This story is sponsored by Total Electric
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARSHFIELD – Merrill won seven events to take first place at the Chase The Tiger Girls Swimming Invitational on Tuesday at Marshfield High School.
Merrill finished with 233 points, with Medford second with 158, and Marshfield, which won the other four events, taking third with 149 points.
Claire Schultz and Grace Schultz each won two individual events for the Bluejays, and were each part of one relay victory as well.
Marshfield had one individual win as Faith Risa won the 100-yard individual medley in 1:03.97.
Terra Risa, Faith Risa, Courtney Donahue and Skylar Onsager won the 200 medley relay in 1:56.75; the Risas, Donahue and Lauren Olszewski took first in the 100 medley relay in 58.34 seconds; and Marshfield also won the final event of the evening, the 8×50 freestyle relay, in 3:50.38 as the Tigers closed strong to go from fourth to nearly a 4-second victory in the final four legs of the race.
“First and foremost, we lost 11 seniors last year and so that was a big, don’t want to say worrisome for me, but 11 seniors are a lot,” Marshfield coach Michaela Buttke said. “I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to fill those shoes, but we have almost 35 girls on the team this year and I don’t know when the numbers were that high.
“With everything going on in our world, our No. 1 focus is to show up every day, that we’re committed, and we gave it our all in the pool every day.”
Chase The Tiger Invitational
Aug. 24, at Marshfield High School
Team scores: 1. Merrill 233; 2. Medford 158; 3. Marshfield 149; 4. Black River Falls/Blair-Taylor 134; 5. Tomahawk 107; 6. Colby/Abbotsford 39.
Event winners and Marshfield finishers
200 medley relay: 1. Marshfield (Terra Risa, Faith Risa, Courtney Donahue, Skylar Onsager) 1:56.75; 9. Marshfield (Keely Gorst, Katie Wagner, Rebecca Seidel, Melina DeLeske) 2:45.14.
100 freestyle: 1. Claire Schultz (MER) 57.73; 14. Jordana Meissner (MAR) 1:18.21; 15. Lizzie Hanson (MAR) 1:19.48; 16. Sophia Gruenling (MAR) 1:19.90.
100 individual medley: 1. F. Risa (MAR) 1:03.97; 13. Ella Allar (MAR) 1:26.72; 15. Wagner (MAR) 1:35.67.
100 freestyle relay: 1. Merrill (Laney Zuelsdorff, Ahna Wilde, Bailey Orzech, Olivia Pajtash) 56.45; 3. Marshfield (Gruenling, Katie Wernberg, Meissner, Onsager) 1:03.07; 4. Marshfield (Cami Wucherpfennig, Ally Leonhardt, Hanson, DeLeske) 1:03.61; 7. Marshfield (Nina Koubek, Gracie Wolf, Cierra MacArthur, Bailey Mueller) 1:14.40.
200 freestyle relay: 1. Merrill (Grace Schultz, Bailee Sommer, Amber Winter, C. Schultz) 1:46.47; 5. Marshfield (Wucherpfennig, Allar, Lauren Olszewski, T. Risa) 2:00.02; 9. Marshfield (Esme DeJarlais, Seibel, Gruenling, Wernberg) 2:28.89; 11. Marshfield (Wolf, Koubek, Leonhardt, Gorst) 2:42.95.
50 butterfly: 1. G. Schultz (MER) 27.66; 2. Donahue (MAR) 28.54; 3. Brooke Begotka (MAR) 28.89; 16. Sofia Garneau (MAR0 48.31.
50 freestyle: 1. C. Schultz (MER) 26.40; 10. DeLeske (MAR) 34.44; 12. Seibel (MAR) 35.35; 13. Garneau (MAR) 36.00.
100 medley relay: 1. Marshfield (T. Risa, F. Risa, Donahue, Olszewski) 58.34; 2. Marshfield (Wucherpfennig, Allar, Begotka, Onsager) 1:03.09; 8. Marshfield (Gorst, Koubek, Meissner, MacArthur) 1:21.86.
50 backstroke: 1. G. Schultz (MER) 28.39; 4. Olszewski (MAR) 33.06; 14. Hanson (MAR) 40.22; 16. Leonhardt (MAR) 42.95.
50 breaststroke: 1. Winter (MER) 32.84; 2. Begotka (MAR) 34.35; 10. Gruenling (MAR) 41.96; 13. Wagner (MAR) 47.26.
8×50 freestyle relay: 1. Marshfield 3:50.38; 5. Marshfield 5:12.22.