Port swimmers step up as competition heats up

The Port Washington High School standout girls’ swim and dive season continued with the North Shore Conference Meet the last couple of weeks.

Port scored 192 points and finished sixth in the top-notch league.

Multiple school-record holder Amanda Lotz won the 500-yard freestyle on Saturday at Ozaukee Aquatics in Mequon in 5 minutes, 6.79 seconds. The second-place swimmer was nearly 25 seconds behind.

Lotz was second in the 200 freestyle in 1:53.37.

The 200 freestyle relay of Lily Kerbel, Harper Walber-Yoshioka, Anna Nisiewicz and Sophia Panek was sixth in 1:46.92.

The 400 freestyle relay of Kerbel, Sophia Schicker, Nisiewicz and Lotz was sixth in 3:52.97.

Schicker was seventh in the 100 backstroke in 1:06.88.

The 200 medley relay of Schicker, Walber-Yoshioka, Lotz and Panek was eighth in 2:01.61.

Kerbel was 14th in the 50 freestyle in 26.76 seconds, a top-10 time in Port program history. Panek was 13th in the 100 freestyle in 58.68, also cracking Port’s all-time top 10.

“The varsity conference meet has a championship feel, and the girls delivered some outstanding performances,” coach Danielle Peiffer said. “It has the potential to produce another level of adrenaline facing some tough competition, and the girls responded very well to the challenge. Similar to last year, we were particularly focused on relay performances, and the girls met our goals.”

Port’s other scoring finishes were: 200 freestyle relay B team of Edynn Strube, Courtney Backhaus, Gwen Jerome and Bridget Brynn, 11th, 1:52.93; Schicker, 200 freestyle, 10th, 2:09.52; Crass, 100 butterfly, 13th, 1:13.64; 400 freestyle B team of Crass, Claudia Gaskell, Jerome and Strube, 14th, 2:14.45; Jerome, 200 individual medley, 14th, 2:40.12; Nisiewicz, 50 freestyle, 15th, 26.85; and Walber-Yoshioka, 100 breaststroke, 16th, 1:22.33.

In diving, held on Oct. 23 at Nicolet, Genevieve Styles was fifth with 304.7 points. Hailey Kamin was 10th with 280.1 points. Port is expected to get state-qualifier Chloe Barber back from injury for sectionals this week.

Grafton scored 10 points in the meet. The 400 freestyle relay of Grace Nolte, Eden Elmendort, Laine Walton and Leila Coppersmith was 13th in 4:22.77 and the 200 medley relay of Walton, Ruby Adams, Nolte and Libbie Coleman was 16th in 2:30.23.

Port and Grafton swim in a Division 2 sectional in Plymouth. Diving is on Friday, Nov. 6, and swimming is Saturday, Nov. 7.

The winner in each event qualifies for state, along with the other 12 fastest times (highest point totals for divers) across all four sectionals.