DUNLAP - Chants and cheers were mainly directed at the Northridge and Concord girls swim teams Saturday at Concord High School, and they were much deserved.
At the Northern Lakes Conference Championships, Concord had hoped to snap Northridge's stranglehold on the NLC, but failed as the Lady Raiders claimed their ninth-straight title with 325 points to the home team's 308.Showcasing the distance in talent, the Warsaw Lady Tigers placed third at the meet with half the points of the top two teams, racking up151 points.
"It's fun to watch when you know it's going to be close meets," Warsaw coach Terry Aukeman said about watching Northridge and Concord duke it out.
Wawasee placed sixth at the competition with 114 points, but did have sophomore Brittany Robinson claim two first-place finishes, winning the 50 free (24.29 seconds) and 100 fly (56.83).
The two titles gave Robinson four conference championships in four attempts, as she won the same two events last season.
"She was happy with the races," Wawasee coach, and the mother of Brittany, Julie Robinson said. "She had a little bit more competition in the 100 fly, and she was really looking to race that. Hopefully at sectionals she'll have that."
The only part of the meet Robinson may not have liked was the time between competitions.
Because of technical problems at Concord, the times took a little longer to be computed, leaving swimmers standing around a little more than usual.
"A lot of the girls went real close to their times on Thursday night," Julie Robinson said about the prelims two days earlier. "Some might have had a few tenths added, but when you have that long of a wait, it takes the adrenaline out."
While he didn't have any champions, Aukeman was pleased with senior Audrey Petro and junior Leah Moore.
Petro finished the day taking fourth in the 50 free (25.21) and fifth in the 100 free (56.29), while Moore was fourth in the 200 IM (2:17.20) and 100 fly (1:00.32).
"Leah Moore and Audrey Petro did real well," Aukeman said. "They were the two individuals we had in the finals for their two events, and then were in relays. A lot of the girls either stayed real close to their time, or dropped time."
Warsaw and Wawasee will now get ready for sectional action Feb. 4, with Wawasee travelling back to Concord and Warsaw hosting its own.
"It's hard when you're swimming in a sectional with Concord and Northridge," Robinson said. "Once again, it's going to be about each kid trying to do their personal best."
Luckily for Aukeman, he won't be worrying about those two teams, but there will be other competition.
"Plymouth comes in, and they're strong, with Kenzie Miller swimming," Aukeman said. "Logansport also comes in and they're strong too. Columbia City also has a couple of girls, along with relays, so with the mixture of the teams, we'll just see. I think we're deeper than most others, but we'll get our lineups ready and see where we're at."
