TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The Merrill Girls Swim Team started out their season with three meets in six days. “We were busy,” said Kristie Winter, Head Coach for the Swim Team.
Merrill Fun in the Sun
The Lady Jays hosted their “Merrill Fun in the Sun” Outdoor Relay Meet on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, and took fifth place overall.
“The all-relay format lets our new swimmers get a taste of competitive swimming and mingle with teams from both the Valley and Great Northern Conference,” Winter said. “The weather was perfect, and we had a lot of fun in this season opener.”
Merrill girls placed as follows:
200 Yard Medley Relay: Megan Miles, Amber Winter, Bailee Sommer, and Claire Jirovec came in 4th place out of 18 competing teams with a final time of 2:04.12.
500 Yard Freestyle 50, 100, 150, 200 Relay: Bailee Sommer, Caitlynn Pehlke, Addison Jirovec, and Amber Winter came in 5th place with a final time of 5:23.41 and Adalyn Blake, Brenna Jirovec, Patricia Priebe, and Caroline Durbin came in 14th place with a final time of 6:16.19 out of 19 competing teams.
400 Yard Medley 4×100 IM Relay: Mya Wilde, Claire Jirovec, Addison Jirovec, and Bailee Sommer came in 6th place with a final time of 5:07.15 out of 13 competing teams.
200 Yard Butterfly Relay: Caroline Durgin, Sylvia Hanson, Caitlynn Pehlke, and Megan Miles came in 9th with a final time of 2:14.67 out of 13 competing teams.
200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Bailey Sommer, Addison Jirovec, Claire Jirovec, and Amber Winter came in 4th with a final time of 1:52.96 and Mya Wilde, Patricia Priebe, Brenna Jirovec, and Adalyn Blake came in 14th with a final time of 2:15.75 out of 20 competing teams.
200 Yard Backstroke Relay: Megan Miles, Sylvia Hanson, Caitlynn Pehlke, and Mya Wilde came in 7th with a final time of 2:19.01 and Caroline Durbin, Adalyn Blake, Patricia Prieve, and Brenna Jirovec came in 13th with a final time of 2:46.38 out of 18 competing teams.
200 Yard Breastroke Relay: Amber Winter, Sylvia Hanson, Addison Jirovec, and Claire Jirovec came in 3rd with a final time of 2:29.47 out of 15 competing teams.
400 Yard Freestyle Relay: Caitlynn Pehlke, Megan Miles, Caroline Durbin, and Mya Wilde came in 10th with a final time of 4:33.73 and Sylvia Hanson, Patricia Priebe, Brenna Jirovec, and Adalyn Blake came in 19th with a final time of 5:13.16 out of 21 competing teams.
Marshfield Chase the Tiger
On Tuesday, Aug. 23, the Bluejay Girls traveled to Marshfield for the “Marshfield Chase the Tiger” Invite and swam their way into a first place team finish. “Merrill took 1st place overall in this meet,” Winter said. This was a good meet because it “gave our freshmen a chance to rate independently and continue to adapt to high school swimming,” she added.
Merrill girls placed as follows:
200 Yard Medley Relay, Varsity: Megan Miles, Amber Winter, Olivia Pajtash, and Bailee Sommer came in 2nd place with a time of 2:04.20 out of 10 competing teams.
100 Yard Freestyle, Varsity: Bailey Sommer, age 15, came in 2nd place with a time of 1:03.25; Addison Jirovec, age 14, came in 4th place with a time of 1:04.54; and Caitlynn Pehlke, age 16, came in 6th place with a time of 1:08.10, out of 15 competing swimmers.
100 Yard IM, Varsity: Amber Winter, age 17, came in 1st place with a time of 1:06.06; Olivia Pajtash, age 15, came in 7th with a time of 1:13.68; and Sylvia Hanson, age 14, came in 10th place with a time of 1:18.16, out of 14 competing swimmers.
