Warsaw's Taylor Breaks Conference Record

SYRACUSE - While Northridge was the team to beat, Warsaw Community High School senior Nate Taylor turned in a pair of impressive individual performances at Saturday's Northern Lakes Conference boys swim meet.

On a day when the Raiders easily outdistanced themselves from the rest of the eight-team field, winning the conference championship for the eighth consecutive year, Taylor set a new conference record and was one-tenth of a second off another NLC Meet record as he led the Tigers to a third-place team finish.

"He sets a real good example with his work ethic and the time he puts in," Warsaw coach Terry Aukeman said of Taylor, who will continue his swimming career at Purdue University. "He's a good guy to have around. He knows how to work hard and sets a good example."

Taylor's hard work again paid off Saturday, as he broke a 12-year-old NLC Meet record in the 500 freestyle with his first-place time of 4:45.95.

The previous record of 4:46.94 was set in 1994 by Wawasee's Andy Bigler.

Taylor claimed Warsaw's only other first-place finish of the meet with his time of 59.22 seconds in the 100 breaststroke, the event in which he is the defending state champion.

Northridge, which hasn't lost a boys or girls swim meet the past five years, won Saturday's meet at the Wawasee Natatorium with 337.5 points, followed by Wawasee with 276 points and Warsaw with 217 points.

"I'm pretty happy," Aukeman said of his team's performance. "I thought we swam well."

Concord finished fourth as a team with 184 points, followed by Elkhart Memorial (121), Northwood (75.5), Plymouth (65) and Goshen (58).

The host Warriors took first place in event No. 9 of the 12-event meet, as the foursome of seniors Mike Gunderson and Aaron Phillippe and juniors Chris Szynal and Cory Smith won the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:31.02.

Phillippe swam a second-place time of 1:47.63 in the 200 freestyle, just behind Concord freshman Alex Burtch, who won with a time of 1:47.44.

Warrior sophomore Tyler Wear finished second in the 100 backstroke, finishing with a time of 56.27 seconds.

Wawasee senior Jordan Rantz came away with a second-place finish in the 100 breatstroke, swimming a time of 1:00.40 to finish behind Warsaw's Taylor.

The Warriors' fourth runner-up finish of the meet came in the final event of the day, as senior Andy Wolf teammed up with classmates Gunderson, Rantz and Phillippe to swim a time of 3:23.43 in the 400 freestyle relay.

Warsaw's only second-place finish of the meet came in the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay, in which the team of seniors Kyle Marose and Taylor, junior Seth Smoker and sophomore Ryan Marose swam a time of 1:40.33.

Northridge won the event with a time of 1:39.88.

Northridge won or tied for first in six of the 12 events.

Elkhart Memorial claimed two first-place finishes, while Concord and NorthWood each had a first-place finish.

NorthWood's first-place finish was a tie in 100 freestyle between Panther sophomore Todd Byrket and Northridge junior Kevin Troyer. Both swimmers completed the event in a time of 48.49 seconds.

Warsaw is in action Tuesday when it hosts Fort Wayne Snider, while Wawasee hosts East Noble Tuesday.

Team standings - Northridge (NR) 337.5, Wawasee (Wawa) 276, Warsaw (War) 217, Concord (Con) 184, Elkhart Memorial (EM) 121, NorthWood (NW) 75.5, Plymouth (Ply) 65, Goshen (Gosh) 58

200 medley relay - 1. Northridge (Griffin, Troyer, Rushlow, Williamson) 1:39.88, 2. Warsaw 1:40.33, 3. Wawasee 1:40.59, 4. Concord 1:42.94, 5. Plymouth 1:51.38, 6. Goshen 1:52.68

200 freestyle - 1. Burtch (Con) 1:47.44, 2. Phillippe (Wawa) 1:47.63, 3. Grubaugh (NR) 1:50.74, 4. Hembree (NR) 1:51.90, 5. Hoffman (Wawa) 1:52.11, 6. Fenech (NR) 1:56.09

1:56.09

200 IM - 1. Troyer (NR) 1:59.27, 2. Wenger (NR) 2:03.22, 3. Hanson (NR) 2:03.97, 4. Durkin (Con) 2:07.33, 5. Gunderson (Wawa) 2:09.17, 6. Smith (Wawa) 2:09.28

50 freestyle - 1. Battjes (EM) :22.01, 2. Byrket (NW) :22.32, 3. Williamson (NR) :22.52, 4. Rushlow (NR) :22.63, 5. Szynal (Wawa) :22.93, 6. Rantz (Wawa) :23.12

Diving - 1. Williams (EM) 444.40, 2. Moore (EM) 39.65, 3. Wishart (War) 358.55, 4. Wilson (Warsaw) 340.50, 5. Thompson (Wawa) 330.95, 6. Hollar (NW) 301.65

100 butterfly - 1. Rushlow (NR) :53.46, 2. Griffin (NR) :53.96, 3. Szynal (Wawa) :54.57, 4. Wenger (NR) :55.27, 5. K. Marose (War) :55.28, 6. Rose (Con) :57.38

100 freestyle - 1. (tie) Byrket (NW), Troyer (NR) :48.49, 3. Battjes (Em) :48.50, 4. Smith (Wawa) :49.49, 5. Williamson (NR) :51.27, 6. Gunderson (Wawa) :51.28

500 freestyle - 1. Taylor (War) 4:45.95 (new meet record), 2. Burtch (Con) 4:49.75, 3. Hembree (NR) 4:59.13, 4. Grubaugh (NR) 4:59.51, 5. Phillippe (Wawa) 5:01.57, 6. Hoffman (Wawa) 5:18.27

200 freestyle relay - 1. Wawasee (Gunderson, Szynal, Smith, Phillippe) 1:31.02, 2. Northridge 1:32.91, 3. Elkhart Memorial 1:33.88, 4. Warsaw 1:35.79, 5. Concord 1:38.54, 6. Goshen 1:39.14

100 backstroke - 1. Griffin (NR) :55.72, 2. Wear (Wawa) :56.27, 3. K. Marose (War) :57.56, 4. Thallemer (War) :57.86, 5. Rose (Con) :58.99, 6. Wickens (Ply) :59.06

100 breaststroke - 1. Taylor (War) :59.22, 2. Rantz (Wawa) 1:00.40, 3. Durkin (Con) 1:02.93, 4. McCurley (NR) 1:05.68, 5. Hanson (NR) 1:06.00, 6. Schoeffler (Con) 1:07.65

400 freestyle relay - 1. Northridge (Rushlow, Hembree, Griffin, Troyer) 3:18.26, 2. Wawasee 3:23.43, 3. Warsaw 3:23.46, 4. Concord 3:31.27, 5. Elkhart Memorial 3:34.31, 6. Goshen 3:52.41