Tigers, Warriors Settle For Split

Almost everything went as expected at Tuesday's swim meet between Warsaw and Wawasee.

The Wawasee girls won 112.5-75.5. The Warsaw boys won 119-67. The teams that won were the teams favored to win. The Warsaw boys improved to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference.

What didn't go as expected was the spread in the boys meet. Neither Wawasee coach Roger Karns nor Warsaw coach Chris LaLonde dreamed the Tigers would smoke the Warriors by 52 points.

The Tigers finished 1-2-3 in two events, the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke. Warsaw took control early, taking two of the top three places in three of the first four events. The biggest was the sweep in the 200 individual medley by Mike McCammon, Justin VanLaeken and Evan Mock.

After the fourth event - the 50 freestyle - Warsaw led 41-21.

"I definitely thought (the final) was a big spread," LaLonde said. "After the 50, I thought (Wawasee) would be ahead of us by four or five at least. Then we'd catch them with our diving. I had no idea we'd be that far ahead."

Neither did Karns.

"On the boys side, there's no question Warsaw was going to be a tough team for us to beat," he said. "Warsaw's tough, conference favorites without a doubt. I'm really disappointed by the mental approach by our boys tonight. I thought we lacked intensity. I thought we lacked desire. That's taking nothing away from Warsaw, because they are clearly the better team. They did an outstanding job, their# boys were ready to swim, they were focused, and they were pumped up. Everything our kids were not.

"(I expected the score to be) closer than that. Warsaw swam great. But we have to do better than that. That's all there is to it."

Nick Leininger won two events for the Tigers, the 200 freestyle (1:56.56) and 100 butterfly (59.71 seconds).

"I sort of switched my lineup around, mixed it up with their times and our times," LaLonde said. "I think that caught them off guard. Our guys swam really well - we had a lot of personal best (times).

"The 200 free is what surprised me. Nick Leininger just came through. He'd broken two minutes only one time, and he swam a 1:56.56."

In the girls meet, Wawasee's Laura Karns, Jenny Marty and Laura Lundin won two individual events each.

Karns won the 200 freestyle (2:06.20) and 500 freestyle (5:45.13). Marty dismantled the competition and cruised to a 16-second win in the 200 individual medley (2:20.85) and a five-second win in the 100 butterfly (1:02.07). Lundin won the 50 freestyle (25.63 seconds) and the 100 freestyle (56.36 seconds).

"I thought our girls did a really nice job," Karns, who was still preoccupied by his boys' performances, said. "We had some good swims."

The Warsaw girls dropped to 6-4 overall and 2-3 in the NLC, while the Wawasee girls improved to 7-4 overall and 2-3 in the NLC.

The Wawasee boys dropped to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the NLC.

The Warsaw boys have one NLC dual meet left, with Northridge. If the Tigers win that, they will win the NLC dual meet portion of the season.

GIRLS: WAWASEE 112.5, WARSAW 73.5

Records: Warsaw 6-4, 2-3 NLC; Wawasee 7-4, 2-3 NLC

200 medley relay - 1. Wawasee (Carrie Grothaus, Jane Wamsley, Jenny Marty, Kristi Martin) 2:00.91, 2. Warsaw (Katie Beehler, Meaghan McCammon, Hillary Barlow, Jaci Thallemer) 2:03.99, 3. Wawasee (Tami Miller, Jenna Rantz, Vannessa Amburgy, Jenny Butt) 2:07.18

200 freestyle - 1. Laura Karns (WAW) 2:06.20, 2. Meagan Jones (WAR) 2:07.82, 3. Thallemer (WAR) 2:15.16

200 individual medley -Ê1. Marty (WAW) 2:20.85, 2. Becky Cook (WAR) 2:36.39, 3. McCammon (WAR) 2:36.44

50 freestyle - 1. Laura Lundin (WAW) :25.63, 2. Beehler (WAR) :26.77, 3. Martin (WAW) :27.06

diving -Ê1. Jaime Conn (WAW) 192.55, 2. Jennifer Keirn (WAR) 162.45, 3. Jessica Cooper (WAW) 145.75

