More time improvements as swim team heads for regionals

The Wrangell swim team achieved more personal bests at last weekend's meet in Petersburg, on Oct. 18 and 19. In all, over 40 individual events between the two days of swimming, the team achieved 21 new personal best times. The following is a list of the results.

Friday's results:

Paige Baggen took 11th in the 200-yard Freestyle at 2:54.24, and 17th in the 50-yard Freestyle at 36.15. Laura Helgeson took 9th in the 50-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 31.92, and 12th in the 100-yard Backstroke with a personal best of 1:21.67. Aaliyah Messmer took 6th in the 100-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 1:08.73, and 14th in the 100-yard Backstroke with a personal best of 1:30.81. Renee Roberts took 1st in the 100-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 56.16, and 1st in the 100-yard Backstroke with a personal best of 1:06.57. Jacob Allen took 16th in the 50-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 28.08, and 13th in the 100-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 1:03.52. Jimmy Baggen took 9th in the 50-yard Freestyle at 26.23, and 3rd in the 500-yard Freestyle at 6:13.04. Carter Hammer took 25th in the 50-yard Freestyle at 38.33, and 18th in the 100-yard Freestyle at 1:32.53. Coby Holder took 17th in the 50-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 29.65, and 14th in the 100-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 1:13.22. Wade Jack took 8th in the 200-yard Freestyle at 2:46.12, and 12th in the 50-yard Freestyle at 26.48. Sean Rooney took 7th in the 200-yard Freestyle at 2:41.56, and 20th in the 50-yard Freestyle at 31.07.

The girls' 200-yard freestyle relay team took 4th place with a personal best of 2:06.54. The boys' 200-yard freestyle relay team took 8th place with a personal best of 1:53.45.

Saturday's results:

Paige Baggen took 4th in the 500-yard Freestyle at 7:21.29, and 8th in the 100-yard Breaststroke at 1:43.84. Laura Helgeson took 12th in the 200-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 2:49.21, and 5th in the 100-yard Breaststroke at 1:28.70. Aaliyah Messmer took 11th in the 50-yard Freestyle at 31.16, and 3rd in the 500-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 7:16.53. Renee Roberts took 1st in the 50-yard Freestyle at 25.91, and 1st in the 100-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 55.83. Jacob Allen took 12th in the 50-yard Freestyle with a new personal best of 28.05, and 10th in the 100-yard Freestyle at 1:03.53. Jimmy Baggen took 5th in the 100-yard Butterfly with a personal best of 1:08.74, and 3rd in the 100-yard Breaststroke with a personal best of 1:15.05. Carter Hammer took 24th in the 50-yard Freestyle with a new personal best of 33.67, and 17th in the 100-yard Freestyle at 1:28.77. Coby Holder took 14th in the 50-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 29.31, and 14th in the 100-yard freestyle with a personal best of 1:10.95. Wade Jack took 5th in the 50-yard Freestyle at 25.59, and 4th in the 100-yard Breaststroke with a personal best of 1:16.51. Sean Rooney took 15th in the 50-yard Freestyle with a personal best of 29.97, and 12th in the 100-yard Freestyle at 1:08.58.

The girls' 200-yard medley relay team took 4th place with a personal best of 2:25.82. The girls' 200-yard freestyle relay team took 4th place at 2:11.65. The boys' 200-yard medley relay team took fourth place with a personal best of 2:09.14. The boys' 200-yard freestyle relay team took fifth place at 2:02.28.

"Each of the swimmers have been working on a particular technique, such as flip turns, breathing position, starts, and stroke rate," said Coach Jamie Roberts. "The focus of this past weekend's meet was to implement that technique in a race setting, under pressure. We also focused on how to maintain good form when they start to get tired in the final lap, or laps, of a race. They were successful, for the most part, and it resulted in quite a few personal bests."

The regional championships will take place in Sitka on Nov. 1 and 2.