls in the meeting before we got back in the pool to cool down, 'I'm happy. I really don't care what the scoreboard says. We swam very well tonight.'"
The Lady Tigers received quite a few personal-best times on the night, which were achieved by Moore, Julianne Divine and Audrey Petro.
While the girls did achieve personal bests, Bremen junior Betsy Bowen, a state qualifier the past two years, had the best scoring night, winning the 200 free (2:01.74) and 100 free (55.31). Bowen was also the anchor leg of Bremen's winning 200 free (1:47.56) and 400 free relay (3:57.23) teams.
The past two years have also seen Warsaw senior Brian Thallemer compete in the boys' state meet, and last night he won the 200 individual medley (2:08.62). As a member of the three relays, he also helped win each of those.
Accompanying Thallemer in individual wins were sophomore Harrison Green (50 free), sophomore Thomas Wack (100 butterfly), junior Andrew Cutshall (100 backstroke) and perhaps the most impressive of all, senior Ben Rankin (meter dive).
Throughout the year, Rankin's steadily kept his diving score over 200 points, and against the Lions, he took first place with 252.30.
"We told him, 'Let's go at it. Let's throw a really good list together and get after it to see what we can do,'" Aukeman said of Rankin's approach. "He got his best score, by far."
Junior Paige Mortakis also took first place on the diving board for Aukeman's girls with a 155.65, while Michael Boyle set a personal best score of 222.65, good for second place behind Rankin on the guy's side.
"This is the first time he broke 200, and he goes 222," Aukeman said of Boyle's night.
Outside of the kids' performances, the officials were also a part of the story, disqualifying a total of seven swimmers for various violations - four on Warsaw and three on Bremen
"They're watching the swimmers, and that's their job," Olson said. "It's not that we're not. We're watching the swimmers, but we're watching for technical things on swimming or where they are in the race. They're doing their job. They're watching for touches and things like that. I don't know what they saw. I can't comment one way or the other. They're the officials and they made the call, and that's the way it is. It just seems kind of odd that there were so many. I don't know if we've had as many DQs in a year, as were called tonight between both teams."
And with this being his last meet, that number of DQs will go down as the most he ever saw as a swim coach - that is unless he has another go at it in the future.
"He's a good coach and has a good group of kids," Aukeman said of Olson. "I wish him the best. We'll see how his kids respond to having a coach resign."
Warsaw is right back in the pool Saturday, traveling to Elkhart Memorial for a Northern Lakes Conference meet at 9:15 a.m.
"It's kind of a hectic week for us with exams and three meets," Aukeman said. "Even with that, I thought we did well tonight."
BOYS
WARSAW 120, BREMEN 62
