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June 20, 2009

Lakers relay teams put on show at divisional meet

By Gene Schallenberg The Huntsville Item Sat Jun 20, 2009, 10:15 PM CDT

Whenever the Huntsville Lakers step into the pool, they either win as a team or lose as a team. But the 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls relay teams have been mainly winning.

That trend continued Saturday as more than 600 swimmers competed in the Divisional Swim Meet at the Huntsville Aquatic Center. The Lakers placed third in the meet with 288 points behind Brenham (347) and overall-winner College Station (421).

The relay teams swept the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley and did so in dominating fashion.

The boys medley relay team, composed of Kirby Logan, Matthew Bitara, Colson Slaven and anchor Jeremy Klespis, came in with the top time, which was 28 seconds faster than the second closest team.

They sure didn’t disappoint, finishing in first with a time of 1:59.87. The second-place finishers from Navasota didn’t touch the wall until the 2:28.97 mark.

“The coaches have a lot to do with us being so successful with how they run practices and how they order us,” Slaven said. “That is a big reason to do with it. We’ve know each other for so long and we trust each other in the starts and when we touch the wall. We know exactly when to go.

“It feels good to be able to win by such a big margin, basically a pool length.”

The other relay race for the foursome wasn’t too different as they won the gold medal in the freestyle by more than 21 seconds.

Swimming together for quite some time has payed off so far and they can only improve the longer they do so.

“Me, Jeremy and Matt have been swimming on the same relay for five years,” Slaven said. “Kirby is the new one. He’s doing pretty good. We’re hoping to break the Ponderosa record. We still have to drop a few more seconds to achieve that.

“There’s no room to mess up. If you make one mistake at Ponderosa, then it’s over. There goes your record and first place.”

“They’re some outstanding kids,” said assistant coach Matt Wagner, who filled in for head coach Rick Stanfield on Saturday. “It’s fun to watch them swim fast. They listen to their coaches and they perform well. It’s great to watch them grow. They blend together.

“A lot of them have been swimming together for so long. That really helps because they motivate each other and work off each other. Everybody has got to step up. It’s just amazing to watch what happens when they all get together.”

While the girls relay team hasn’t been swimming together for nearly as long as the boys, they’re enjoying some of the same success.

“They really mesh so well. They each have their own individual strengths, which is really helpful in the medley relay. In that freestyle relay, they just go and it’s fun to watch,” Wagner said.

In the medley, Lakers Synneve Williams, Robbi Flack, Lisa Haralson and Katie Gautreaux won first place by nearly six seconds and edged the Tsunamis from College Station in the freestyle by nearly 1 1/2 seconds.

“We’ve only been swimming as a team for one year,” Haralson said. “You get really close throughout the year. I like being part of a relay team because it really pushes you. You don’t want to mess up and ruin things for the whole team.

“We did pretty good. We didn’t do as well as we have before, but we didn’t do very bad. The water wasn’t that great, so I didn’t think that helped us. We did pretty good today.”

Next up for the Lakers is the Ponderosa meet, the last meet of the season, which will be held at Klein Collins High School next Saturday and Sunday. Ninety-six of the top teams from the Gulf Coast area will be on hand.

“They swim with some of the best swimmers in the Gulf,” Wagner said. “We’re excited about both relays. We go with the idea that we’re going to win. If you go there without that idea, then I don’t know why you bother going. Every time you dive in the water, you need to give it your best.”

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