100 Yard Freestyle Relay, Varsity: Patricia Priebe, age 14; Emily Winter, age 14; Caroline Durbin, age 14; and Caitlynn Pehlke, age 16, came in 3rd place with a time of 59.93, out of 6 competing teams.
200 Yard Freestyle Relay, Varsity: Bailey Sommer, age 15; Megan Miles, age 17; Olivia Pajtash, age 15; and Amber Winter, age 17, came in 2nd place with a time of 1:54.01, out of 10 competing teams.
50 Yard Butterfly, Varsity: Megan Miles, age 17, came in 3rd place with a time of 32.78; Caitlynn Pehlke, age 16, came in 4th place with a time of 33.49, and Sylvia Hanson, age 14, came in 7th place with a time of 33.64, out of 14 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Freestyle, JV: Patricia Priebe, age 14, came in 1st with a time of 32.50; Adalyn Blake, age 14, came in 2nd with a time of 35.03; Brenna Jirovec, age 14, came in 3rd with a time of 36.87, out of 4 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Freestyle, Varsity: Bailee Sommer, age 15, came in 2nd place with a time of 28.28; Claire Jirovec, age 14, came in 4th place with a time of 29.53; and Mya Wilde, age 17, came in 10th place with a time of 34.13, out of 16 competing swimmers.
100 Yard Medley Relay, Varsity: Addison Jirovec, age 14; Emily Winter, age 14; Sylvia Hanson, age 14; and Claire Jirovec, age 14, came in 3rd place with a time of 1:05.61, out of 7 competing teams.
50 Yard Backstroke, JV: Brenna Jirovec, age 14, tied with a finals time of 39.99 but was awarded second place because her seed time of 44.66 beat her competitor’s no time; and Adalyn Blake, age 14, came in 4th place with a time of 45.22, out of 4 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Backstroke, Varsity: Megan Miles, age 17, came in 2nd place with a time of 32.26; Addison Jirovec, age 14, came in 5th place with a time of 33.89; and Emily Winter, age 14, came in 10th place with a time of 39.15, out of 16 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Breaststroke, Varsity: Amber Winter, age 17, came in 1st place with a time of 33.93; Olivia Pajtash, age 15, came in 5th place with a time of 38.12; and Claire Jirovec, age 14, came in 6th place with a time of 38.44, out of 17 competing swimmers.
8×50 Freestyle Relay, Varsity: Mya Wilde, age 17; Addison Jirovec, age 14; Sylvia Hanson, age 14; and Caroline Durbin, age 14, came in 4th place with a time of 4:17.15, out of 5 competing teams.
Colby Pentathlon
On Wednesday, Aug. 24, the Girls Swim Team was in Colby at their “Pentathlon” meet. “The Pentathlon is actually scored by class not by team,” Winter explained.
Merrill’s Amber Winter took first place for Seniors overall. Bailee Sommer took third place for Sophomores, and Olivia Pajtash took fourth place for Sophomores. Merrill’s highest placing Freshman, Addison Jirovec, took sixth overall. The 200 Breaststroke Relay was Merrill’s highest scoring event of the night.
“This is a great event for coaches to get some times they will use all season when determining relays and meet line ups,” Coach Winter said. Merrill had the second highest score for rankings by team at the end of the event, although that can also be attributed to Merrill having more girls swimming than some of the smaller schools.
Comparing the Merrill girls times head to head with all of the other competing swimmers, without regard to grade, Merrill girls placed as follows:
50 Yard Freestyle: Amber Winter, Senior, tied for 3rd place with a final time of 27.00 and took the spot because her seed time of 25.54 beat her competitor’s time; Bailee Sommer, Sophomore, took 12th place with a final time of 28.12; Olivia Pajtash, Sophomore, took 15th place with a final time of 28.95; Caitlynn Pehlke, Senior, took 19th place with a final time of 29.44; Claire Jirovec, Freshman, took 24th place with a final time of 29.91; Freshman Addison Jirovec and Senior Megan Miles tied for 29th place with a final time of 30.14, but Megan edged Addison out for the spot with a seed time of 28.35 vs. 29.82; Caroline Durbin, Freshman, took 43rd place with a final time of 31.54; Sylvia Hanson, Freshman, took 44th place with a final time of 31.95; Patricia Priebe, Freshman, took 49th place with a final time of 32.79; Mya Wilde, Senior, took 56th place with a final time of 34.12; Adalyn Blake, Freshman, took 64th place with a final time of 36.33; and Brenna Jirovec, Freshman, took 66th place with a final time of 36.42, out of 73 competing swimmers. NOTE: There is only 17 seconds difference between the time of the fastest swimmer in this event (25.13) and the last place finisher (42.13). Every second, and every fraction of a second, counts.
