Swimming: Pioneers win SEC Red League Meet; Eagles land fourth

While it might not have been a foregone conclusion or a given, the Pioneer girls’ swimming and diving team splashed their way into this past weekend’s SEC meet as – let’s just say heavy favorites. The Pioneers needed to not only show up but live up to expectations and they did exactly that with a pretty dominating performance against a typically strong Red Division field.

The Pioneers, with much bigger expectations on the horizon, finished first with 640 points. Saline was a clear second with 511 points.

One of the more intriguing matchups in the meet was for third place. Late last month, Skyline edged Huron in a dual-meet, but the River Rats returned the favor by finishing third with 408 points, just 15 points ahead of the Eagles.

Pioneer opened the meet with a strong showing in the medley relay. The team of Quoia Sam, Edwina Jalet, Lindsay Orringer-Hau and Sophia Guo took first place in 1:44.21. The Skyline team of Shannen Lee, Sophia Nielsen, Addison Kim and Lily Cleason touched fourth in 1:50.92.

The Pioneers touched one-two in the 200 free with freshman Stella Chapman first in 1:52.80 and junior Vivian VanRenterghem second in 1:52.82 – yeah, that’s pretty close and pretty fast. Skyline sophomore Lily Cleason was third in 1:53.56 and Pioneer sophomore Guo was fourth in 1:56.90.

In the 200 IM, Pioneer junior Lily Cramer was second in 2:04.88 followed by teammates Edwina Jalet (2:05.34) and Yan Yee Adler (2:13.43). Skyline’s Aly Guevara was sixth in 2:17.27.

Skyline junior Claire Kozma sprinted to a second place in the 50 free in 24.22. Pioneer’s Amelia Weyhing was third (24.23) and teammate Autumn Bullinger was fourth (24.44).

In diving, Pioneer junior Alexandra Mercier finished with 396.90 points to place second. Pioneer senior Jordan Marion was seventh (297.45) and Skyline senior Payton Horning was eighth (288.45).

Orringer-Hau, a junior, won the 100 butterfly for the Pioneers with a time of 56.95. Teammate Holly Pringle touched third in 57.90. Skyline’s Kozma was fifth in 59.27.

In another close and fast finish, the Pioneers went one-two in the 100 freestyle with Weyhing first in 52.72 and VanRenterghem second in 52.77. Guo was fourth for the Pioneers in 53.10.

Chapman, yeah the freshman, made it a double when she won the 500 free in 4:59.24, just out-touching Saline senior Kiersten Russell (4:59.33). Orringer-Hau continued her strong meet with a third-place finish time o 5:11.73. Skyline junior Gina Sadler was fifth (5:16.12), Skyline senior Ella Enrique Shakespeare was sixth (5:28.31) and Skyline senior Lauren Sloan was seventh (5:43.42).

In the 200 free relay, Guo, Cramer, Weyhing and Chapman took first in 1:34.97. Skyline’s team of Lee, Allie Deininger, Erika Sauld and Kozma was fourth in 1:42.36.

Sam, a senior, took first in the backstroke for the Pioneers with a time of 56.45. Cleason was second for Skyline in 56.63. Bullinger was sixth (57.91) and Pringle seventh (57.98) for the Pioneers.

Jalet, a junior, won the breaststroke for the Pioneers with a time of 1:03.00. Cramer was third (1:04.18) and Adler sixth (1:07.89) for Pioneer. Skyline freshman Sophia Nielsen was ninth (1:11.38).

Pioneer wrapped up the meet with a first place in the 400 free relay. The team of Chapman, VanRenterghem, Weyhing and Cramer won in 3:28.77. Skyline’s team of Kozma, Sadler, Guevara and Cleason took third in 3:39.41.

Swimming: River Rats touch third at competitive SEC Red League Meet