By Jed Buelow
Co-Editor, Sports, Nature Editor
The Lady Hatchet girls swim team will travel to Marshfield tonight (Wednesday) to take part in a seven-team invite as they continue to prepare to defend their title of repeat Great Northern Conference champs once again this season.
Last week Tomahawk got in some early season work traveling to Colby and then to Merrill for some Fun in the Sun for a nine-team invite that was held in an outdoor pool.
Tomahawk Hatchet head coach Theresa L’Esperance said both meets presented some small improvement over last season individually, but the team will have plenty to work on going forward.
Kylee Theiler won the senior division of the Colby invite and had a first place finish in the 50 free, now the third fastest swimmer in school history. Dallas Dosch and Molly Mott led the juniors and Mott finished with three personal bests in Colby.
“We finished ahead of Wausau West at Merrill. Anytime we can beat a DI school, it’s a win. I saw a little more of what this team might be capable of doing,” the coach stated and added Karli Woodall was able to use the board and dive three exhibition dives. “She has worked very hard in the off season coming off a year’s wait to compete after surgery on her right knee. She also contributed to the 4th place 200 free relay and was just out of a medal.”
Some of the top relay finishes for Tomahawk in Merrill included a 4th place finish by Molly Mott, Dallas Dosch, Karlie Woodall and Kylee Theiler in the 200-yard free. The relay team of K. Theiler, Allyson Carstensen, Megan Miles and M. Mott also scored a 4th in the 400 free relay.
Tomahawk’s other top five finishes came in the 400 medley relay from M. Miles, M. Mott, Savanah Ristau and Courtney Cecil and S. Ristau, C. Cecil, Megan Miles and K. Theiler took 5th in the 300 butterfly relay.
The coach added after a 3rd place finish at the Division 2 State Championship last fall that this season could definitely be considered a bit of a rebuild phase.
“It will take a tremendous effort to get a relay team to state, but I have faith that the girls will try their best. We have two state qualifiers back, Theiler and Woodall, who has been driving down to Merrill all summer working the boards at the MERC center. We have to find boards since we lost ours over a year ago.”
The Hatchets will continue their early season work tonight (Wednesday) when they travel to Marshfield to take part in the Tiger Invite beginning at 5:30 p.m.