INDIANOLA — Point, schmoints — for the seven-member Perry swim team it would be something akin to a metaphysical impossibility for the Jayettes to win a dual meet, as much larger teams simply pack the lanes with their larger rosters and thus pile up points.
Well aware of the arithmetic, veteran head coach Jean Dowd and her Jayettes are, therefore, playing a different game — beat the clock. Namely, try to lower your own time in an event in each meet, and thus show personal improvement throughout the season.
By that standard Thursday’s triple-dual with Des Moines Roosevelt and host Indianola was a smashing success for Perry, if just not in the final scoring. Roosevelt topped Perry, 214-39, with Indianola a 199-32 victor over the Jayettes. Indianola topped DMR, 170-122, in the other scoring.
Perry, however, posted eight different personal-best (PB) efforts and had season-best times in two of the three relays.
The eight-lane Simpson College pool hosted the meet, with Perry occupying more than one lane only three times in the eight individual events while the Roughriders and Indians sent three swimmers into each race and had two relay teams in each of the three relays. Points were tabulated against each team separately; in the results that follow, Perry’s placings will be listed against Indianola first, DMR second.
Senior captain Haley Vaughn had the lone wins for Perry, finishing 3-1 in the 200 individual medley in 2 minutes, 26.58 seconds and placing 2-1 in the 100 backstroke in 1:09.58. Both were PB times.
Dannah Karolus (4-4, 29.21) and Kaira Francis (5-5, 40.95) each had a PB in the 50 freestyle, with Sarah Vaughn (3-4, 1:15.77) posting a PB in the 100 butterfly while Karolus (3-2, 1:04.9) had a PB in the 100 free, in which Anna Ridnour placed 4-5 in 1:08.
Breanna Penenger continued slashing chunks off her 500 free time, finishing 3-2 in a PB of 6:12.41, while Ridnour — who has already hacked proportionately even larger hunks off her 100 breaststroke time, touched 4-3 in 1:28.71.
Penenger was 3-2, in 2:18.21, in the 200 free, with Avery Miner posting a PB clocking of 2:35.09 in the race to place 4-4.
The foursome of Penenger, Ridnour and the Vaughn sisters swam a season-best 2:14.85 in the 200 medley relay, which placed 3-4. Also notching a season-best 1:56.69 in the 200 free relay of Ridnour, Karolus and both Vaughn girls; the team was third against both foes.
The 400 free relay was 2-3 in 4:28.05, with Sarah Vaughn, Miner, Karolus and Penenger competing in the event.
Perry is off until Saturday when they take part in the Fort Dodge Invitational.
