BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Swimmers created a fun atmosphere last Thursday as they held a Disney themed night to honor their five seniors – Lexie Fiori, Natalie Harshman, Brianna Hayes, Sayano Izu and Kate Rogowski, Oct. 27.
“The tradition has been the juniors take the lead on making the night,” said Amber Hallman, head coach for Clarkston Girls Swim and Dive. “They organize it, they plan it, they 100 percent do it. they came in and made sure the pool looked festive and poured a lot of love so seniors knew how much they are appreciated. It was a great feel for the night. The team was excited and having fun. It was a good energy.
The Lady Wolves won their final dual meet with a 137-42 win over West Bloomfield.
“The girls swam strong,” said Miller. “They are in the middle of taper right now so we weren’t looking to go out and attack the swims that much. It was really about the celebration of our seniors and making sure they knew they were loved, valued and appreciated on the team. They swam solid and right where they should be swimming.”
The girls won all 11 swim events and placed in the top three spots in five events. Fiori and Hayes led the dive team as Fiori finished in fourth place and Hayes, fifth place.
Kate Rogowski led the team with a clean sweep of all 4 of her events, & 200 Free relay and 50 & 100 Free. Senior Natalie Harshman placed in all of the events she swam and had a personal best in her 5th place finish 200 IM.
For relays, Rogowski, Ashleigh Allen, Caroline Hughes and Rachel Kociba finished first in the 200-yard IM; Rogowski, Kociba, Haley VanBuskirk and Betsey Walkowiak, first in the 200-yard freestyle; Allen, Hughes, VanBuskirk, Walkowiak, first in the 400-yard freestyle.
Rogowski also finished first in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle; Allen, first in the 200-yard IM and the 500-yard freestyle; Hughes first in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke; and VanBuskirk first in the 200-yard freesyle and the 100-yard breaststroke.
Kociba finished in second place in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle while Lizzy Craig finished second in the 100-yard backstroke and third in the 50-yard freestyle. Walkowiak finished second in the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard butterfly.
Harshman had a personal best in the 200-yard IM with fifth place.
The Lady Wolves finished in sixth place at the OAA Red League meet and also qualified for the state meet in a few events at Lake Orion, Nov. 2-4.
The events they qualified include the 200-yard medley relay, with Haley VanBuskirk, Ashleigh Allen, Betsey Walkowiak and Caroline Hughes; 200-yard freestyle relay, Allen, Walkowiak, Rachel Kociba and Kate Rogowski.

The girls prep this week for the MHSAA Girls Swim and Dive Division 1 State Finals at Oakland University, Nov. 18-19.

  clarkston, Swim and Dive