50 Yard Backstroke: Amber Winter took 5th place with a final time of 31.66; Megan Miles took 11th place with a final time of 32.67; Addison Jirovec took 16th place with a final time of 33.81; Bailee Sommer took 17th place with a final time of 34.13; Claire Jirovec took 23rd place with a final time of 34.64; Olivia Pajtash took 30th place with a final time of 35.61; Caitlynn Pehlke took 32nd place with a final time of 36.13; Sylvia Hanson took 43rd place with a final time of 37.94; Mya Wilde took 49th place with a final time of 38.83; Emily Winter, Freshman, took 50th place with a final time of 38.86; Patricia Priebe took 51nd place with a final time of 39.36; Brenna Jirovec took 56th place with a final time of 40.88; Caroline Durbin took 59th place with a final time of 41.83; and Adalyn Blake took 65th place with a final time of 44.87, out of 74 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Breaststroke: Amber Winter took 2nd place with a final time of 32.79; Olivia Pajtash took 8th place with a final time of 36.96; Claire Jirvec took 9th place with a final time of 37.07; Bailee Sommer took 15th place with a final time of 37.53; Addison Jirovec took 16th place with a final time of 37.87; Caroline Durbin tied for 26th place with a final time of 40.47 but slipped to 27th because her seed time was slower than her competitor; Sylvia Hanson took 46th place with a final time of 44.05; Brenna Jirovec took 51st place with a final time of 45.37; Mya Wilde took 57th place with a final time of 48.62; Caitlynn Pehlke took 59th place with a final time of 49.69; Patricia Priebe took 60th place with a final time of 49.89; Adalyn Blake took 64th place with a final time of 57.54, out of 68 swimmers competing.
50 Yard Butterfly: Amber Winter took 3rd place with a final time of 28.97; Addison Jirovec took 15th place with a final time of 31.61; Olivia Pajtash took 16th place with a final time of 31.63; Bailee Sommer took 18th place with a final time of 31.97; Megan Miles took 20th place with a final time of 32.18; Sylvia Hanson took 28th place with a final time of 33.53; Caitlynn Pehlke took 30th place with a final time of 33.87; Caroline Durbin took 40th place with a final time of 35.50; Claire Jirovec took 46th place with a final time of 35.88; Mya Wilde took 51st place with a final time of 38.50; Patricia Priebe took 55th place with a final time of 39.91; and Brenna Jirovec took 56th place with a final time of 40.25, out of 66 competing swimmers.
100 Yard IM: Amber Winter took 2nd place with a final time of 1:06.21; Olivia Pajtash took 10th place with a final time of 1:11.67; Bailee Sommer took 11th place with a final time of 1:11.83; Addison Jirovec took 16th place with a final time of 1:13.39; Megan Miles took 17th place with a final time of 1:13.44; Claire Jirovec took 26th place with a final time of 1:17.84; Caroline Durbin took 33rd place with a final time of 1:19.51; Caitlynn Pehlke took 38th place with a final time of 1:21.34; Sylvia Hanson took 40th place with a final time of 1:21.57; Patricia Priebe took 49th place with a final time of 1:26.03; Mya Wilde took 51st place with a final time of 1:27.66; and Brenna Jirovec took 58th place with a final time of 1:33.23, out of 67 swimmers competing.