200 Medley Relay - 1. Warsaw (Mitchell Gauger, Ryan Herman, Brian Thallemer, Harrison Green) 1:49.69, 2. Warsaw (Andrew Cutshall, Reid Swanson, Dominick Cesaretti, Jordan Wadkins) 1:56.71; 200 Free - 1. Ben Fanning (B) 1:50.39, 2. Wesley Craig (W) 2:00.41, 3. Jared Nielsen (B) 2:02.70; 200 IM - 1. Thallemer (W) 2:08.62, 2. Cutshall (W) 2:18.85, 3. Max Carter (W) 2:35.26; 50 Free - 1. Green (W) 25.09, 2. Wadkins (W) 25.42, 3. Jack Jordan (B) 27.01; Diving - 1. Ben Rankin (W) 252.30, 2. Michael Boyle (W) 222..65, 3. Nicolai Thomsen (B) 124.85; 100 Fly - 1. Thomas Wack (W) 1:00.30, 2. Nate Avery (B) 1:01.02, 3. Craig (W) 1:01.98; 100 Free - 1. Tom Zeltwanger (B) 55.37, 2. Green (W) 57.09, 3. Nate Stone (W) 1:01.32; 500 Free - 1. Fanning (B) 5:08.34, 2. Nielsen (B) 5:26.60, 3. Herman (W) 5:34.35; 200 Free Relay - 1. Warsaw (Rankin, Green, Gauger, Thallemer) 1:35.03, 2. Bremen (Avery, Zeltwanger, Nielsen, Fanning) 1:41.17; 100 Back - 1. Cutshall (W) 1:03.15, 2. Carter (W) 1:10.75, 3. Ben Robinson (W) 1:14.11; 100 Breast - 1. Zeltwanger (B) 1:10.53, 2. Herman (W) 1:11.33, 3. Avery (B) 1:13.97; 400 Free Relay - 1. Warsaw (Gauger, Cutshall, Reid Swanson, Thallemer) 3:36.88, 2. Bremen (Avery, Nielsen, Zeltwanger, Fanning) 3:45.51
GIRLS
WARSAW 101.5, BREMEN 82.5
200 Medley Relay - 1. Warsaw (Amanda Miller, Ava Donovan, Leah Moore, Audrey Petro) 2:03.95, 2. Bremen (Paige Fox, Anna Zeltwanger, Leah Fanning, Erica Laudeman) 2:07.69; 200 Free - 1. Betsy Bowen (B) 2:01.74, 2. Brandi Klingerman (B) 2:11.33, 3. Kayla Hutcherson (W) 2:11.91; 200 IM - 1. L. Fanning (B) 2:32.18, 2. Fox (B) 2:34.76, 3. Donovan (W) 2:37.75; 50 Free - 1. Sara Lafferty (B) 26.19, 2. Petro (W) 26.34, 3. Alex Keller (B) 26.64; Diving - 1. Paige Mortakis (W) 155.65, 2. Megan Evilsizor (W) 120.25, 3. Linda Monterrosa (B) 120.15; 100 Fly - 1. L. Moore (W) 1:02.80, 2. Keller (B) 1:06.40, 3. Amy Fanning (B) 1:09.86; 100 Free - 1. Bowen (B) 55.31, 2. Petro (W) 57.31, 3. Laudeman (B) 59.55; 500 Free - 1. Klingerman (B) 5:49.68, 2. Hutcherson (W) 5:53.42, 3. A. Fanning (B) 5:53.54; 200 Free Relay - 1. Bremen (Lafferty, Laudeman, Keller, Bowen) 1:47.56, 2. Warsaw (Jenna Moore, Claire Wack, Marisa Vogel, Hutcherson) 1:52.70; 100 Back - 1. Lafferty (B) 1:08.85, 2. Miller (W) 1:10.29, 3. Sarah Hartle (W) 1:14.57; 100 Breast - 1. Zeltwanger (B) 1:16.72, 2. Donovan (W) 1:19.02, 3. L. Fanning (B) 1:19.58; 400 Free Relay - 1. Bremen (Lafferty, Laudeman, Keller, Bowen) 3:57.23, 2. Warsaw (Hutcherson, Vogel, L. Moore, Petro) 4:01.36
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While the Warsaw boys cruised to a 120-62 victory, the girls had a tougher time, but still prevailed, 101.5-82-5.[[In-content Ad]]"They had some good swimmers, and they have some depth too," Warsaw coach Terry Aukeman said of Bremen. "There were a lot of really good races that could have really gone either way tonight."
On top of losing the meet, the Lions also lost a coach in the process.
Citing a lack of time to devote to the team, Bremen coach Ken Olson announced his immediate resignation midway through his eighth year with the Lions, two spent as the diving coach.
"I'm working on master's (degree) in administration (at Bethel College), which takes 150 hours of internship," he said. "I have my two young daughters that are growing, and my wife, which I never get to see - with classes two nights a week, meets two nights a week and practices six nights a week. I tried as hard as I could this year to be able to finish with them, and finish the master's program up, but it's too much. I can't keep all the balls in the air, and that's unfair to them."
