Perry swimmers ring up victory in first meet

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An 85-82 triumph granted the Jayettes the right to ring the Perry victory bell. Sitting, from left, are Vivian Gonzalez, Dannah Karolus and Avery Miner. Standing, from left: head coach Jean Dowd, Breanna Penenger, Shekynah Haworth, Anna Ridnour, Kimberly Valdez, Sarah Vaughn, Amanda Holwegner (rear), Abby Herman and assistant coach Melanie Harmon.

Despite being outnumbered in every event, the Perry swim team managed to win six of eight individual events and two of three relays to squeeze past Algona, 85-82, at the MCB pool Thursday.

With five places scoring in the individual events, Algona had a potentially powerful advantage by having three swimmers in the water to two for Perry, simply by virtue of having a much larger roster.

However, Perry went 1-2 in three of their six individual wins and were 1-3 in two others to offset the additional competitor and turn the math to their advantage.

Perry’s Dannah Karolus speeds to victory against visiting Algona in the 100 freestyle Thursday. The Jayettes, who topped the Bulldogs, 85-82, will host Indianola Tuesday.

“We had many swimmers trying new events tonight,” Perry head coach Jean Dowd said. “We are very excited how the night went.”

Senior Vivian Gonzalez was back in the pool for Perry for the first time in over a year, as an injury forced her to spend her entire junior season cheering on her teammates from pool decks, instead of in the water.

She joined Amanda Holwegner, Sarah Vaughn and Abby Herman in placing second in the 200 Medley Relay in 2 minutes, 57.95 seconds, but Algona’s second relay team was disqualified, costing the Bulldogs a critical two points.

Breanna Penenger and Avery Miner were 1-2 in the 200 freestyle in 2:15.99 and 2:32.31, respectively, with Dannah Karolus and Anna Ridnour 1-2 in the 200 Individual Medley in 2:42.31 and 2:44.54.

Vivian Gonzalez led off the 200 medley relay, her first meet action after missing all of her junior year with an injury.

Abby Herman (30.19) and Shekynah Haworth (43.9) place 3-5 in the 50 free, but Perry bounced back when Vaughn and Gonzalez placed 1-3 in the 100 butterfly in 1:17.31 and 1:27.86.

Perry gave themselves a bit of breathing room after Karolus (1:06.18) and Herman (1:07.65) were the first two to touch in the 100 free, with Penenger (6:15.84) first and Miner — in her first competitive swim at the distance — third, in 7:15.84) in the 500 free.

Ridnour, Holwegner, Herman and Karolus won the 200 free relay in 2:01.89, Gonzalez (1:21.15) and Haworth (1:48.26) were 1-5 in the 100 backstroke, and Ridnour (1:25.64) and Holwegner (1:32.78) were 2-4 in the 100 breaststroke.

Sarah Vaughn had butterfly duties in the 200 medley relay.

Algona’s fifth-place swimmer had DQ’d in the 100 butterfly, costing the Bulldogs a third point — which proved to be the winning margin for Perry.

However, none knew the situation when the final event of each meet, 400 free relay, began.

The Jayettes had to win to claim the meet victory, and win they did, by an impressive 25.29 seconds — nearly one length of the pool. Vaughn led off for the hosts, with Miner following and Karolus third while Penenger anchored the squad, touching in 4:26.44.

Perry will return to action Tuesday when they host Indianola. All home meets begin at 6:30 p.m.

 

 

 

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