Milbank Swimmers Start Season With a Splash

Milbank swimmers made a splash at their first meet of the 2022 winter season at the Watertown Area Swim Club on October 22. The “Ghouls in the Pool” meet included 160 swimmers from Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa.  According to Katie Pulscher, coach of the Milbank Area Lions Swim Team (MALST), Milbank swimmers had only been practicing for two weeks prior to this meet, but they had a great day and performed very well.

Crosby Bass earned two first-place finishes and a third-place finish. He swam his best time in all four of his races. TyLynn Wellnitz had a second- place finish and three third- place finishes. Two of those races were best times for TyLynn.

Ryan Steffen earned a third- place finish and two fourth-place finishes. All four of his races were best times. Thomas Bass completed the day with two third-place awards. He also recorded a fourth and a sixth-place finish. Three of his  times were personal bests. Pierce Gapp collected a second- place finish and two personal best times. Sophia Bass came home with a fifth-place finish and two sixth-place finishes. She notched three personal best times. Jada Leigh Wellnitz, Adrienne Korth, and Zoee Henrich all had good races.

Head coach Chuck Baechler was very encouraged by the accomplishments of his Milbank swimmers, “I was very happy with the number of best times. This early in the season, you don’t really expect the kids to perform that well. Our focus for this meet was for the kids to have fun and enjoy getting back into competition. It’s difficult for the older swimmers to hit times when they’re just starting to train, and it shows how hard the kids and Coach Katie are working in order to achieve these results this early in the season.”
What’s next for Milbank?  Swimmers travel tocompete in the Brookings Swim Meet on November 5 and November 6.

Submitted Photo: Jada Leigh Wellnitz