Swimmers finish solid third at SLC Relays

By Jennifer Eisenbart
SPORTS EDITOR
The Burlington co-op swim team might be in a bit of a rebuilding year, but that didn’t keep the squad from a solid performance Aug. 30 at the Southern Lakes Conference relays.
Burlington posted one win – which happened to be a new SLC record – as well as five other top-three finishes en route to a third-place team finish.
Host Badger won the meet with 228 points, while Elkhorn had 210 and Burlington 203.
“We had a young team going out there,” said new head coach Denita Jones, who took over when Ken France retired after last season. “It was a new experience for many of them.
More than half the swimmers for the co-op squad that swam at the conference relays did not compete in the meet last year.
However, where the team had experience, it showed. Adding in superstar freshman Olivia Wanasek – the youngest of three Wanaseks on the team, with junior Sara and senior Serena – with her sisters and Ellie Petrie, the team won the 500-yard freestyle crescendo relay in 4:52.32.
That smashed the old conference record by more than five seconds. Petrie swam the first 50, Olivia Wanasek followed with a 100, Sara Wanasek with a 150 and Serena Wanasek with the final 200.
“They all swam very good times,” Jones said.
In addition, the 400 individual medley relay – which has four swimmers swimming a 100 IM – of Serena and Sara Wanasek, Kaley Brown and Paytin Kennicott finished second in 4:28.74, while the 1,000 free crescendo relay of Candace Dziubinski and the three Wanasek sisters was second in 10:32.65.
The 400 free relay of the three Wanasek sisters and Brown was second in 3:49.24 for the final silver medal spot. The 200 free relay of Dziubinski, Kennicott, Petrie and Hannah Meyer was third in 1:52.86, while the 200 butterfly relay of Brown, Natalie Pufahl, Kennicott and Samantha Dziak was third in 2:03.37.
Burlington lost six swimmers to graduation last year, all of which were state qualifiers as either individuals or as part of relays.
“It’s definitely a year of rebuilding and finding new spots for people,” said Jones. “They’re definitely stepping up to the challenge.”
The Wanasek sisters will be crucial to the team’s success, and Jones is expecting big things out of Kennicott, who she said is just beginning to find her talent in the pool.
There are 13 returning letterwinners on the team from five schools – Burlington, Catholic Central, East Troy, Union Grove and Waterford.