First-year assistant coach Katherine Ewers will now take over the Bremen swim program.
"I've given everything I can to the team," Olson, a Winona Lake resident, said. "I know Katie's going to be a great coach. She's going to take them where they need to go, and I feel comfortable enough stepping away and letting her take over."
Prior to stepping down, Olson saw his girls win nine of 12 events Thursday, but still come up 19 points short.
"It's always an interesting meet, because where we're strong they're weak, and where we're weak, they're strong," Olson said.
Using depth, the Lady Tigers found themselves increasing their lead with each event, despite not winning an event after sophomore Leah Moore took the 100 butterfly in 1:02.80, the sixth event of the night.
"We might have been a little more motivated because we had someone to work with," Aukeman said of his female swimmers chasing the Lions all night. "A couple of these races, if we flip-flop a couple of the finishes, it may make it a little bit different of a score. But I told the girls in the meeting before we got back in the pool to cool down, 'I'm happy. I really don't care what the scoreboard says. We swam very well tonight.'"
The Lady Tigers received quite a few personal-best times on the night, which were achieved by Moore, Julianne Divine and Audrey Petro.
While the girls did achieve personal bests, Bremen junior Betsy Bowen, a state qualifier the past two years, had the best scoring night, winning the 200 free (2:01.74) and 100 free (55.31). Bowen was also the anchor leg of Bremen's winning 200 free (1:47.56) and 400 free relay (3:57.23) teams.
The past two years have also seen Warsaw senior Brian Thallemer compete in the boys' state meet, and last night he won the 200 individual medley (2:08.62). As a member of the three relays, he also helped win each of those.
Accompanying Thallemer in individual wins were sophomore Harrison Green (50 free), sophomore Thomas Wack (100 butterfly), junior Andrew Cutshall (100 backstroke) and perhaps the most impressive of all, senior Ben Rankin (meter dive).
Throughout the year, Rankin's steadily kept his diving score over 200 points, and against the Lions, he took first place with 252.30.
"We told him, 'Let's go at it. Let's throw a really good list together and get after it to see what we can do,'" Aukeman said of Rankin's approach. "He got his best score, by far."
Junior Paige Mortakis also took first place on the diving board for Aukeman's girls with a 155.65, while Michael Boyle set a personal best score of 222.65, good for second place behind Rankin on the guy's side.
"This is the first time he broke 200, and he goes 222," Aukeman said of Boyle's night.
Outside of the kids' performances, the officials were also a part of the story, disqualifying a total of seven swimmers for various violations - four on Warsaw and three on Bremen
"They're watching the swimmers, and that's their job," Olson said. "It's not that we're not. We're watching the swimmers, but we're watching for technical things on swimming or where they are in the race. They're doing their job. They're watching for touches and things like that. I don't know what they saw. I can't comment one way or the other. They're the officials and they made the call, and that's the way it is. It just seems kind of odd that there were so many. I don't know if we've had as many DQs in a year, as were called tonight between both teams."
And with this being his last meet, that number of DQs will go down as the most he ever saw as a swim coach - that is unless he has another go at it in the future.
"He's a good coach and has a good group of kids," Aukeman said of Olson. "I wish him the best. We'll see how his kids respond to having a coach resign."
Warsaw is right back in the pool Saturday, traveling to Elkhart Memorial for a Northern Lakes Conference meet at 9:15 a.m.
"It's kind of a hectic week for us with exams and three meets," Aukeman said. "Even with that, I thought we did well tonight."
