Schmidt, Kennedy win four events as Osawatomie/Paola girls claim conference title

by Gene Morris, gmorris@miconews.com

Members of the Osawatomie/Paola girls’ swim team celebrate after winning the first Inter-Conference Swim Championships held at Turner High School. (Submitted Photo)

Rachel Schmidt and Bridget Kennedy each swam to four gold medals, leading the Osawatomie/Paola girls’ swim team to first place in the inaugural Inter-Conference Swim Championships at Turner High School.

Osawatomie/Paola scored 350 points, defeating second-place Bonner Springs by 32 points to win the May 7 meet.

Schmidt won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2 minutes, 36.15 seconds. She swam a time of 1:11.41 for first place in the 100-yard backstroke.

Kennedy swam to first place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:09.49. She placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:16.77.

Ariana Garrison, Megan Hayes, Schmidt and Kennedy won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2:06.74.

Bri Berner, Julia Dorsett, Garrison and Kennedy placed first in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:56.85.

Schmidt, Dorsett, Berner and Hayes swam a time of 4:21.79 for first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Hayes placed first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 27.62. She was second in the 100-yard freestyle. Julia Dorsett was second in the 200-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard butterfly. Ronni Hart was third in the 500-yard freestyle.

It was a great team win, coach Sarah Dorsett said.

“If we do not have maximum entries, and score into the double-digit places, we do not win the championship,” Dorsett said. “Those that placed in the double digits, that is, 10th through 14th place, account for 48 of our total points. Take those away, and give them to another team, and we are in second or third place in team scoring.”

Other meet results were:

200-yard freestyle: Hart, fifth; Liz Brown, 10th; Katherine Kennedy, 15th.

200-yard individual medley: Ali Kurth, seventh; Tabitha Keast, 10th; Christina Behnke, 12th.

50-yard freestyle: Ariana Garrison, 10th; Berner, 11th; Kelsey Dietrich, 13th.

100-yard butterfly: Christina Behnke, 12th.

100-yard freestyle: Berner, 10th; Hayden Taylor, 15th; Dietrich, 16th.

500-yard freestyle: Emily Weaver, ninth; Savanah Glover, 12th; Katelin Dashiell, 13th.

100-yard backstroke: Katherine Kennedy, ninth; Brown, 11th; Stephanie Neuerburg, 15th.

100-yard breaststroke: Garrison, fifth; Keast, 10th; Kurth, 13th.