Andrews, Lovenberg break records, Croatan takes meet
Published 1:43 pm Saturday, December 6, 2014
Two Washington school records fell during Saturday’s meet versus Croatan and Swansboro, one by more than five seconds, but overall, the Pam Pack boys were unable to secure another first-place finish in the team’s second meet of the season.
Despite a runner-up finish for the boys and a third-place finish for the girls, head coach Spencer Pake likes the direction his young team is headed.
“In the pool, the improvement of times, in just the 50 free, had kids dropping four and five seconds from the last meet and that was just a week ago,” he said. “The amount they’re improving is just phenomenal and we’re just working on technique, flip turns and being fundamentally sound. It’s paying off for them.”
Sophomore standout Kevin Andrews had the swim of the afternoon across the board, finishing the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:03.47, surpassing the old school record by more than five seconds. Eric Lovenberg also made history with a 1:05.09 mark in the 100-yard breaststroke, also a school record. Both swims earned the Pam Pack seven first-place points.
Croatan, a veteran team that has always kept it close with Washington through the years, was lifted by a collection of top-three finishes down the stretch, while the Pam Pack attempted to keep pace.
Through the early 200-yard medley relays, it was Pake’s experienced teams that came out on top. For the girls, Sidney Harris, competing in her first meet since having knee surgery, Megan Baldwin, Lanie Godley and Rylee Anderson took first by about 10 seconds with a time of 2:08.98. The boys’ team, consisting of Andrews, Lovenberg, A.J. Howard and Peter Birdsong, edged Croatan by about a second (1:47.81).
“I’ve always had pride in my relays and try to get the best teams together that we can,” Pake said. “The kids really like to swim in the relays because you really get that aspect of swimming for your team. They really step up and do a good job for us.”
Washington’s Megan Baldwin fell to Swansboro’s Maddison Baiotto, in the 200-yard freestyle by about three seconds, an upset of sorts, while Lanie Godley powered her way to a commanding first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley by 10 seconds.
On top of a historic end to the 100-yard breaststroke, Lovenberg also took the 200-yard free style with a time of 2:02.55.
Other notable finishes for the Washington boys were A.J. Howard in the 50-yard freestyle (second place, 23.96) and 100-yard butterfly (1:00.20) and Tony Lovenberg in the 500-yard freestyle (first place, 5:31.18).
Other notable finishes for the Washington girls were Amy Arnold in the 50-yard freestyle (first place, 28.17) and 100-yard breaststroke (first place, 1:23.93) and Baldwin in the 100-yard freestyle (first place, 58.11).
While both Washington relay teams struggled in the 200-yard freestyle, the Pam Pack locked up first place in the girls and boys 400-yard freestyle. Eric Lovenberg, Tony Lovenberg, Justin Clark and Kevin Andrews blew away the competition by more than 30 seconds with a time of 3:30.45, while Arnold, Godley, Anderson and Baldwin recorded a time of 4:06.88.
“Overall, I tried some new things with the girls today, letting them swim some new things they haven’t swam before,” Pake said. “I saw some very good things. We have a very young team with a lot of new swimmers. They’re improving every day. I’m very pleased overall.”
For the girls, Croatan took the meet with 113 points, while Swansboro finished in second with 99 and Washington in third with 94. The Croatan boys held off Washington by 11 points to take first place.
The Pam Pack swim team is back in action Wednesday afternoon at the New Bern YMCA to take on New Bern, Havelock, East Carteret, Southern Wayne and Jacksonville.