The Oxford girls varsity swim team made a great first impression last Tuesday after beating Waterford Kettering 128 to 64 and placing in every event.
Coach Peggy Verbeke said the atmosphere in the natatorium was ‘exciting,? with family, school administration, alumni and current students all cheering on the girls at their first meet.
‘It was packed,? she said. ‘We just blew (Kettering) out of the water.?
In the 200-yard relay event, Karlyn Stroope, Anna Verbeke, Allison Woonton and Tiara Tatarczuk took first place with a time of 2:27.43, .28 quicker than Waterford.
In the individual 200-yard freestyle, juniors Alyssa McTaggart and Brittany Ziegelbaur held the first two places with times of 3:01.02 and 3:01.31, respectively.
Freshman swimmer Woonton made an amazing first place in the 200-yard individual medley, where the swimmer performs four different strokes, and the 500-yard freestyle swim.
The 400-yard freestyle relay, lead by Lydia McRae, Tatarczuk, Jessica McLean and Woonton, also caught first place with a time of 4:26.94.
The 100-yard breastroke, butterfly and freestyle events were the only times the Oxford team fell to second place.
In the diving event, junior Taylor Roop took first with a score of 138.75.
During their first meet, Verbeke said she was happy to see constant teamwork between her upper and lower classmen swimmers. ‘What I loved to see was when the slowest swimmer got as much, if not more, applause than the first place person,? she said.
Verbeke said her girls have been focusing on their starts and turns to prepare for next Thursday’s meet against Brandon.