GRAND RAPIDS – After a very long week of practices and Homecoming activities, the Muskegon Catholic Central/North Muskegon girls swim team co-op notched 12 personal-record swims and finished 5th at Saturday’s Ottawa Hills Invitational.

The team was led by Kara Komarek (2nd  200IM/ 4th 100fly),  Kelly Stone (6th 50 Free/ 2nd 100 Free), Lucy Carpenter (3rd 100 Back), Kyra Pikowitz (5th 100 Back),  200 Free Relay  3rd (Erin Carpenter-Kyra Pikowitz-Kelly Stone-Kara Komarek), and the 400 Free Relay (Kelly Stone-Lucy Carpenter- Hailee-McKenna-Kara Komerek).

Muskegon Catholic Central/North Muskegon Co-op at Ottawa Hills Invitational, Oct. 5

Team results: 1. Middleville TK-Hastings 459.00, 2. Grandville Calvin Christian 352.00, 3. Wayland 345.50, 4. Grand Rapids Catholic Central 316.00, 5. Muskegon Catholic Central 297.50, 6. Grand Rapids Union 256.00, 7. Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills – 112.00

Muskegon Catholic Central/North Muskegon Co-op results – 200 Free: 24. Victoria Bernhardt 2:34.02, 32. Emily Evans 2:43.38. 200IM: 21. Hanna Attig 3:08.72. 50 Free: Emily Litynski 30.35. 100 Free: Emily Litynski 1:08.87. 500 Free: 16. Cassidy Butler 6:59.16, 18. Victoria Bernhardt 7:10.84, 22. Emily Evans 7:16.75, 32. Chandler Peterson 7:43.47. 100 Back: 24. Molly Gabrielson 1:40.94. 100 Breast: 7. Ev Albertson 1:21.69.

Event Winners – 1 Meter (11 Dives): Cayman Gainey (Grandville Calvin Christian) 346.90; 200 Medley Relay: Hayley Bashore, Libby Betcher, Kayla Kroells, Kourtney Dobbin (Middleville TK-Hastings) 2:01.30; 200 Freestyle: Ana Estrella (Grandville Calvin Christian) 1:59.46; 200 I.M.: Libby Betcher (Middleville TK-Hastings) 2:26.57; 50 Freestyle: Kelsey Heitzman (Grandville Calvin Christian) 27.13; 100 Butterfly: Riley Kishman (Grand Rapids Catholic Central) 1:01.85; 100 Freestyle: Kayla Kroells (Middleville TK-Hastings) 59.44; 500 Freestyle: Ana Estrella (Grandville Calvin Christian) 5:24.99; 200 Freestyle Relay: Ana Estrella, Kelsey Heitzman, Amber Keen, Erin Brink (Grandville Calvin Christian) 1:49.22; 100 Backstroke: Riley Kishman (Grand Rapids Catholic Central) 1:02.35; 100 Breaststroke: Libby Betcher (Middleville TK-Hastings) 1:12.36; 400 Freestyle Relay: Ana Estrella, Jordan Enders, Taylor Applehof, Erin Brink (Grandville Calvin Christian) 4:01.47.

Meet Recap

This year’s Ottawa Hills Invitational featured six out of the seven teams from the OK-Rainbow Tier II Conference plus Muskegon Catholic Central.  All teams performed exceptionally well, as they faced off for a highly competitive mid-season meet.

After an intense back and forth shootout, Grandville Calvin Christian’s Cayman Gainey topped Grand Rapids Union’s Morgan Hitchings with a score of 346.90 to 329.95.

The swimming featured a blend of strategies, with some swimmers competing very respectably in their primary races despite the heavy training that comes with this portion of the season, while other teams chose to take on more versatile lineups and blend the strength of their relays in order to focus on experience.  Grandville Calvin Christian showed great strength in the Freestyle events, winning three out of the four individual distances and both Freestyle Relays, but fell short in overall points to the depth of a strong Middleville TK-Hastings squad.