By Greg Keim
The number of swimmers on the Northridge High School girls team is not great, but the talent among individual competitors is.
Just 12 swimmers competed for the Raiders Saturday in the Northern Lakes Conference meet at Concord, but that was enough for Northridge to capture a ninth straight league title.
“We have a small team this season and some people thought this was going to be the year someone beat us,” Northridge coach Joe Keller said. “We have been talking to the girls all season about how the program is not the mission, but stepping up to fill in spots is.
“(Junior) Abbie Merrick is an example of what I was talking about. She was asked to swim the 100 backstroke and the 100 breaststroke (back-to-back) races. She did it and scored points. That is what we were talking about how we could be successful if they bought into the system.”
A year ago, Northridge won six events and totaled 390 points and Concord was the runner-up with 251.
This time around it was a lot closer.
Both teams finished first in three events as Northridge took the top spot with 325 points while Concord was second at 308.
Warsaw placed third at 151, followed by Goshen 135, Plymouth 123, Wawasee 114, Elkhart Memorial 93 and NorthWood 76.
“We knew it was going to be close,” Keller said. “Because of the small number of girls we had to make some decisions. We knew there were some events Concord was going to score big so we made the decision to try and be strong at the end of the meet.”
Strong they were as an exhausted group of Raiders won the final event — the 400 freestyle relay — in a NLC record time of 3:38.48. Members of the relay were senior Annie Cohaot, senior Jillian Welch, junior Sarah Griffin and senior Emily Wisolek.
“I don’t know when we have ever been this tired at the end of an NLC meet,” Keller said.
Wisolek captured the 200 free (1:56.08) for the Raiders. Northridge’s other victory came in the 200 free relay as sophomore Hannah Deak, freshman Brittany Walters, Griffin and Wisolek won in 1:41.69.
The Goshen Redskins had a good day with two firsts, a second and four thirds (two in relays).
“We only won two conference meets and for us to finish fourth here is great,” Goshen coach Scott Garvin said.
Senior Mia Miller won the 100 free (53.83) and sophomore Julie Jesse diving (373.85 points).
“We felt going in that Jesse had a chance to win diving,” Garvin said. “She had a great day. He first dive was a forward double and she just nailed it.
“It was a nice win for Miller. She had a good swim and it was untapered. That should bode well for the sectional in both the 50 and 100 frees.”
Miller won the 50 free as a sophomore (24.51).
“It feels good to be back in the winner’s circle, but I don’t feel like I ever left it,” she said. “Some races and seasons are just better than others.
“My starts have always been kind of slow so I rely on my strength. I know I can swim faster and so do all of my teammates.
“I’m proud of my teammates. We had a great day and a lot of that has to do with the way we bonded during the season. We are a tight knit family.”
Miller (24.74) was runner-up to sophomore Brittany Robinson of Wawasee in the 50 free (24.29). Robinson also won the 100 butterfly (56.83).
Goshen junior Kayla Hussey added thirds in the 200 free (1:59.36) and 500 free (5:09.72). Her time in the 500 free broke the GHS record of 5:12.9 by Kate Macdonald.
Senior Bekah Vukovich, senior Emily Wilfong, Hussey and Miller were third in the 200 free relay (1:45.89); Vukovich, junior Jordan Bontrager, Hussey and Miller third in the 400 free relay (3:51.61).
Concord started the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay (1:45.31) from junior Alexa Little, junior Abby Linn, sophomore Mia Leas and senior Lauren Hardy.
Sophomore Audra Burtch captured the 500 free (5:05.74) and junior Abby Linn lead a 1-2-3 Concord finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.03).
“We made it close and we thought it would be,” Concord coach Tom Johnson said. “Concord and Northridge are evenly matched teams. They have areas they are stronger in and we have areas we are stronger in.
“In my 26 years of coaching I don’t think I have ever had a team fight as hard as we did today. We left nothing in the pool.“
