Sports
Girls Swimming Nabs Second Place at Conference Meet
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GIRLS SWIMMING — Hartland took second in the two-day Kensington Lakes Conference meet that ended Saturday, said head coach Maria Puranen.
"The community should be very proud of the team," Puranen said. "They were awesome."
Grand Blanc finished first with 658.5 points to Hartland's 617 while the Eagles were without one of its best swimmers, Avery Evenson, for most of the meet as she finished fifth in Saturday's cross country finals.
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But Puranen said the team performed better than expectations by setting school records in relays — the 200-yard medley and the 400-yard freestyle. Kirsten Stroven also set a school record in the breast stroke. Puranen said she believes the scheduling conflict helped team depth.
"They swam extremely well," she said. "It's going to set us up for the state meet."
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More Eagle swimmers qualified with their times, she said, including Carolyn Robinson in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle, and Lindsey Pajot in the 100-yard backstroke.
Puranen said the goal is to finish in the top 10 at the meet, which is Nov. 18-19.
See PDF with the article for complete results.
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY — Hartland during Saturday's cross country finals as two runners — Sean Pengelly and Ian McGinn — finished in the top 10.
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY — Hartland's while the team came in 23rd Saturday during the state cross country finals.
Tuesday
GIRLS VOLLEYBALL — Hartland lost 3-1 to Walled Lake Central in the first round of the district tournament Tuesday, according to results from the Michigan High School Athletic Association.
The scores were: 23-25, 25-21, 16-25, 24-26. The loss ends a disappointing season for the Eagles, who going in were 8-21-3.
From the previous weekend
The Hartland High School girls swim and dive team won its division championship meet for the first time this past weekend, but the Eagles will be minus one of its star swimmers for part of the upcoming conference competition on Friday and Saturday.
Head coach Maria Puranen said she has to shake up this weekend's lineup because two-sport junior Avery Evenson will be running in the cross country finals on Saturday. Evenson, a state qualifier, won the 100-yard freestyle in the division meet and was a member of the first place finishing 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relay squads.
"It's kind of like gambling in Las Vegas," she said about her changes. "It could be really good or really bad. We'll see."
Even so, the Eagles already a season to be proud of with eight swimmers already qualified in seven events for the state competition later this month. Hartland was a perfect 5-0 in dual meets in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West Division and winning the division meet by 29 points over second place Grand Blanc was unprecedented.
Aside from Evenson and the relay wins, Kirsten Stroven also was first in the 100-yard breaststroke. (See PDF with this article for complete results).
"It was a big win for us," Puranen said. "We've never done that before — ever."
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