Bison swim breaks three school records, closer to state

KEARNEY - Limited practice sessions and no home pool doesn’t seem to be affecting a determined McCook High School swim and dive team.

During the Kearney Invite on Saturday, Jan. 10, the Bison swimmers produced three new school records. Plus they posted one automatic and several secondary qualifying times they will need to compete at the state championship meet in February.

McCook Coach Jon Graff said the Kearney meet was one of those successful meets they had hoped to have by the end of the year but are excited to see it so early in the season.

“Overall, it was a break-out day for us with three school records broken and numerous personal best times,” Graff said. “Plus we saw many of our swimmers achieve automatic and secondary qualifying times.”

Junior Derick Spencer broke one of the oldest remaining records at McCook High School, the backstroke record of :59.78 set by Jeff Vap in 1981. Spencer finished at 59.28 seconds, good for sixth overall at the meet, a secondary qualifying time and good for the next school record.

Senior Blake Rodewald lowered his own school record of :53.99 when he placed first in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of :53.19 plus secured an automatic bid for the state meet, slicing four seconds off his PR this season.

Blake is also inching closer to the automatic time of 2:04.97 in the 200 individual medley, finishing third in Kearney with a time of 2:08.06.

Fellow senior Abby Renner won the 50 yard freestyle in 25.81 seconds, dropping nearly a second off her personal record and is just a split-second off the automatic qualifying time of 25.37.

She dropped even more time off her 100 yard butterfly, posting a 1:03.65, nearly four seconds of her PR, and good for second place overall in the event.

The third McCook record broken at the Kearney meet came in the final race of the day, the 400 free relay. The Bison placed first and lowered the school record set last year of 3:31.38, finishing the race in 3:28.60 with the relay of Rodewald, Aaron and Derick Spencer and David Acha.

Other top scorers for the Bison at the Kearney meet were David Acha, a McCook exchange student from Bolivia, who placed third in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:53.14, while teammate Tate Moser finished in fourth at 1:57.85, both secondary qualifying times.

Derick Spencer earned fourth in the 100 free with a time of 51.54, while Acha was sixth at 52.26, also both secondary times.

Tate Moser also earned a secondary time in the 100 backstroke with a seventh-place finish at 1:00.30. And Aaron Spencer moved into contention for swimming at the state meet with a secondary time of 1:07.50 and fifth place finish in the 100 yard breaststroke.

“We’re really proud of the kids. Despite the challenges of this season, they are performing amazingly well which is a testament to their hard work and dedication,” Graff said.

The McCook boys continue to score well as a team, finishing fourth overall out of the 10 teams, while the girls were ninth in the team standings.

Other Bison scoring for the team at the Kearney meet were:

Girls 200 medley relay, 2:08.67, 8th; girls 200 free relay, 1:52.86, fifth: Ashlynn Renner, Karstyn Porter, Abby Renner, Braelyn Dunworth, 2:08.67

Boys 200 free relay, 1:40.83, 8th: Derick Spencer, Beckett Moser, Jacob Harms, Tate Moser

Dunworth, 200 freestyle, 2:23.90, 15th; 100 back, 1:12.13, 10th

Aaron Spencer, 200 IM, 2:18.69, 7th

Ashlynn Renner, 100 free, 1:03.66, 10th; 100 back, 1:11.29, 7th

Beckett Moser, 500 free, 6:44.14, 12th

On Friday, Jan. 9, the divers took over the Kearney Natatorium, with Axel Blomstedt as McCook’s lone diver with 11 required dives. Blomstedt finished third overall with 244 points.

The McCook swimmers and divers have back-to-back Lincoln meets in January. The annual favorite with bananas awarded for heat winners is the Cotter Invite at Lincoln High on Jan. 16-17, followed by the meet at Standing Bear on Jan. 23-24.