Wawasee Dominating NLC Competition

Impressed? Don't be.

Fourteen of those 22 qualified in the top six places.

Now you can be impressed.

"This is a really strong club," Wawasee coach Roger Karns said. "We're pretty happy."

The story was a little different for the Warsaw Tigers, who just hoped to compete with Northridge for second place.

"We'll be close with Northridge," Warsaw coach Chris LaLonde said. "The guys are working hard, and they swam pretty good."

Wawasee started the meet strong, capturing first place in the 200 medley relay. Warsaw placed fifth.

In the 200 freestyle, Wawasee's Marcelo Azenha qualified first and teammate Dan Cone fifth. Warsaw's Alex Wood qualified third and teammate Nick Leininger ninth.

Wawasee's Ryan Harper was seeded second in the 200 individual medley, but he surprised the pack with an impressive 2:03.19 swim to qualify first. Teammates Andrew Thornburg and Kyle Metcalf placed fourth and seventh respectively. Mike McCammon, Shawn Ruegner and Justin VanLaeken qualified for the Tigers.

Azenha took first prize in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.43 seconds, 4/10 of a second faster than his seeded time. Metcalf and Jamie Corn also qualified for the finals. Leininger and Nick Wood qualified for Warsaw.

Wawasee's Ryan Moore took top billing in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.8 seconds, and David Close placed ninth.

Warsaw's Alex Wood qualified first in the 500 with a time of 4:57.71. Jed Wandland and Evan Mock also qualified for the finals for the Tigers. For Wawasee, Thornburg, Cone and Brad Hursh will swim in the finals.

Wawasee and Warsaw were in a dogfight for fifth place in the 200 freestyle relay. Warsaw edged Wawasee with a time of 1:38.18.

Harper qualified first in the 100 backstroke, six seconds ahead of the rest of the swimmers. Corn and Joe Baumgartner also qualified for the Warriors. The Tigers qualified McCammon, Ruegner and Rob Farrar.

Wawasee qualified first in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, with a time of 3:26.29. Warsaw qualified third.

The stage is set for Saturday's finals. A tale of two teams. Wawasee powering its way to the top of the Northern Lakes Conference. Warsaw treading water, hoping to get second place.

The boys' finals begin at 7:30 p.m. at Wawasee Middle School.

NLC PRELIMS

Top six times:

200 medley relay - 1. Wawasee 1:42.49, 2. Plymouth 1:48.48, 3. Northridge 1:48.88, 4. Goshen 1:49.20, 5. Warsaw 1:53.33, 6. Concord 1:53.56

200 freestyle relay - 1. Marcelo Azenha (WAW) 1:46.79, 2. Sam Huff (PLY) 1:49.23, 3. Alex Wood (WAR) 1:49.28, 4. Matt Leichty (NR) 1:57.41, 5. Dan Cone (WAW) 1:58.14, 6. Brad Schrock (NR) 1:58.15

200 individual medley - 1. Ryan Harper (WAW) 2:03.19, 2. Chris McNair (NR) 2:09.96, 3. Seth Bontrager (CON) 2:10.57, 4. Andrew Thornburg (WAW) 2:12.45, 5. Mike Richie (NR) 2:12.50, 6. Mike McCammon (WAR) 2:12.51

50 freestyle - 1. Kyle Richter (PLY) :22.31, 2. Ryan Moore (WAW) :22.69, 3. Zach Smith (NR) :22.96, 4. Martin Bentley (NW) :23.03, 5. William Wallach (GOS) :23.17, 6. Adam Brown (WAW) :23.37

100 butterfly - 1. Marcelo Azenha (WAW) :53.43, 2. Sam Huff (PLY) :55.04, 3. Chris McNair (NR) :57.19, 4. Adam Coppens (GOS) :58.83, 5. Seth Bontrager (CON) 1:00.17, 6. Dan Hochstetler (GOS) 1:01.26

100 freestyle - 1. Ryan Moore (WAW) :49.80, 2. William Wallach (GOS) :50.90, 3. Martin Bentley (NW) :51.03, 4. Derek Karpinski (CON) :51.67, 5. Brad Schrock (NR) :52.46, 6. Scott Simpson (GOS) :52.71

500 freestyle - 1. Alex Wood (WAR) 4:57.71, 2. Matt Leichty (NR) 5:26.53, 3. Andrew Thornburg (WAW) 5:29.12, 4. Jed Wandland (WAR) 5:30.74, 5. Jeff Valderaman (GOS) 5:31.07, 6. Dan Cone (WAW) 5:32.26

200 freestyle relay - 1. Goshen 1:35.22, 2. Plymouth 1:36.17, 3. Northridge 1:36.30, 4. Concord 1:36.89, 5. Warsaw 1:38.18, 6. Wawasee 1:38.72

100 backstroke - 1. Ryan Harper (WAW) :54.76, 2. Scott Simpson (GOS) 1:00.13, 3. Chris Whan (PLY) 1:00.25, 4. Mike McCammon (WAR) 1:00.62, 5. Cory Draper (NR) 1:02.34, 6. Jamie Corn (WAW) 1:03.41

100 breaststroke - 1. Kyle Richter (PLY) 1:01.61, 2. Zach Smith (NR) 1:04.22, 3. Adam Brown (WAW) 1:05.07, 4. Mike Richie (NR) 1:06.66, 5. Rusty VanLue (WAW) 1:08.21, 6. Brian Smith (WAR) 1:08.33

400 freestyle relay - 1. Wawasee 3:26.29, 2. Northridge 3:36.42, 3. Warsaw 3:36.97, 4. Goshen 3:38.25, 5. Plymouth 3:49.95, 6. NorthWood 3:53.65