By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
The Southwestern and Central Michigan Swim Conference held its annual relay meet in Allegan on Wednesday, Dec. 11.
And it was Plainwell that reigned supreme, racking up 330 points to outdistance runner-up Marshall by 68 points. South Haven was third with 242 points.
Otsego was fourth with 220 points, followed by Allegan in fifth (194), Sturgis in sixth (182) and Hastings in seventh (88).
Plainwell took first place in five events to collect the most event victories. A total of 10 events counted toward the final standings, along with four exhibition events.
And while pleased with her team’s performance, Plainwell coach Andrea Murphy tried not to read too much into the results.
“We had a good meet,” she said. “Relay meets are hard because you don’t really get to see what the other team has.
“And I know Otsego was missing two of their good guys, so that will change when we see them during the dual-meet season.”
Plainwell divers Aidan Ranger and Phil Mathis won the diving competition with a score of 179.75.
Also taking event wins for the Trojans were: the 800-yard freestyle team of Austin Susens, Hiro Nguyen, Jonah Cole and Joseph Hoffman (9:15.22); the 200 free team of Ben Sparks, Grady Nugent, Alex Steele and Sam Harper (1:35.63); the 400 breaststroke team of Nolan Lindsey, Hoffman, Nugent and Davis Nooney (5:14.03); and the 400 free team of Harper, Susens, Nooney and Steele (3:36.33).
Plainwell also took second in the 400 medley, with the team of Sparks, Lindsey, Cole and Susens posting a time of 4:19.94.
Otsego, meanwhile, picked up a win in the 400 backstroke. The team of Dillon Campbell, Blake Guerrant, Liam Raseman and Willsun Fuller finished at 4:20.96.
The Bulldogs’ 800 free relay team of Garrison Busscher, Blake Schultz, Jacob Underwood and Carson Bydash was runner-up at 10:35.71.
Allegan’s lone event victory was in the 400 individual medley as the team of Oliver Burnett, Josh Kelley, Sam Kelley and Cadel Conrad had a time of 4:19.64.
Burnett, Ezra Smith and Conrad were on Allegan’s 3×100 butterfly team that was second at 3:05.8.
“Our boys’ relay performances at this early-season meet showed a lot of promise and excitement for what’s ahead,” Allegan coach Carol Gephart said. “As a young team, we’re already seeing the benefits of their hard work in practice, with steady improvement and developing team unity.
“This meet was a great stepping stone, and I’m confident we’ll see even greater things as the season progresses.”
