Carson swimmers solid in the pool

Everything went according to plan for the Carson High boys and girls swim teams in the preliminaries of the Northern 4A Championships on Friday at the Carson Aquatic Center.

All of the Senator swimmers expected to make the finals or consolation finals were able to advance, keeping the boys and girls teams in a position to at least battle for second in the team standings.

The biggest highlight for Carson came in the boys 100-yard butterfly in which Sam Forbes, who was seeded third, qualified first in 56.79 seconds. Sam Ballard, who was seeded 10th, made the championship finals by qualifying eighth in 1:05.48. Alex Updegrove also qualified for the consolation finals.

Jamie Engan qualified second in the 200 freestyle in 1:56.85 and first in the 500 free in 5:07.11. Lauren Metcalf qualified second in 5:21.41 and Barbara Perkins qualified fourth in 5:24.35.

In the boys 500 free, Ian Murdock qualified fourth in 5:28.01 and Aaron Murakami dropped 20 seconds off of his time to move up from 13th to qualify for the championship finals in eighth. Hilary Schlager qualified in fifth in the 200 free in 2:02.85.

Forbes, Matt Grunert and John Wandel all had excellent days for Carson. Grunert qualified second in the 200 free in 1:54.90 and Andrew Cardinal qualified sixth in 1:58.87. Murdock also qualified for the consolation finals. In addition, Forbes qualified third in the 200 individual medley in 2:18.83.

Wandel qualified third in the 100 free in 51.48. Carson received a lift in the event when Kellen Dale, who wasn't seeded in the top 16, was able to qualify for the consolation finals along with Cardinal

In the 100 back, Wandel qualified second in 58.82 and Alex Updegrove was able to move up to qualify for the championship finals in eighth in 1:04.28. Ballard qualified for the consolation finals as well.

Other highlights for Carson were: Girls 50 free - Katie Wandel, fourth, 26.12. Girls 200 I.M. - Metcalf, seventh, 2:16.14; Rebekah Niehoff, consolation finals. Girls 100 free - Jessica Goddard, eighth, 1:06.933; Danielle Judge, Niehoff, consolation finals. Girls 100 free - Wandel, Sarah Metcalf, consolation finals. Girls 100 breaststroke - Schlager, fifth, 1:12.45. Boys 100 breastroke - Grunert, fifth, 1:05.77; Garrett Clayton, sixth, 1:06.56; Scott Wandel, eighth, 1:09.78.