By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The Burlington Combined boys’ swimming team did not suffer a holiday letdown in its first meet of 2014.
Such a letdown might be expected. Holidays and cold weather interrupted the Demons’ practice schedule, and coughs and sniffles are now working their way through the team.
BC’s last competitive swim before the Rocket Invite Jan. 11 at South Milwaukee High School occurred Dec. 17 in a Southern Lakes Conference dual meet at Delavan-Darien.
“I think they were anxious to get back into the competitive mix,” BC coach Denita Jones said.
The Demons finished 11 of 13 teams at Rocket Invite with a team score of 102 points.
The list of schools at the Rocket reads like a who’s who of standout swimming programs in southeast Wisconsin.
Muskego won the meet with 427 points. Franklin finished second (276), Wauwatosa Combined and New Berlin third (248.5) and Whitnall fifth (165).
South Milwaukee finished sixth (162), Kenosha Bradford seventh (140), Kenosha Indian Trail eighth (138) and Oak Creek ninth (112).
Racine Horlick placed 10th (108), St. Thomas More/St. Francis 11th (82) and Cudahy 13th (80).
“It’s a very competitive meet,” Jones said. “It helps the boys to have some competition other than the smaller teams we swim against.”
Jones said the Demons competed without three swimmers.
David Jones posted Burlington’s best individual finish, placing fourth in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.80 seconds. Jones also finished seventh in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.52).
Luke Herman finished eighth in the 500 freestyle (5:38.33), as did Bryce Filer, Andrew Brutlag, Herman and David Jones in the 200 freestyle relay (1:40.62).
Filer, Brutlag, Herman and Jones also finished 10th in the 200 medley relay (1:55.69).
Denita Jones said the layoff, illness and missing swimmers did not seem to negatively affect the Demons.
“I wasn’t 100 percent sure how the boys would take to that at the pool,” Denita Jones said. “They fared well. The times weren’t outstanding, but they weren’t horrible, either.”
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