Whoever coined the phrase ‘records are made to be broken? must’ve had Oxford High School’s Swim and Dive team in mind.
First came Jenna Mallard’s two school records in the 200-Yard Freestyle and 50-Yard Freestyle leg of the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay at the Sept. 9 swim meet against Waterford.
Then came Allison Woonton’s breaking her own two-year-old school record in the 200-Yard Medley and nearly breaking her 100-Yard Backstroke school record in the Sept. 16 swim meet against Fenton.
After that, at the Sept. 25 swim meet against Utica Eisenhower, Woonton tied her school record that she’d just broken in the 200-Yard Medley.
Now, not only did Oxford’s Swim and Dive team defeat Brandon 102.5-83.5 at a Sept. 30 swim meet, but Claire Patrell joined the record-breaking club with room to spare.
In the 100-Yard Flystroke, Patrell finished first with a time of 1:11.41’more than four seconds faster than the previous record. Last year, Jennifer Smillie had set the school record with a time of 1:15.56.
When Patrell finished the race, they didn’t have the times up yet. But when they did show up, she saw her time and knew immediately she’d set a new record.
‘I’m really excited about [breaking the record],? Patrell said. ‘I was surprised I broke it by four seconds.?
Four and 15-hundredths of a second, to be exact.
Oxford Swim and Dive Head Coach Jacquelyn Boswell sees many more things like this ahead for Patrell.
‘It’s only the beginning,? the coach said. ?[Claire]’s s a very hard worker and I know she’s going to be breaking her own record again before the end of the season.?
The record-breaking performance, coupled with seven other first-place finishes, propelled the Wildcats to their aquatic victory. It also was their first win of the season as they are now 1-1-0 in Flint Metro League action.
‘The girls are very excited for their first win,? said Boswell.
Patrell also earned first-place finishes in the 200-Yard Free Relay as a member of Oxford’s A Relay team of herself, Allison Woonton, Anna Daves and Jenna Mallard with a time of 1:57.47 and in the 200-Yard Medley Relay with Woonton, Daves and Mallard with a time of 2:11.16.
Mallard and Woonton both earned two other first-place finishes in individual events. Mallard came in first with a time of 2:18.88 in the 200-Yard Freestyle and in the 500-Yard Freestyle with a time of 6:13.68. Woonton finished first in the 200-Yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:24.69 and in the 100-Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:10.11.
Also taking first-place honors was Olivia Martin in the diving competition with a score of 139.80.
Other Wildcat results:
50-Yard Free: Daves finished second with a time of 29.53 while Ellen Saville came in third.
100-Yard Backstroke: Jennie Sunman finished fourth.
100-Yard Breaststroke: Mallard, described by Boswell as the team’s best breaststroke swimmer, wasn’t able to swim this event due to a knee injury. Emily Gilmore swam it and finished third with a time of 1:30.35 while Brianna Pastewski came in fifth.
100-Yard Fly: Sunman tied with Brandon swimmer Amber Sicherman for a third-place finish while Caroline Kerbelis finished fifth.
100-Yard Free: Daves finished second with a time of 1:05.08, a season-best for her. Sarah Skelton finished third.
200-Yard Medley Relay: B Relay team of Sunman, Emily Gilmore, Kerbelis and Skelton finished in second place.
200-Yard Free: Skelton finished fifth.
200-Yard Individual Medley: Patrell finished third by touching out a Brandon swimmer girl.
200-Yard Free Relay: The B Relay team of Jarvis, Gilmore, Kara Charles, and Skelton finished second.
400-Yard Free Relay: The Wildcats finished second and third. The A Relay of Saville, Kerbelis, Pastewski, and Kaitlyn Kimmel finished second at 4:25.20 while the C Relay of Amber Dietrich, Alexis Desotell, Gilmore and Sunman took third ahead of Oxford’s B Relay.
500-Yard Free: Saville came in fourth and Kimmel finished fifth.
Diving: Lindsay Sutherland came in third while Molly Bonfiglio finished fourth.