Merrill Girls Swim Team: three meets in six days
TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The Merrill Girls Swim Team started out their season with three meets in six days. “We were busy,” said Kristie Winter, Head Coach for the Swim Team.
Merrill Fun in the Sun
The Lady Jays hosted their “Merrill Fun in the Sun” Outdoor Relay Meet on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022, and took fifth place overall.
“The all relay format lets our new swimmers get a taste of competitive swimming and mingle with teams from both the Valley and Great Northern Conference,” Winter said. “The weather was perfect, and we had a lot of fun in this season opener.”
Merrill girls placed as follows:
200 Yard Medley Relay: Megan Miles, Amber Winter, Bailee Sommer, and Claire Jirovec came in 4th place out of 18 competing teams with a final time of 2:04.12.
500 Yard Freestyle 50, 100, 150, 200 Relay: Bailee Sommer, Caitlynn Pehlke, Addison Jirovec, and Amber Winter came in 5th place with a final time of 5:23.41 and Adalyn Blake, Brenna Jirovec, Patricia Priebe, and Caroline Durbin came in 14th place with a final time of 6:16.19 out of 19 competing teams.
400 Yard Medley 4×100 IM Relay: Mya Wilde, Claire Jirovec, Addison Jirovec, and Bailee Sommer came in 6th place with a final time of 5:07.15 out of 13 competing teams.
200 Yard Butterfly Relay: Caroline Durgin, Sylvia Hanson, Caitlynn Pehlke, and Megan Miles came in 9th with a final time of 2:14.67 out of 13 competing teams.
200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Bailey Sommer, Addison Jirovec, Claire Jirovec, and Amber Winter came in 4th with a final time of 1:52.96 and Mya Wilde, Patricia Priebe, Brenna Jirovec, and Adalyn Blake came in 14th with a final time of 2:15.75 out of 20 competing teams.
200 Yard Backstroke Relay: Megan Miles, Sylvia Hanson, Caitlynn Pehlke, and Mya Wilde came in 7th with a final time of 2:19.01 and Caroline Durbin, Adalyn Blake, Patricia Prieve, and Brenna Jirovec came in 13th with a final time of 2:46.38 out of 18 competing teams.
200 Yard Breastroke Relay: Amber Winter, Sylvia Hanson, Addison Jirovec, and Claire Jirovec came in 3rd with a final time of 2:29.47 out of 15 competing teams.
400 Yard Freestyle Relay: Caitlynn Pehlke, Megan Miles, Caroline Durbin, and Mya Wilde came in 10th with a final time of 4:33.73 and Sylvia Hanson, Patricia Priebe, Brenna Jirovec, and Adalyn Blake came in 19th with a final time of 5:13.16 out of 21 competing teams.
Marshfield Chase the Tiger
On Tuesday, Aug. 23, the Bluejay Girls traveled to Marshfield for the “Marshfield Chase the Tiger” Invite and swam their way into a first place team finish. “Merrill took 1st place overall in this meet,” Winter said. This was a good meet because it “gave our freshmen a chance to rate independently and continue to adapt to high school swimming,” she added.
Merrill girls placed as follows:
200 Yard Medley Relay, Varsity: Megan Miles, Amber Winter, Olivia Pajtash, and Bailee Sommer came in 2nd place with a time of 2:04.20 out of 10 competing teams.
100 Yard Freestyle, Varsity: Bailey Sommer, age 15, came in 2nd place with a time of 1:03.25; Addison Jirovec, age 14, came in 4th place with a time of 1:04.54; and Caitlynn Pehlke, age 16, came in 6th place with a time of 1:08.10, out of 15 competing swimmers.
100 Yard IM, Varsity: Amber Winter, age 17, came in 1st place with a time of 1:06.06; Olivia Pajtash, age 15, came in 7th with a time of 1:13.68; and Sylvia Hanson, age 14, came in 10th place with a time of 1:18.16, out of 14 competing swimmers.