BOYS
WARSAW 120, BREMEN 62
200 Medley Relay - 1. Warsaw (Mitchell Gauger, Ryan Herman, Brian Thallemer, Harrison Green) 1:49.69, 2. Warsaw (Andrew Cutshall, Reid Swanson, Dominick Cesaretti, Jordan Wadkins) 1:56.71; 200 Free - 1. Ben Fanning (B) 1:50.39, 2. Wesley Craig (W) 2:00.41, 3. Jared Nielsen (B) 2:02.70; 200 IM - 1. Thallemer (W) 2:08.62, 2. Cutshall (W) 2:18.85, 3. Max Carter (W) 2:35.26; 50 Free - 1. Green (W) 25.09, 2. Wadkins (W) 25.42, 3. Jack Jordan (B) 27.01; Diving - 1. Ben Rankin (W) 252.30, 2. Michael Boyle (W) 222..65, 3. Nicolai Thomsen (B) 124.85; 100 Fly - 1. Thomas Wack (W) 1:00.30, 2. Nate Avery (B) 1:01.02, 3. Craig (W) 1:01.98; 100 Free - 1. Tom Zeltwanger (B) 55.37, 2. Green (W) 57.09, 3. Nate Stone (W) 1:01.32; 500 Free - 1. Fanning (B) 5:08.34, 2. Nielsen (B) 5:26.60, 3. Herman (W) 5:34.35; 200 Free Relay - 1. Warsaw (Rankin, Green, Gauger, Thallemer) 1:35.03, 2. Bremen (Avery, Zeltwanger, Nielsen, Fanning) 1:41.17; 100 Back - 1. Cutshall (W) 1:03.15, 2. Carter (W) 1:10.75, 3. Ben Robinson (W) 1:14.11; 100 Breast - 1. Zeltwanger (B) 1:10.53, 2. Herman (W) 1:11.33, 3. Avery (B) 1:13.97; 400 Free Relay - 1. Warsaw (Gauger, Cutshall, Reid Swanson, Thallemer) 3:36.88, 2. Bremen (Avery, Nielsen, Zeltwanger, Fanning) 3:45.51
GIRLS
WARSAW 101.5, BREMEN 82.5
200 Medley Relay - 1. Warsaw (Amanda Miller, Ava Donovan, Leah Moore, Audrey Petro) 2:03.95, 2. Bremen (Paige Fox, Anna Zeltwanger, Leah Fanning, Erica Laudeman) 2:07.69; 200 Free - 1. Betsy Bowen (B) 2:01.74, 2. Brandi Klingerman (B) 2:11.33, 3. Kayla Hutcherson (W) 2:11.91; 200 IM - 1. L. Fanning (B) 2:32.18, 2. Fox (B) 2:34.76, 3. Donovan (W) 2:37.75; 50 Free - 1. Sara Lafferty (B) 26.19, 2. Petro (W) 26.34, 3. Alex Keller (B) 26.64; Diving - 1. Paige Mortakis (W) 155.65, 2. Megan Evilsizor (W) 120.25, 3. Linda Monterrosa (B) 120.15; 100 Fly - 1. L. Moore (W) 1:02.80, 2. Keller (B) 1:06.40, 3. Amy Fanning (B) 1:09.86; 100 Free - 1. Bowen (B) 55.31, 2. Petro (W) 57.31, 3. Laudeman (B) 59.55; 500 Free - 1. Klingerman (B) 5:49.68, 2. Hutcherson (W) 5:53.42, 3. A. Fanning (B) 5:53.54; 200 Free Relay - 1. Bremen (Lafferty, Laudeman, Keller, Bowen) 1:47.56, 2. Warsaw (Jenna Moore, Claire Wack, Marisa Vogel, Hutcherson) 1:52.70; 100 Back - 1. Lafferty (B) 1:08.85, 2. Miller (W) 1:10.29, 3. Sarah Hartle (W) 1:14.57; 100 Breast - 1. Zeltwanger (B) 1:16.72, 2. Donovan (W) 1:19.02, 3. L. Fanning (B) 1:19.58; 400 Free Relay - 1. Bremen (Lafferty, Laudeman, Keller, Bowen) 3:57.23, 2. Warsaw (Hutcherson, Vogel, L. Moore, Petro) 4:01.36
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