BRAINERD — The times weren’t eye-popping quick, but the Brainerd Warriors season-opening meet against Bemidji was Thursday, Dec. 7.
With the Lumberjacks sporting a smaller roster, the Warriors took advantage of the Brainerd High School Aquatic Center’s eight lanes and didn’t swim many junior varsity events. Many it did swim were combined into a varsity and junior varsity event.
Meaning it only took Brainerd an hour and a half to defeat Bemidji 97-77.
The Warriors got double wins from Logan Kuepers in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles and Sam McCulley in the 50 and 100 freestyles.
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
David Herath helped Brainerd finish first, second and third in diving as he posted a first-place 195.05. It was his first varsity win. Sebastian Tisdell placed second and Nash Gabrielson third.
Kyler Carlson scored his first varsity win in the 200 individual medley as he swam a first-place time of 2:14.93. He then gave McCulley a run in the 100 free.
Another first-time winner was Brenden Brichacek in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:11.24
“I thought Kyler Carlson had a really nice meet in the IM and also in the 100 free,” Warriors head coach John Zemke said “Sam McCulley had some nice swims. He did well. I was happy with our IMers and how they competed.
“We just have to figure out some things and how we lined up. We kind of mixed things up tonight. We’ll have to have a better game plan next Thursday.”
Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch
Nathan Chaussee won the backstroke in 1:00.03 and was followed by Alex Kuepers and Weston Thiesse.
Spencer Porter placed second in the 50 and third in the 100 free and freshman Carter Dirkes placed second in the 500 free.
Drew Haglin collected a second in the 200 individual medley and a third in the butterfly. Chaussee was second in the fly. Brooks Brichacek was second in the 200 free and third in the 500 free.
“I thought our medley relay started off with some nice swims,” Zemke said. “We’re definitely out of shape. This is only the ninth day we’ve had any organized swimming. Despite being out of shape, some of the guys we haven’t seen swim in certain events swam well. Some of the older kids were impressive.”
The Warriors swept the relays. The team of Chaussee, Atreyu Marcelo, Haglin and McCulley won the medley in 1:44.99. Brainerd was also second in 1:52.9
The foursome of Carlson, Marcelo, Porter and McCulley won the 200 free in 1:37.8. Brainerd was also second in 1:42.24.
Brainerd’s Carlson, Logan Kuepers, Haglin and Chaussee won the 400 free in 3:45.63. The Warriors were second in 3:58.35 as well
“We know what we need to work on now,” Zemke said. “Honestly, it’s just about getting into shape. If you swam a couple of days a week at the YMCA or you ran cross-country it’s different. This is different. We’ll keep our training patterns with what we do and try to fix the little things as we move forward and just get ready for the next meet.”
200 medley relay: 1-Brainerd (Nathan Chaussee, Atreyu Marcelo, Drew Haglin, Sam McCulley) 1:44.99; 2-Brainerd (Weston Thiesse, Brenden Brichacek, Spencer Porter, Carter Dirkes) 1:52.90
200 freestyle: 1-Logan Kuepers (Brd) 2:00.69, 2-Brooks Brichacek (Brd) 2:03.89, 4-Jory Jackson (Brd) 2:07.75
200 individual medley: 1-Kyler Carlson 2:14.93, 2-Drew Haglin 2:19.0, 4-Brenden Brichacek 2:22.98
50 freestyle: 1-McCulley 23.91, 2-Porter 24.81, 3-Marcelo 25.03
Diving: 1-David Herath (Brd) 195.05, 2-Sebastian Tisdell (Brd) 187.4, 3-Nash Gabrielson (Brd) 182.0
100 butterfly: 1-Moses Son (Bem) 57.29, 2-Chaussee 58.25, 3-Drew Haglin 58.89, 4-Payton Haglin 1:05.89
100 freestyle: 1-McCulley 51.8, 2-Carlson 52.51, 3-Porter 54.55
500 freestyle: 1-Logan Kuepers 5:28.07, 2-Dirkes 5:47.51, 3-Brooks Brichacek 6:00.06
200 freestyle relay: 1-Brainerd (Carlson, Marcelo, Porter, McCulley) 1:37.8, 2-Brainerd (Brenden Brichacek, Logan Kuepers, Porter, McCulley) 1:41.24
100 backstroke: 1-Nathan Chaussee 1:00.03, 2-Alex Kuepers 1:05.84, 3-Thiesse 1:06.38
100 breaststroke: 1-Brenden Brickacek 1:11.24, 4-Marcelo 1:17.46, 6-Herath 1:24.56
400 freestyle relay: 1-Brainerd (Carlson, Logan Kuepers, Drew Haglin, Chaussee) 3:45.63; Brainerd (Adamson, Grady Sumption, Brooks Brichacek, Dirkes) 3:58.35
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at 218-855-5856 or jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jeremymillsop.
Key: Brainerd won all but one event
Overall: Brd 1-0
Next: Brainerd hosts Sauk Rapids 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14.
