Hornets Dominant At Pioneer Swim Meet

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The defending champion Saline Hornets, ranked second in the state, swam past host Pioneer, 133-53 in girls’ swim and dive action Thursday.

With a big weekend meet on the horizon, and exams underway at school, coach Todd Brunty elected to race the girls outside of their normal events.

“The girls have been training hard and they’re kind of tired and stressed with exams, so we went with something different today,” said Brunty.

Saline won all but one individual swimming event and all three relays.

Kate Rogers won the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly and also contributed to the victory in the 200 yard freestyle relay.

Saline opened the evening by winning the 200-yard medley relay. Hannah Lau, Ariana Brown, Sam Winchester and Melanie Schroeder captured the event in 2:00.59, edging Ann Arbor’s fastest team by less than half a second.

In the 200 yard freestyle, Saline took the top four places. Nikki Flynn won the event in 2:00.49. She was followed in by Alex McPherson, Serena Yan and Melysaa Aben.

It was the same story in the 200 individual medley, with Saline taking the top four spots. Rogers won the event in 2:13.89. Finishing right behind her were Emily Lau, Maddy Frost and Paige Sieffert.

Cristina Czyrka won the 50-yard freestyle and let another 1-2-3-4 finish for the Hornets. She won the race in 25.83. She was followed by Melanie Schroeder, Hannah Lau and Sammy Richart.

The diving event was won by Pioneer’s Christina Lu. Jordan Toor finished second with 205.7 points, and Caitlin Cunningham was third with168.25 points.

In the 100-yard butterfly, Saline took the top five places. Rogers won in 1:01.03. She was followed by Serena Yan, Nikki Flynn, Alex McPherson and Sam Winchester.

Emily Lau won the 100-yard breaststroke in 54.89. Cristina Czyrka was second in 55:12.

Erica Glatz won the 500-yard freestyle as the Hornets went 1-2-3. Glatz finished in 5:28.45. Kelsey Holmberg and Ellie Brigger came in behind her.

Saline placed first and second in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Emily Lau, Kate Rogers, Maddy Frost and Nikki Flynn won the event in 1:39.05. The team of Cristina Czyrka, Sammy Richart, Alex McPherson and Paige Sieffert took second in 1:46.

The Hornets went 1-2-3 in the 100-yard backstroke. Melanie Schroeder won the event in 1:03.20. She was followed in by Hannah Lau and Melyssa Aben.

Pioneers lone swimming victory came in the 100-yard breaststroke, where Karen Zhang finished in 1:11.52. Saline’s Ariana Brown was second in 1:16.29. Emily McCullough was fourth in 1:20.51.

Saline capped the evening with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Serena Yan, Sarah Noonan, Erika Glatz and Kelsey Holmberg won the race in 3:59.2, more than six seconds faster than second place Pioneer.