Tecumseh swim team falls twice in tri-meet

By MICKEY ALVARADO

Sophomore Jalen Jennings picked up two out of three first place finishes Tecumseh recorded in a home quad meet against Monroe and Adrian on Thursday, Feb. 4.

The Indians lost both matches, falling 122-63 against Monroe and 98-85 against Adrian.

“Anytime we get a good meet with Adrian and a good meet with Bill [Esterline], we’ve got to come and earn it. It’s a good team,” said Tecumseh swim coach Brian Thomas.

Jennings placed first in 1-meter diving with a score of 227.20 and the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 59.55. THS junior Jonathan Collins earned the other first place with a time of 2:08.71 in the 200-yard IM.

The Indians placed third to start the meet with the 200-yard medley relay team of Jalen Jennings, Jonathan Collins, Takumi Ogata and Alden Eubanks clocking in at 1:49.25. Monroe won the race in 1:48.73 while Adrian was second in 1:49.18.

They followed with second and third place swim in the 200-yard freestyle with Patrick McAran recording a time of 1:58.68 and Austin See touching the wall at 1:59.58. Monroe’s Matt Nemeth won the race in 1:53.64.

Monroe’s Michael Allen  (2:09.72) and Trevor Jarrait (2:15.35) placed second and third respectively behind Tecumseh Collins in the 200 IM while Alden Eubanks (2:17.90) finished fourth for the Indians.

Monroe’s Jordan Staelgraeve won the 50-yard freestyle (22.88) while Tecumseh’s Greg Park placed fourth (24.02).

Following Jennings’ first place diving finish were Monroe’s Forrest Duncan (163.95) and Clint Nemee (160.80).

Park recorded a third place in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.13). Monroe picked up first (Matt Nemeth, 56.59) and second (Michael Allen, 58.22) places.
The Indians lagged behind in the 100-yard freestyle, placing fifth with Eubanks clocking in at 53.42 behind the winning time of 50.69 by Monroe’s Staelgraeve.

The 500-yard freestyle was one of the closest events of the evening with Monroe’s Tyler Addis and Tecumseh’s Collins swimming side-by-side throughout the entire race. Collins finished the race in 5:17.77 while Addis recorded 5:17.73 for first. Each congratulated the other after the tight race was over.

Tecumseh’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Park, Ogata, Coleman and See placed third in 1:40.57 while Monroe (Kyle Ledda, Ian Misiak, Camden Reau, Matt Nemeth) placed first in 1:34.35. Adrian (Ian Young, Casey Kucera, Spencer Dunham, Bradley Krzyzaniak) finished second in 1:36.00.

Adrian’s Sean Hardie placed second (1:00.75) behind Tecumseh’s Jennings while Monroe’s Trevor Jarriat was third in 1:01.338.

The Indians were blown out of the water in the 100-yard breaststroke with a ninth place finish. Monroe’s Chris Allen won the race in 1:04.38.

The final race of the evening was the 400-yard freestyle relay where the Indians placed third with the team of Park, Coleman, Collins and Jennings recording a time of 3:35.17. Monroe won the race in 3:27.26 (Nemeth, Allen, Kyle Ledda, Staelgraeve). Adrian finished second (3:34.98, Ian Youngs, Casey Kucera, Spencer Dunham, Krzyzaniak).

“If the boys can stay healthy and stay consistent I can see good things at state,” said Thomas. “Otherwise, any little hiccup, who know what’s going to happen.”