By Jared Schmeltzer
Reporter
On Thursday night the Merrill swim team traveled to Wisconsin Rapids for the Wisconsin Valley Conference swim meet. The Merrill girls swam hard and six individuals were able to find themselves on the podium, as well as two relay teams. The Jays doubled their score from last season with 294 points and came away with a third place finish.
Claire Schultz had a nice day, taking second place in the 50 yard freestyle with a swim of 24.93. Claire would also swim in the 100 yard freestyle and finish in third place with a swim of 55.59. Grace Schultz would swim in the 200 yard freestyle, taking second place with a swim of 1:56.26, and would also swim in the 100 yard backstroke and place second with a swim of 59.81. Trinity Kanitz would swam the 500 yard freestyle and took fourth place with a time of 5:31.13, with Erin Kanitz swimming a time of 5:41.64 for a sixth place finish. Erin would also swim in the 200 yard freestyle and take eighth place with a time of 2:07.75. The 100 yard butterfly was swam by Camryn Schulz, who swam a time of 1:05.69, good enough for sixth place. Schulz also swam the 200 yard IM and finished in seventh place with a swim of 2:26.34, one spot ahead of teammate Bailey Orzech who swam a time of 2:26.79.
Merrill’s 200 yard freestyle relay team consisting of Grace Schultz, Camryn Schulz, Trinity Kanitz and Claire Schultz took third place with a combined time of 1:42.25. The 400 yard freestyle relay team consisting of Erin and Trinity Kanitz as well as Grace and Claire Schultz took third place, swimming a time of 3:46.42.
Trinity Kanitz was recognized as the 2018 Wisconsin Valley Conference swimmer of the year and will look to help lead her team in the division two sectional meet on Saturday, Nov. 3, at UW Stevens Point.