100 butterfly -Ê1. Marty (WAW) 1:02.07, 2. Barlow (WAR) 1:07.16, 3. Buffy Feinstein (WAR) 1:13.56

100 freestyle - 1. Lundin (WAW) :56.36, 2. Jones (WAR) :58.95, 3. Martin (WAW) 1:01.76

500 freestyle - 1. Karns (WAW) 5:45.13, 2. (Tie) Gennie Brissette (WAW) 5:55.19/Thallemer 5:55.19

200 freestyle relay - 1. Wawasee (Martin, Karns, Marty, Lundin) 1:44.46, 2. Warsaw (Kathryn Masur, Barlow, Jones, Beehler) 1:49.83, 3. Warsaw (Feinstein, Cook, Sarah Wandland, Sarah Noggle) 1:58.64

100 backstroke -1. Beehler (WAR) 1:03.94, 2. Miller (WAW) 1:07.37, 3. Grothaus (WAW) 1:07.80

100 breaststroke - 1. Jane Wamsley (WAW) 1:16.85, 2. Stephanie Shivers (WAW) 1:17.56, 3. Rantz (WAW) 1:18.82

400 freestyle relay -Ê1. Wawasee (Lundin, Karns, Butt, Amburgy) 4:04.95, 2. Warsaw (Melissa Smith, Thallemer, McCammon, Jones) 4:16.55, 3. Warsaw (Noggle, Cook, Rachel Waites, Feinstein) 4:23.43

BOYS: WARSAW 119, WAWASEE 67

Records: Warsaw 8-0, 5-0 NLC; Wawasee 4-2, 3-2 NLC

200 medley relay -Ê1. Warsaw (Adam Helfrich, John Sincroft, Mike McCammon, Justin Lowrance) 1:47.69, 2. Wawasee (Kyle Metcalf, Rusty VanLue, Andrew Thornburg, Adam Brown) 1:50.44, 3. Warsaw (Matt Smith, Zach Scheetz, Brian Smith, Mike Crowl) 1:55.71

200 freestyle - 1. Nick Leininger (WAR) 1:56.56, 2. Bruno Amaral (WAW) 1:57.26, 3. Dan Cone (WAW) 1:58.33

200 individual medley -Ê1. McCammon (WAR) 2:11.30, 2. Justin VanLaeken (WAR) 2:16.43, 3. Evan Mock (WAR) 2:17.49

50 freestyle - 1. Brown (WAW) :23.74, 2. J. Lowrance (WAR) :23.80, 3. Corban Quance (WAR) :24.40

diving - 1. Kevin Cowan (WAR) 223.75, 2. Drew Scholl (WAR) 211.10, 3. Chad Thorson (WAW) 194.70

100 butterfly - 1. Leininger (WAR) :59.71, 2. McCammon (WAR) :59.94, 3. Thornburg (WAW) 1:02.18

100 freestyle - 1. Cone (WAW) :52.65, 2. J. Lowrance (WAR) :54.40, 3. VanLaeken (WAR) :54.48

500 freestyle - 1. Jed Wandland (WAR) 5:26.34, 2. Mock (WAR) 5:32.90, 3. Amaral (WAW) 5:40.20

200 freestyle relay - 1. Wawasee (Thorson, Cone, Amaral, Brown) 1:36.03, 2. Warsaw (J. Lowrance, Quance, VanLaeken, Leininger) 1:36.58, 3. Warsaw (Crowl, Scheetz, Aaron Lowrance, Wandland) 1:41.56

100 backstroke - 1. Helfrich (WAR) 1:00.24, 2. Shawn Ruegner (WAR) 1:04.03, 3. A. Lowrance (WAR) 1:04.41

100 breaststroke - 1. Brown (WAW) 1:04.91, 2. Sincroft (WAR) 1:07.34, 3. VanLue (WAW) 1:08.68

400 freestyle relay - 1. Warsaw (Helfrich, VanLaeken, Leininger, McCammon) 3:36.93, 2. Wawasee (Cone, Amaral, Thornburg, Metcalf) 3:43.51, 3. Warsaw (Quance, Mock, A. Lowrance, Wandland) 3:44.02