M-P, Shorewood tie in early test

MARYSVILLE — Early in the Tomahawks’ Dec. 9 swim meet against Shorewood, the Thunderbirds started stacking up wins.

By Danielle Szulczewski • December 16, 2008 3:39 pm
Tomahawk junior Jason Pusateri swims the 200 individual medley. The Tomahawks had key pick-ups in second and third place by guys like Pusateri late in the meet to come back from an early deficit against Shorewood. The teams ultimately tied.
Tomahawk junior Jason Pusateri swims the 200 individual medley. The Tomahawks had key pick-ups in second and third place by guys like Pusateri late in the meet to come back from an early deficit against Shorewood. The teams ultimately tied.

MARYSVILLE — Early in the Tomahawks’ Dec. 9 swim meet against Shorewood, the Thunderbirds started stacking up wins.

Two-10ths of a second divided Shorewood’s winning 200 medley relay from M-P’s, both in state-qualifying times. A half second gave Shorewood wins and point advantages in the 200 individual medley and the 50 freestyle.

By the time diving, the fifth event, started the Tomahawks had cause for concern that the talented Shorewood team — a team they expect to see a lot of down the road at districts and state — could pull off the road win.

Well, they didn’t lose.

Thanks to a 1-2-3 finish by Tomahawk divers and key second- and third-place finishes down the depth chart, the M-P swim team tied Shorewood, 93-93.

Though Shorewood had both more event wins than M-P and more total state-qualifying times, the Tomahawks picked up more points in the events they won. In the 100 freestyle, a 1-2 finish by Oliver Durand and Gabe Lopez helped. With first-, third- and fourth-place finishes in the backstroke, M-P really started its comeback. Senior Trevor LeValley won the event in a state-qualifying 55.45, finally putting Marysville on the winning side of a narrow 1-2 finish. Jason Pusateri and Robbie Haynes both added points to the team tally in the event.

Sophomore Spencer Girard won the breaststroke while teammates Brody Coleman and Connor Hemming finished second and fourth to give Marysville its first lead of the meet, a narrow 87-85 advantage.

It came down to the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. Having loaded the meet’s first two relays, the Tomahawks split their top talent between two teams for the final event, hoping to get two teams in the top three. With a Shorewood win in the event but Tomahawks in second and third, a rare tie occurred.

“Our times were good. Our placings could have been better,” said M-P coach Scott Knowles, who explained that the team had tried to match up against Shorewood to exploit their weaknesses. “It was a weird meet. They had some flexibility and so we guessed where they’d be at. We were right on some.”

Knowles had no complaints about the Tomahawks’ seven state-qualifying times, two of which were the second time Tomahawks hit the mark in two meets. At Squalicum the week before, the Tomahawks qualified in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay, while Durand had a state-qualifying 200 freestyle.

Against Shorewood, Girard had state times in the breaststroke and 200 IM while LeValley did the same in the butterfly and backstroke. The Tomahawks also qualified in the 200 freestyle relay, meaning the boys will compete in all three relays at state at the end of the season.