The Saline Reporter
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Saline looks for second straight top-10 finish at state
Relays, diving critical as Hornets look to prove staying power
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 6, 2008
The 10 members of the Saline boys' state meet swimming and diving team include just two seniors and only two members with state meet experience.
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Which is why, head coach Todd Brunty says, if the Hornets match or better last year's ninth-place finish at this weekend's state meet, they'll have stamped Saline's program as one of Division 1's best for good.
"It won't just be a good year. It'll be good years," he said last week. "We've been in the top 10 a couple of times, but to get back in there after losing the guys we lost last year is an excellent goal for us."
The Hornets' top-10 hopes for the meet, which will hold preliminaries Friday before Saturday's finals, start with their three relays. Saline will enter the 200-yard freestyle relay seeded third, with the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay each seeded inside the top-eight.
Scoring maximum points from all three relays will be critical, Brunty said.
"The points there are doubled, so we have to make them count," he said. "If we finish in the top eight in all of them, that would be a big boost."
Important as they may be, exactly which Hornet swimmers will swim each relay was still to be determined entering the Hornets' final week of preparation. Brunty said all eight swimmers on the state team —seniors Justin Duong and Matt DeFauw, juniors Alex Wu and Daniel Kung, sophomores Mike Hughes, Sam Wittig, and Jake Engelmeier, and freshman Mike Fisher — are both eligible and being considered for a spot on each relay.
"We have plenty of options after the SEC meet," he said. "It's nice to have that kind of flexibility."
In individual events, the Hornets' biggest impact is likely to come not in the pool, but on the diving board, where junior Joel Chambers and sophomore Hank Remenapp entered Tuesday night's diving Regionals with the ninth and 11th-highest 11-dive scores posted this season in Division 1, respectively. After an All-State, sixth-place performance at the 2007 state meet, Chambers, in particular, will be looking to even more damage this weekend.
"His experience should help him out, but anything can happen," Brunty said. "He and Hank both have a great chance. It's all about who dives the best that day."
The Hornets should find plenty of other individual scoring elsewhere as well, with multiple seeds in the top 10. Duong will enter as an All-State threat in the 100 backstroke, as will Engelmeier in the 200 freestyle. Wu will swim the 50 freestyle, Wittig the 200 individual medley, Kung the 100 freestyle, and DeFauw and Fisher the 100 breaststroke.
Brunty said that any or all of his swimmers could wind up in the top 16 and adding points to the Hornet total.
"Everybody has a shot," he said. "Justin and Jake maybe have the best chance, but our other guys are going to surprise some people."
If everything comes together as planned, the Hornets should claim the top-10 finish Brunty admitted is the team's first goal headed into the meet. But there will be other goals on the Hornets' plate, as well.
"We'd like to maybe break a couple of varsity records and possibly make the All-American times in the relays," he said.
But perhaps the biggest goal for Saline will be setting the table for what could be a long run of success at the state level.
"It'll be a chance to gain some experience for next two, three years," he said. "Size-wise, we're sending more guys, and only two of them have been before. If we finish in the top 10, it shows that this program is continuing to improve. We're continuing to move forward."
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