100 Yard Freestyle Relay, Varsity: Patricia Priebe, age 14; Emily Winter, age 14; Caroline Durbin, age 14; and Caitlynn Pehlke, age 16, came in 3rd place with a time of 59.93, out of 6 competing teams.
200 Yard Freestyle Relay, Varsity: Bailey Sommer, age 15; Megan Miles, age 17; Olivia Pajtash, age 15; and Amber Winter, age 17, came in 2nd place with a time of 1:54.01, out of 10 competing teams.
50 Yard Butterfly, Varsity: Megan Miles, age 17, came in 3rd place with a time of 32.78; Caitlynn Pehlke, age 16, came in 4th place with a time of 33.49, and Sylvia Hanson, age 14, came in 7th place with a time of 33.64, out of 14 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Freestyle, JV: Patricia Priebe, age 14, came in 1st with a time of 32.50; Adalyn Blake, age 14, came in 2nd with a time of 35.03; Brenna Jirovec, age 14, came in 3rd with a time of 36.87, out of 4 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Freestyle, Varsity: Bailee Sommer, age 15, came in 2nd place with a time of 28.28; Claire Jirovec, age 14, came in 4th place with a time of 29.53; and Mya Wilde, age 17, came in 10th place with a time of 34.13, out of 16 competing swimmers.
100 Yard Medley Relay, Varsity: Addison Jirovec, age 14; Emily Winter, age 14; Sylvia Hanson, age 14; and Claire Jirovec, age 14, came in 3rd place with a time of 1:05.61, out of 7 competing teams.
50 Yard Backstroke, JV: Brenna Jirovec, age 14, tied with a finals time of 39.99 but was awarded second place because her seed time of 44.66 beat her competitor’s no time; and Adalyn Blake, age 14, came in 4th place with a time of 45.22, out of 4 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Backstroke, Varsity: Megan Miles, age 17, came in 2nd place with a time of 32.26; Addison Jirovec, age 14, came in 5th place with a time of 33.89; and Emily Winter, age 14, came in 10th place with a time of 39.15, out of 16 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Breastroke, Varsity: Amber Winter, age 17, came in 1st place with a time of 33.93; Olivia Pajtash, age 15, came in 5th place with a time of 38.12; and Claire Jirovec, age 14, came in 6th place with a time of 38.44, out of 17 competing swimmers.
8×50 Freestyle Relay, Varsity: Mya Wilde, age 17; Addison Jirovec, age 14; Sylvia Hanson, age 14; and Caroline Durbin, age 14, came in 4th place with a time of 4:17.15, out of 5 competing teams.
Colby Pentathlon
On Wednesday, Aug. 24, the Girls Swim Team was in Colby at their “Pentathlon” meet. “The pentathlon is actually scored by class not by team,” Winter explained.
Merrill’s Amber Winter took first place for Seniors overall. Bailee Sommer took third place for Sophomores, and Olivia Pajtash took fourth place for Sophomores. Merrill’s highest placing Freshman, Addison Jirovec, took sixth overall. The 200 Breaststroke Relay was Merrill’s highest scoring event of the night.
“This is a great event for coaches to get some times they will use all season when determining relays and meet line ups,” Coach Winter said. Merrill had the second highest score for rankings by team at the end of the event, although that can also be attributed to Merrill having more girls swimming than some of the smaller schools.
Comparing the Merrill girls times head to head with all of the other competing swimmers, without regard to grade, Merrill girls placed as follows:
50 Yard Freestyle: Amber Winter, Senior, tied for 3rd place with a final time of 27.00 and took the spot because her seed time of 25.54 beat her competitor’s time; Bailee Sommer, Sophomore, took 12th place with a final time of 28.12; Olivia Pajtash, Sophomore, took 15th place with a final time of 28.95; Caitlynn Pehlke, Senior, took 19th place with a final time of 29.44; Claire Jirovec, Freshman, took 24th place with a final time of 29.91; Freshman Addison Jirovec and Senior Megan Miles tied for 29th place with a final time of 30.14, but Megan edged Addison out for the spot with a seed time of 28.35 vs. 29.82; Caroline Durbin, Freshman, took 43rd place with a final time of 31.54; Sylvia Hanson, Freshman, took 44th place with a final time of 31.95; Patricia Priebe, Freshman, took 49th place with a final time of 32.79; Mya Wilde, Senior, took 56th place with a final time of 34.12; Adalyn Blake, Freshman, took 64th place with a final time of 36.33; and Brenna Jirovec, Freshman, took 66th place with a final time of 36.42, out of 73 competing swimmers. NOTE: There is only 17 seconds difference between the time of the fastest swimmer in this event (25.13) and the last place finisher (42.13). Every second, and every fraction of a second, counts.
