At first brush, a 50.5-135.5 loss seems like a blowout, but for the Skyline Girls’ Swim and Dive Team, the head-to-head dual meet against Pioneer was a major stride.
Pioneer is the three-time defending MHSAA Division 1 State Champions and has not lost a dual meet in 5 years, making a win unlikely. “Before we started, we wanted to find ways to identify success other than winning the meet,” said Head Coach Mo-Jo Murrett. “We were looking for improvement on the details that we’ve been working on in practice.” In swimming, details tend to mean sharper starts, swifter turns, and snappier underwaters.
Adrienne Schadler (‘27) led Skyline’s effort, racking up ten individual points. In the 500-yard freestyle, Schadler battled it out with Pioneer’s Stella Chapman to the final touch. Shadler took the race out quickly but Chapman passed her on the penultimate 50-yards. Schadler was nearly half a second back but used a clutch 28.49 split to out-touch Chapman by .06 seconds at the finish. Schadler’s 5:03.95 was a new season-best and the second-fastest time in the state to this point. “I knew she was close,” said Schadler, “but I knew I had to touch the wall: that’s all I had to do.”
Schadler also took 2nd in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:53.50. That time cut 2.5 seconds off her season best from just a week prior and is just two seconds off her best time.
Julianna Peoples (‘27) now is looking forward to her first State Meet. Peoples dropped two seconds off her season best with a 2:19.24 for 4th in the 200 IM. That time was under the State cut, the minimum time standard to participate in an event at the State Meet, netting the Eagles a fifth state qualifier so far in 2023. “It felt pretty good,” said Peoples. “I was [expecting to get the cut] eventually, but I didn’t think I was really in shape right now. It was kind of surprising.”
Peoples also placed 2nd in the 100 butterfly with a 1:03.88. “I need to get a little more in shape with my butterfly because I do really want to get the 100 fly cut,” said Peoples.
Allie Deininger (‘24) netted four-and-a-half points with a third-place finish in the 100 free and a fourth-place finish in the 50 free. She neared her best times in both; in the former, Deininger was .18 seconds off while in the latter, she was .27 seconds off. Deininger being so near to her best form bodes well for the Eagles as they look to have a strong 400 free Relay at States. “Allie Deininger is just doing it right this year,” said Murrett. “She’s training well and she’s showing up for meets.”
Evi Edlund (‘26) had some major time drops, a rarity for a returning swimmer so early in the season. In the 100 free, she dropped 3.41 seconds to a 1:03.20, and in the 200 free she dropped 3.87 seconds to a 2:18.92. “We were looking for improvement on the details,” said Murrett. “I felt like Evi Edlund did that probably better than anyone else.”
“To have five State [qualified] swimmers through the second meet is exactly where we need to be,” said Murrett. Going forward, Murrett’s focus is on qualifying more swimmers by focusing on technical details in practice.
