But Sturgeon Bay crowned conference champs

By Scott Bellile

A victory for the Clintonville Truckers swim team at the Bay Conference Meet last week was met with a slight upset.

The Truckers won the Bay Conference Tournament over second-place Sturgeon Bay on Thursday, Oct. 29. But Sturgeon Bay outranked Clintonville for conference champion status when factoring in performance at swim duals, which is a practice done in accordance with Bay Conference bylaws.

Clintonville won five of their six duals this season, with their only loss to Sturgeon Bay 86-84 on Sept. 24. Sturgeon Bay posted a 6-0 record.

Officially, that means Clintonville won the seven-team Bay Conference Meet, while Sturgeon Bay is the conference champion.

Truckers coach Lee Wetzel said Sturgeon Bay would have had to have gotten fourth place at the meet in order for Clintonville to have won the conference champion status.

Clintonville defeated Sturgeon Bay 447-444 at last week’s conference tournament. It was devastating to learn that Sturgeon Bay came out on top when factoring in their dual record, Truckers coach Lee Wetzel said.

“We’re definitely still the conference tournament champions, and that’s the thing that all teams strive to do at the beginning of the season,” Wetzel said.

Wetzel said Sturgeon Bay is a “formidable opponent” that races longer distances better than Clintonville does.

“Man, they’re just a really, really good team, and you know they’re coming,” Wetzel said.

Clintonville stayed ahead of Sturgeon Bay throughout the entire conference tournament where every point mattered, Wetzel said.

“After the first event (the 200-yard medley relay) it was 70-34, so we had a big lead,” Wetzel said. “But I knew we needed that big lead, too. They’re very good, and just about every event they chipped into our lead.”

The teams Clintonville and Sturgeon Bay defeated were Seymour (357 points), Shawano-Bonduel (301), New London (275), Marinette (169) and Wittenberg Area (108).

The Truckers will swim at UW-Stevens Point for the Division 2 sectional on Saturday, Nov. 7, beginning at 1 p.m. Wetzel said Clintonville events that have a shot at advancing to the Nov. 14 state tournament include the 200-yard freestyle relay team and Allison Graper in the 100-yard butterfly.

All-Conference athletes
For Clintonville, the 200-yard medley relay team (Kaitlyn Durkey, Allison Graper, Sami Smejkal and Taylor Davies) took first place to earn First Team All-Conference.

Graper finished second in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke to earn Second Team All-Conference. Davies was second in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle to earn Second Team All-Conference as well.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Rayne Ruch, Durkey, Kaila Zahn and Smejkal finished second to earn Second Team All-Conference.

The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Taylor Davies, Emily Graper, Jordan Tellock and Allison Graper earned Second Team All-Conference.

Durkey earned third place for an honorable mention in the 100-yard backstroke.

Results
200-Yard Medley Relay 1 CL (Kaitlyn Durkey, Allison Graper, Sami Smejkal, Taylor Davies) 2:01.64. 4 CL (Rayne Ruch, Natalie Walker, Emily Graper, Cassy Hoffman), 2:13.25.

200-Yard Freestyle 4 Emily Graper (CL), 2:16.97. 12 Maria Wood (CL), 2:27.39. 15 Morgan Mehlberg (CL), 2:36.86. 18 Grace Bartelt (CL), 2:39.17.

200-Yard IM 2 Allison Graper (CL), 2:26.06. 5 Sami Smejkal (CL), 2:36.37 2:32.57. 9 Jordan Tellock (CL), 2:45.50. 15 Natalie Walker (CL), 3:01.20.

50-Yard Freestyle 2 Taylor Davies (CL), 26.63. 7 Rayne Ruch (CL), 28.17. 12 Kaila Zahn (CL), 29.27.

100-Yard Butterfly 6 Sami Smejkal (CL), 1:08.29. 7 Kaitlyn Durkey (CL), 1:10.51. 12 Cassy Hoffman (CL), 1:21.93.

100-Yard Freestyle 2 Taylor Davies (CL), 57.94. 9 Kaila Zahn (CL), 1:05.00. 11 Morgan Mehlberg (CL), 1:06.52.

500-Yard Freestyle 5 Jordan Tellock (CL), 6:20.06. 6 Emily Graper (CL), 6:21.18. 10 Maria Wood (CL), 6:51.81.

200-Yard Freestyle Relay 2 CL (Rayne Ruch, Kaitlyn Durkey, Kaila Zahn, Sami Smejkal), 1:50.97. 6 CL (Cassy Hoffman, Morgan Mehlberg, Jordan Tellock, Maria Wood) 2:02.04.

100-Yard Backstroke 3 Kaitlyn Durkey (CL), 1:09.91. 11 Josie Englehardt (CL), 1:26.09. 14 Grace Bartelt (CL), 1:29.68.

100-Yard Breaststroke 2 Allison Graper (CL), 1:15.29. 7 Natalie Walker (CL), 1:25.55. 8 Cassy Hoffman (CL), 1:27.69. 20 Mikala Gwinn (CL), 1:55.61.

400-Yard Freestyle Relay 2 CL (Taylor Davies, Emily Graper, Jordan Tellock, Allison Graper), 4:02.91. 7 CL (Rayne Ruch, Morgan Mehlberg, Maria Wood, Kaila Zahn), 4:26.12.