Beginning with a win

JANESVILLE — There might have been nine teams there, but the Baraboo High School girls swimming team was the class of the Janesville Parker Relays on Saturday.

The Thunderbirds got their feet wet on the new season by finishing first in the meet and first in five of its races.

Baraboo finished with 143 points, while second-place Milton had 128. Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay finished third with 119.

What was most impressive about the BHS performance was just how ready the T-Birds were for their first meet.

In the five races BHS won, each victory was by a big margin.

Ellie Ruefer, Lacey Craker, Brainne Schwarz and Raegen Trimmer took the 200 meter freestyle relay by more than five seconds to lead things off. They finished in 1 minute, 47.03 seconds.

Maybe the best news for Baraboo was the team's 800 freestyle relay squad. Kim Hanson, Katie Baird, Carly Trotter and Kayla Steinhorst finished in 8:58.91. Along the way, Hanson, Baird and Trotter all set new personal-best splits in the race.

The closest first-place finish by Baraboo came in the 400 individual medley.

Gemma Pillsbury, Blair Murphy, Ruefer and Shannon Keeling swam the laps for the Thunderbirds. BHS head coach Lynn Keeling said it was Ruefer who took the lead for the team as she completed her fly-back turn.

The 300 backstroke relay team of Baraboo's, made up of Emily Thompson, Kayla Hanson, Raegen Trimmer, Raegen Trimmer and Emily O'Rourke swam their way to a time of 3:08.25.

Finally, in the 400 freestyle, Ruefer, Thompson, O'Rourke and Keeling won by eight seconds with a time of 3:53.65.

Taking second for the Thunderbirds were O'Rourke, Blair Murphy, Shannon Keeling and Emily Thompson in the 400 medley relay, Aleah Kuchta, Swcharz, Kayla Steinhorst and Reufer helped lead the team to a strong finish, but Milton excelled in the race and finished ahead of them by five seconds.

In the 400 medley relay, O'Rourke, Murphy, Shannon Keeling and Thompson finished behind a fast Milton team and managed to beat their target time by two seconds.

Kuchta, Schwarz, Kim Hanson and Steinhorst also finished behind Milton in the 500 crescendo. In the 300 breaststroke, Craker, Pillsbury, Steinhorst and Murphy grabbed second.

Baraboo's 200 medley team and 300 butterfly team each took third place.

Baraboo results

200 free — Ruefer, Craker, Schwarz, Trimmer, 1:47.03.

400 medley — O'Rourke, Murphy, Keeling, Thompson, 4:17.38.

800 free — Kim Hanson, Baird, Trotter, Steinhorst, 8:58.91.

400 individual medley — Pillsbury, Murphy, Ruefer, Keeling, 4:25.80.

300 backstroke — Thompson, Kayla Hanson, Trimmer, O'Rourke, 3:08.25.

500 crescendo — Kuchta, Schwarz, Kim Hanson, Ruefer, 5:20.05.

300 breaststroke — Craker, Pillsbury, Steinhorst, Murphy, 3:42.46.

400 free — Ruefer, Thompson, O'Rourke, Keeling, 3:53.65.

200 medley — Kayla Hanson, Pillsbury, Teasdale, Trimmer, 2:02.82.

300 butterfly — Teasdale, Craker, Karli Didrickson, Kayla Hanson, 3:18.63.

1. Baraboo, 143; 2. Milton, 128; 3. Badger/Big Foot/Williams Bay, 119; 4. Janesville Craig, 99; 5. Janesville Parker, 95; 6. Monroe, 82; 7. Beloit Memorial, 68; 8. Delavan-Darien, 57; 9. Madison LaFollette, 15.