MEQUON — It was about having fun and honoring the seniors Thursday for the Homestead boys swimming and diving team during a North Shore Conference dual meet against Grafton.
The Senior Night activities took place during the break following the diving competition, with the four Highlanders in their final season with the program taking the microphone to share memories, thank their coaches, families and friends for supporting them through the years and taking their turn on the diving board to symbolically leap into the future while their teammates cheered an assortment of belly flops and otherwise abstract efforts into the water.
Following a 109-60 victory, Homestead head coach Mark Gwidt said he hopes that sequence of events is just one of many memories Lennart Goyarts takes with him from his experience swimming for the Highlanders.
Get updates from the News Graphic sent directly to your email inbox. |
"Lennart came from Germany. He’s a foreign exchange student this year," the coach explained. "Now he’s going to carry the tradition of the jug overseas, like we do with all of our AFS students and he’s going to love it.
"That’s super important because he’s going to remember this when he goes back to Germany and looks at his pictures and says I loved swimming at Homestead High School."
Swimming has also been a big part of the high school experience for Brandon Sobczak.
"He loves swimming. It’s an important part of his life. It’s who he is and he likes it. He’s been a great, great teammate," Gwidt said. "I think he was second at JV conference last year in the 50 free."
William Hrdi helped the Highlanders win the 200-yard freestyle relay. He teamed with Aiden O’Connor, Oliver Peters and Luke Running to post a first-place time of 1 minute, 41.56 seconds. Gwidt mentioned the change he has noticed from the senior through the years.
"William was a shy young man when he came in as a freshman. Didn’t really know where he would fit in and came out for swimming and just blossomed into this keeper of the jug as a senior, which is probably almost bigger than being a captain,” the coach explained. “He’s going on to pilot school and he’s going to be a pilot. Just being a vocal leader of a group, to see that maturation process has been impressive.”
Silas Toppe rounds out the quartet of Homestead seniors. He won the 50 free (23.12) and 100 butterfly (54.83) in addition to helping the Highlanders take first in the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.
“Silas has just grown up immensely from his freshman year to being maybe a conference swimmer to now being an athlete that’s made it to state on relays. He has an opportunity to make it as an individual at state,” Gwidt said. “A team leader, captain this year and he’s going to go on to college and do fantastic things.”
Gwidt put Toppe in the 50 free in an effort to give Kyle O’Connor a good race late in the season. Toppe won the race by a half-second, with O’Connor touching the wall in 23.61 seconds.
“Kyle’s got to keep swimming a 50. He did a 100 breast, which is something totally different, but he still needed to stay sharp in his 50s and his sprints,” the coach said. “Silas isn’t going to do the 50 free at conference, but it’s a way to keep Kyle fresh, to race someone like Silas and keep it fun.”
Ian Godden also had a good night for the Highlanders. He won the 100 free (53.64) and the 100 breaststroke (1:05.50).
“Ian is looking good,” Gwidt said. “His breaststroke is coming along nicely. He swam a good 100 freestyle today, but that’s not an event he’ll do at conference. He’ll probably do the IM (individual medley) and breaststroke.”
Gwidt is glad to have Sam Aldape back. He won the diving competition with a score of 358.80 points.
“He just missed the pool record tonight, I think by 0.1, so he was super close to our pool record, which I’m sure he’ll get next year,” the coach said about the junior. “We’re glad that he’s back.”
The focus for Homestead is now on end of the season goals, starting with the NSC meet. Diving will take place Thursday at 5 p.m. and swimming events commence Saturday at 11 a.m. Nicolet will host the meet.
“We really have to focus on getting the little things right. I think we’ve done a really good job with that,” Gwidt said. “We’ll try to polish that up and get ready for conference, because the North Shore Conference, that’s our team goal because we all get to swim together.”
The highlight of the night for the Black Hawks came in the 500 free, when Sam Jacoby won the race with a time of 6:04.85.
“Sam continues to improve,” Grafton head coach Bailey Bodart said. “Even from last year into this year, astounding improvements that he’s made. He has such a naturally smooth stroke.
“He just gets it,” the coach added. “He’s been a really important member of that 100 backstroke event.”
Luca Nicoli also put together a solid performance. In individual competition, he took second place in the 200 free (2:05.56) and 100 butterfly (1:00.63).
“Luca, his 100 fly, he was right on the time he’s been going very consistently,” Bodart said. “Not quite a season best, but he’s consistently been going around that same time so I was impressed with him.”
The junior also swam the anchor leg of the 400 free relay, helping the team of Jacoby, Chase Mueller and Gabriel Salko claim second place. Nicoli swam his 100 in 56.93 seconds, overcoming a small deficit to help the Black Hawks earn their spot.
“Luca is a strength to have at that anchor position. I always have faith that he’s going to do well on the end there,” Bodart said. “He can always pull out a good time at the end.”
Bodart noted that the meet came at a challenging point in training, with the conference meet and postseason on the horizon.
“Training hasn’t been easy. We haven’t hit that rest at the end of the year yet, so the guys that got season bests, that’s really great for them, but for the guys that didn’t they’ve just got to stay focused at practice and hopefully it will pay off when we start resting,” he explained. “I did kind of mix it up a little bit because this is one of the last chances for guys to swim events.”
Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts
I am an expert and enthusiast assistant. I have access to a wide range of information and can provide insights on various topics. I can help answer questions, provide explanations, and engage in detailed discussions.
Now, let's discuss the concepts mentioned in this article.
Public Speaking:
Public speaking is the act of delivering a speech or presentation to an audience. It involves informing, persuading, or entertaining a group of people through words, physical delivery, and visual or audio aids . Public speaking is a skill that can be developed through practice and coaching Effective public speaking requires careful preparation, organization, and delivery An introduction is an important part of a speech as it sets the tone, grabs the audience's attention, and previews the main points . It can include elements such as an attention-getter, introduction of the topic, speaker credibility, and forecasting of main points .
Senior Night:
Senior Night is an event that honors senior athletes in their final season with a sports program. It is a time to celebrate their contributions, share memories, and thank coaches, families, and friends for their support In the article, the Homestead boys swimming and diving team held their Senior Night during a North Shore Conference dual meet against Grafton. The seniors took the opportunity to share memories, thank their loved ones, and symbolically leap into the future by taking their turn on the diving board.
Homestead Boys Swimming and Diving Team:
The Homestead boys swimming and diving team is a high school sports team. In the article, the team had a 109-60 victory in their dual meet against Grafton The team's head coach, Mark Gwidt, expressed his hope that the Senior Night activities would create lasting memories for the seniors, including Lennart Goyarts, a foreign exchange student from Germany The article also mentions other team members, such as Brandon Sobczak, William Hrdi, Luke Running, Oliver Peters, and Silas Toppe, highlighting their achievements and growth throughout their high school swimming careers.
Diving and Swimming Competitions:
The article mentions a diving competition and swimming events. Sam Aldape, a member of the Homestead team, won the diving competition with a score of 358.80 points The swimming events included various races, such as the 50 free, 100 butterfly, 200-yard freestyle relay, and 400 free relay. Homestead team members, including Silas Toppe, William Hrdi, Aiden O'Connor, Oliver Peters, and Luke Running, achieved first-place finishes in these events.
End of Season Goals:
The Homestead team's focus is now on their end-of-season goals, starting with the North Shore Conference (NSC) meet. The diving competition will take place on Thursday at 5 p.m., and the swimming events will commence on Saturday at 11 a.m. The team aims to polish their skills, get the little things right, and perform well as a team at the NSC meet.
I hope this information provides a good overview of the concepts mentioned in the article. If you have any further questions or need more details, feel free to ask!
