Indians edge Milan, fall to Chelsea

Placing in the final two races at home against Milan on Friday, Feb. 7, gave Tecumseh High School’s varsity boys swim and dive team just enough points to pull off a victory as the Indians defeated the Big Reds 95-90 with what Indian coach Deb Wolfe referred to as “Their best meet all season.”“We had 43 best times,” said Wolfe of the win. “Keep in mind I have 24 athletes on the team.”The Indians recorded five first place finishes but it was the final two races that determined the outcome in the 12 event meet. Milan placed first in the 11th race of the evening, the 100-yard breaststroke, with Tyler Kimbrall clocking in at 1:04.51. Tecumseh’s Jared Russell placed second in the race with a time of 1:08.23 to give his team an additional four points and opportunity to pick up the victory.In the final race of the evening, Milan again placed first with a time of 3:32.59 (Sam Franklyn, Austin Berge, Tyler Kimbrall, Oliver Smith) in the 400-yard freestyle relay.Tecumseh placed second (Bryant Hagemann, Jacob Schaedler, Matthew Haeussler, Jared Russell, 3:33.50) and third (Nathan Roberts, Samuel Wade, Brandon Russell, Clinton Olberg, 3:55.49), in the event for another six points and overall victory.Hagemann placed first for Tecumseh in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:53.10 while Haeussler placed first in the 200-yard IM in 2:07.78.Tecumseh swept the diving event with Collin Eberle placing first (230.55), Andrew Waite second (147.70) and Ray Vigo third (138.45).Coleman followed with a first place for Tecumseh in the 100-yard butterfly (59.48) and four races later Haeussler gave the Indians another first place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (1:00.98).Chelsea was dominant in its victory against the Indians, winning 137-49 in the Tecumseh Community Pool.The Bulldogs won all but one event during the evening. Tecumseh’s lone first place finish was in the 500-yard freestyle with Hagemann leading the pack with a time of 5:02.97.Despite the loss, Tecumseh’s swimmers recorded 36 best times.The Indians’ 200-yard medley relay team (Brandon Russell, Jared Russell, Coleman, Schaedler) placed second in 1:46.17.Jared Russell placed second for Tecumseh in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:08.80.Tecumseh’s Collin Eberle placed third in diving with a score of 227.75 while Nathan Roberts finished third in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:02.11.The Indians’ 200-yard freestyle relay team (Haeussler, Mitchell Lindsay, Wade, James Gilbey, 1:48.31) and 400-yard freestyle relay team (Schaedler, Hagemann, Nathan Roberts, Noah Lane, 3:55.22) each placed third.