Jackson wins three-team boys swimming meet

~ The Indians scored 144 points to defeat Notre Dame, Saxony Lutheran

Amidst his senior season, Austin Hobbs reflected back on his younger days with the Jackson boys swimming team.

Even he couldn't resist drawing comparisons to the freshmen on this year's squad.

"I looked up to the seniors when I was a freshman, so I always wanted to be like them as a senior. Now I can see how the roles are reversed, and it's weird. Looking at them, I don't feel like a senior at all," Hobbs said. "I was them once, and now I'm the people I used to be looking up to."

The Indians earned 144 points to come away with a first-place finish in a three-team meet with Notre Dame and Saxony Lutheran on Tuesday at the Southeast Aquatic Center.

The Bulldogs came in second with 116 points, while the Crusaders placed third with six points.

"I'm pretty ecstatic," Jackson coach Kati Miinch said. "We have been doing great in all our dual and tri meets. These boys are showing great effort in practice and in meets. They're showing just how well they have trained and are putting it into action, so I'm pretty pleased with that."

Senior Joey Janisse led the way for the Indians with a pair of individual first-place finishes. He broke Hobbs' previous pool record in the 100 breaststroke with a state-qualifying time of 1 minute, 3.83 seconds and also finished first in the 200 individual medley in 2:06.22.

"We just have fun going back and forth," Hobbs said about Janisse breaking his record. "It really is fun competing back and forth throughout the year, and it's like a friendly rivalry."

The team of Hobbs, Janisse, sophomore Jack Gard and senior Alex Snyder earned a first-place finish for the Indians in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:41.41, while Hobbs, Gard, Janisse and freshman Adam Hecht finished first in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:49.36.

Miinch has been pleased with the production from her seniors but said one of the biggest surprises has been Hecht, who took first in the 500 freestyle in 5:33.11.

"Adam Hecht is just blowing them out of the water," Miinch said. "When he gets to be a senior, he's going to be awesome."

Gard earned a pair of individual first-place finishes in the 200 freestyle (2:02.37) and the 100 freestyle (55.28), while Hobbs took the top spot in the 50 freestyle (23.74).

Miinch said the team is working hard and has become more dedicated.

"They're realizing hard work in practice does pay off," Miinch said. "I don't have a background in swimming. I got pulled into this sport this year, so for me, seeing them grow and develop is just awesome. I didn't know how things were going to go, and they're just leaps and bounds better than what I thought they would be."

The Bulldogs finished first in the 200 medley relay. The team of senior Joe Matthews, senior Ben Tlapek, junior Nate Stovall and junior Mitchell Heisserer won the event in 1:54.24.

Notre Dame coach Jameson Kuper said his team is working toward getting ready for its conference meet Oct. 30.

"We got what we expected. We're going against several very good year-round swimmers, so we know that we have our work cut out for us in the next four weeks," Kuper said. "It's all about conference, so we're going to focus on that and see if we can come up with a win there."

Tlapek missed the state qualifying cut in the 100 butterfly but still finished first in 58.46. Kuper was surprised by several of his swimmers, including sophomore Justin Spinner, who was barely edged out by Gard in the 100 freestyle and finished in 57.90.

"We had three or four really good and really surprising swims, so I'm happy with where we're at," Kuper said.

Matthews rounded out the Bulldogs' top honors with a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke in 1:06.07.

Jackson and Notre Dame will turn their attention to Saturday's Cape Rock Invitational, which will take place at the Central Municipal Pool and is expected to feature more than 20 teams.

"In practice, we've been hitting them pretty hard the last few weeks. They're tired, so we're going to rest Thursday and Friday before our Cape Rock [Invitational]," Kuper said. "We're going to do a very short, abbreviated rest and see if we can rip some good times on Saturday."

Team Scores -- 1. Jackson 144; 2. Notre Dame 116; 3. Saxony Lutheran 6.

Local Results

200 medley relay -- 1. Notre Dame (Joe Matthews, Ben Tlapek, Nate Stovall, Mitchell Heisserer) 1:54.24; 2. Jackson (Adam Hecht, Matthew Snyder, Tra Statler, Rex McNeely) 1:57.42; 3. Notre Dame (Bruce Nguyen, Lucas Hurley, David Carman, Bill Kapp) 2:00.47

200 freestyle -- 1. Jack Gard (J) 2:02.37; 2. Drew Beussink (ND) 2:06.51; 3. Hurley (ND) 2:14.66

200 individual medley -- 1. Joey Janisse (J) 2:06.22; 2. Alex Snyder (J) 2:20.17; 3. Ian Cameron (SL) 2:21.17

50 freestyle -- 1. Austin Hobbs (J) 23.74; 2. Hecht (J) 26.34; 3. Kapp (ND) 26.53

100 butterfly -- 1. Tlapek (ND) 58.46; 2. Statler (J) 1:03.50; 3. Carman (ND) 1:05.13

100 freestyle -- 1. Gard (J) 55.28; 2. Justin Spinner (ND) 57.90; 3. Nguyen (ND) 58.50

500 freestyle -- 1. Hecht (J) 5:33.11; 2. Beussink (ND) 5:43.29; 3. Matthew Snyder (J) 5:45.92

200 freestyle relay -- 1. Jackson (Janisse, Alex Snyder, Gard, Hobbs) 1:41.41; 2. Jackson (McNeely, Christian Leimbach, Easton Wyatt, Statler) 1:50.05; 3. Notre Dame (Matthews, Dylan King, Nix Coppock, Stovall) 1:54.72

100 backstroke -- 1. Matthews (ND) 1:06.07; 2. Carman (ND) 1:11.43; 3. Trevor Smith (J) 1:26.45

100 breaststroke -- 1. Janisse (J) 1:03.83; 2. Hobbs (J) 1:07.87; 3. Tlapek (ND) 1:11.92

400 freestyle relay -- 1. Jackson (Gard, Hecht, Hobbs, Janisse) 3:49.36; 2. Notre Dame (Heisserer, Kapp, Beussink, Hurley) 3:56.32; 3. Jackson (McNeely, Statler, Leimbach, Matthew Snyder) 4:13.78