Saline Swimmers Strong In Relays at Final Prelims

The Saline Hornets drive for a third straight state title continued Friday in the MHSAA Division 1 girls swim and dive preliminaries at Eastern Michigan University.

The finals begin tomorrow at noon.

The Hornets had a strong day in the pool. The team's depth was evident once again in the relays, where Saline won two events and took third in another.
Saline took first in the 200-yard medley relay. Maddy Frost, Sammy Richart, Emily Lau and Cristina Czyrka finished the event in 1:46.10, moreto edge second place Ann Arbor Huron.

Czyrka qualified for the first heat of the finals in the 200-yard indiividual medley. She finished fifth in 2:08.22, knocking more than three seconds off her seeded time. Junior Emily Lau barely missed qualifying for the first heat. She took ninth in 2:09.26 and will race in the second heat.

Junior Maddy Frost and senior Nikki Flynn qualified for the first heat of the 50-yard freestyle. Frost was fifth in 23.84 and Flynn was sixth in 23.92.

Sophomore Kate Rogers qualified for the first heat of the 200-yard freestyle finals. Rogers finished eighth in 1:53.71.

Lau qualified for the first heat of the 100-yard butterfly, finishing seventh in 57.04. Senior Serena Yan will swim in the second heat. She finished 12th in  58.25.

Junior Melanie Schroeder took 13th in the 500-meter swim, finishing in 5:09.70. She'll race in the second heat Saturday. Freshman Alex McPherson was 17th in 5:12.64.

Rogers also qualified for the final heat in the 100-yard freestyle. She placed sixth in 52.66

The Lady Hornets were third in the  200-yard freestyle relay. Lau, Rogers, Czyrka and Flynn finished in 137.29, to finish behind Hudsonville and Bloomfield Hills Marian.

Frost took second in the 100-backstroke, finishing in 56.41. Serena Yan was 17th in 59.92.

Sammy Richart qualified for the first heat in the 100-yard breastroke. She placed eighth in 1:06.16. She got into the top heat by beating a Farmington Hills Mercy swimmer by .05 seconds. Czyrka placed 11th to qualify for the second heat. She finished in 1:06.44.

Saline finished the day in championship form, winning the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:29.28. Swimming for Saline were Frost, Rogers, Schroeder and Flynn.