DANVILLE -- All it takes are a few key moments in a dual meet to swing things in either direction. In Thursday's Heartland Athletic Conference boys dual between Danville and Central Columbia, the freestyle events were the deciding factor.
In a sport predicated on time, in which tenths, even hundredths of a second can make all the difference, the Ironmen couldn't quite touch it out at the wall. If only for a few changes in some of the results, Danville could've had a chance to knock off the Blue Jays in the final relay. As it turned out, it was a tough finish for the seniors in their final home meet.
Central earned a big second place finish in the 200 free, went 1-2 in the 50 and then nipped out a 1-3 finish in the 200 free relay. Those results, especially the one in the relay, helped give the Blue Jays a hard-earned 96-86 victory at the Danville Area Community Center.
"It really could've gone either way, but they fought hard to the end and sometimes it just doesn't end up the way you want it to," said Danville coach Ryann Kishbaugh. "The effort and support though that they gave was fantastic. This whole meet was still a great way to end the season."
"We've been working on a lot of sprint-based workouts that have helped give us some strong finishes," said first-year Central coach Tim Gardner, a former state medal winner for the Blue Jays. "It's always good to win and be competitive. It makes the meet more entertaining."
The early swings gave the Blue Jays a slim four-point lead heading into diving. Chris Malafronte was edged by .13 seconds in the 200 free for second. Then Zach Smith was clipped by .07 seconds in the 50 as Danville, instead of being tied or even ahead, trailed after the first four events.
Even with time to climb back into the meet, the 200 free relay provided the biggest and most crucial turn. Down 10 after the 100 fly, the Ironmen (6-4) shaved the deficit over the next two events to five heading into the relay.
Sophomore Nathan Hughes made up a half a body length on senior Travis Stine in the final leg of the relay as the Blue Jays won by .44 seconds. The vital extra two points for third was then determined by .24 seconds, opening up an 11-point lead. A 1-3 finish by Danville with the results the rest of the way had them winning the meet by a point. Even with just a first-place finish, the meet would've been tied heading into the final relay.
"With our numbers on the boys side we really try to attack the relays and we did that (tonight)," said Gardner.
Central (6-3) was able win all three relays, outscoring Danville 28-14 in the process. Freshman Hunter Krum was impressive for the Blue Jays' as their only double-individual winner, taking the 500 free and 100 back, respectively, in solid times of 4:57.64 and 58.51. Earning top finishes for the Ironmen were Danny Redell in the 200 free at 1:57.67 and Matt Bason in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.61.
Central won eight of the 11 events.
GIRLS
Central Columbia 117, Danville 65
DANVILLE -- The District 4 Class AA team favorite Blue Jays were more than dominating Thursday by winning all 11 events en route to their HAC dual victory.
From the outset, it was clear the Danville girls were overmatched, but they still gave quality efforts in hopes of qualifying more individuals for the District 4 meet at the end of the month.
"They're an amazing team and I'm just glad our girls got in there and raced their best," Kishbaugh said. "This was a wonderful opportunity to swim against fast competition and drop some times."
On top of their winning times, the Blue Jays managed to go 1-2 in three events. Dani Blass and Madison Heintzelman were double-individual winners for Central (9-0), while Beth Grazio and Katie Saloky added wins on top of their two winning legs on relays.
Kasey Getkin paced Danville (6-4) with a pair of second-place finishes in the 100 fly and 100 back, respectively.