50 Yard Backstroke: Amber Winter took 5th place with a final time of 31.66; Megan Miles took 11th place with a final time of 32.67; Addison Jirovec took 16th place with a final time of 33.81; Bailee Sommer took 17th place with a final time of 34.13; Claire Jirovec took 23rd place with a final time of 34.64; Olivia Pajtash took 30th place with a final time of 35.61; Caitlynn Pehlke took 32nd place with a final time of 36.13; Sylvia Hanson took 43rd place with a final time of 37.94; Mya Wilde took 49th place with a final time of 38.83; Emily Winter, Freshman, took 50th place with a final time of 38.86; Patricia Priebe took 51nd place with a final time of 39.36; Brenna Jirovec took 56th place with a final time of 40.88; Caroline Durbin took 59th place with a final time of 41.83; and Adalyn Blake took 65th place with a final time of 44.87, out of 74 competing swimmers.
50 Yard Breaststroke: Amber Winter took 2nd place with a final time of 32.79; Olivia Pajtash took 8th place with a final time of 36.96; Claire Jirvec took 9th place with a final time of 37.07; Bailee Sommer took 15th place with a final time of 37.53; Addison Jirovec took 16th place with a final time of 37.87; Caroline Durbin tied for 26th place with a final time of 40.47 but slipped to 27th because her seed time was slower than her competitor; Sylvia Hanson took 46th place with a final time of 44.05; Brenna Jirovec took 51st place with a final time of 45.37; Mya Wilde took 57th place with a final time of 48.62; Caitlynn Pehlke took 59th place with a final time of 49.69; Patricia Priebe took 60th place with a final time of 49.89; Adalyn Blake took 64th place with a final time of 57.54, out of 68 swimmers competing.
50 Yard Butterfly: Amber Winter took 3rd place with a final time of 28.97; Addison Jirovec took 15th place with a final time of 31.61; Olivia Pajtash took 16th place with a final time of 31.63; Bailee Sommer took 18th place with a final time of 31.97; Megan Miles took 20th place with a final time of 32.18; Sylvia Hanson took 28th place with a final time of 33.53; Caitlynn Pehlke took 30th place with a final time of 33.87; Caroline Durbin took 40th place with a final time of 35.50; Claire Jirovec took 46th place with a final time of 35.88; Mya Wilde took 51st place with a final time of 38.50; Patricia Priebe took 55th place with a final time of 39.91; and Brenna Jirovec took 56th place with a final time of 40.25, out of 66 competing swimmers.
100 Yard IM: Amber Winter took 2nd place with a final time of 1:06.21; Olivia Pajtash took 10th place with a final time of 1:11.67; Bailee Sommer took 11th place with a final time of 1:11.83; Addison Jirovec took 16th place with a final time of 1:13.39; Megan Miles took 17th place with a final time of 1:13.44; Claire Jirovec took 26th place with a final time of 1:17.84; Caroline Durbin took 33rd place with a final time of 1:19.51; Caitlynn Pehlke took 38th place with a final time of 1:21.34; Sylvia Hanson took 40th place with a final time of 1:21.57; Patricia Priebe took 49th place with a final time of 1:26.03; Mya Wilde took 51st place with a final time of 1:27.66; and Brenna Jirovec took 58th place with a final time of 1:33.23, out of 67 swimmers competing.