Depth pays off for Carson Tigersharks

MINDEN - The Carson Tigersharks saw their team depth rewarded with three victories in the boys 200-yard freestyle relays Saturday afternoon during day two of the Pacific Swimming Zone 4 Championships.

The Tigersharks 13-14 boys age group team of Kevin Dyer, Matt Grunert, Sam Ballard and Paul Chang combined to pull out the closest of those three races when they touched out Reno Aquatics by less than eight-tenths of a second in a duel at the Carson Valley Swim Center. The Carson team logged a team of one minute, 50.34 seconds to edge Reno's 1:51.13.

John Wandel, Kiel Costella, Jake Oxoby and Andrew Cardinal cruised to first-place in the 15-18 boys division relay with a time of 1:37.06. And in the boys 9-and-over division, Carson's Zachary White, Timothy Suh, Tim Grunert and Jacob Branco finished first in a time of 2:41.61.

The Tigersharks also came away with second-place finishes behind Reno Aquatics in the girls 9-and-under, 13-14 and 15-18 200 freestyle relay races.

Abby Niehoff, Tatum Boehnke, Samantha Ashmore and Caroline Suh clocked a 1:50.33 to finish second in the 13-14 age group. Rebekah Niehoff, Hilary Schlager, Danielle Judge and Sarah Metcalf were members of the runner-up 15-18 team in 1:50.89. The 9-and-under girls team of Chloe Hern, Jessica Fahrenbruch, Michaela Gillenwater and Alexandra Schlager finished second with a 2:22.85.

In terms of improvement, Hern logged an impressive drop of 49 seconds in her 9-10 girls 200 individual medley race with a time of 3:26.

All in all, it was a solid day overall for the Tigersharks, according to coach Carol Antila.

"There were a lot of good swims today, some strong swims and a lot of big time improvements," she said.

The Tigersharks showed strength in the individual distance events, including the 400 individual medley on Saturday and 1,650-yard freestyle on Friday.

Metcalf won the 15-18 girls 400 IM with a 5:06.62 effort that was four seconds faster than her entered time, while Judge placed fourth in 5:34.16.

In the 500 freestyle, Costella and Wandel placed first and second for Carson with respective times of 5:05.14 and 5:08.99. Dyer and Matt Grunert went 1-2 in the 13-14 boys race with respective times of 5:18.77 and 5:29.74, and Nick Schlager placed second in the 11-12 boys race in 6:12.78.

On Friday, the Tigersharks were dominant in the 1,650 heats. Abby Niehoff was first in the 13-14 girls age group with an 18:09.00 clocking, while teammate Boehnke finished second in 19:50.09 and Kaylee Hames of the meet host Douglas Dolfins took third in 20:27.66. The Tigersharks swept the top four spots in the 15-18 girls race, paced by Metcalf's 18:39.3 effort, while Hilary Schlager took second in 18:49.70, Barbara Perkins third in 19:09.83 and Rebekah Niehoff fourth in 19:34.74.

Dyer picked up two individual victories on Saturday, including the 13-14 boys 200 butterfly (2:18.63) and the 50 freestyle (26.37).

Costella and Wandel went 1-2 in the 15-18 boys 100 backstroke with respective times of 1:00.55 and 1:01.72. And in the 50 freestyle, Wandel won with a 24.21 clocking while Costella and Trevor Schaff of the Douglas Dolfins tied for third with identical times of 24.83.

Abby Niehoff was also a winner in the girls 13-and-over 200 butterfly in 2:15.64. Rebekah Niehoff placed second in a close 15-18 girls 100 backstroke race - Mandee Busch of Reno Aquatics won in 1:07.08, ahead of Niehoff in 1:07.96.

Also, Carson's Jake Oxoby placed second in the 15-18 boys 200 butterfly with a time of 2:16.11; Luke Gentner placed second in the 11-12 boys 50 freestyle with a 29.03 that improved his previous best by four seconds, and Nick Schlager placed third in 29.19; and Ballard placed second in the 13-14 boys 200 butterfly in 2:39.14.

In B flight races, Hannah Nystrom was first in the 13-14 girls 200 IM for the Tigersharks; Adriana Avitia won the 9-10 girls 50 freestyle; 8-year-old Emily Adams was first in the 8-and-under 50 backstroke with an "A" time of 51.29, an improvement of 15 seconds; and Hannah Nystrom won the 13-14 girls 50 freestyle, one-half second ahead of Rebecca Chappell of the Dolfins. Kyle Schaff and John McRae placed 1-2 for the Dolfins in the 11-12 boys 50 backstroke and teammate Levi Grabow was first in the 100 backstroke; and Matt Picken of the Dolfins won the 11-12 boys 50 freestyle in a time of 32.12 that marked a 10-second improvement.

In the 9-10 boys 25 butterfly, White won in a personal best 18.15 and Alex Picken took second for the Dolfins in a personal best 22.93. White also turned an "A" time of 35.0 in the 50 freestyle that improved his personal best by four seconds.

The three-day zone championship meet concludes today at the Carson Valley Swim Center.