Clark wins 50-, 100-yard freestyle races to claim Centennial League Titles
By Michael Ashford
Saturday, February 10, 2007
TOPEKA — If there was a time when Aaron Clark wanted to save his best swimming for later, it might as well have been Friday’s Centennial League swimming meet, since the State meet is just one week away.
Lucky for him, though, his best wasn’t necessary Friday, as he still won both events in which he was favored in — the 50- and 100-yard freestyle — in helping the Spartans to a third-place finish as a team behind first-place Manhattan and runner-up Washburn Rural.
Clark was the only EHS swimmer to win an individual league title.
“I felt fast,” he said, “but this past week, I haven’t been feeling my fastest. I’m in the middle of tapering, so I guess I’m supposed to feel like that.”
After his 50-yard freestyle victory in which he used a superior turn at the wall to gain separation from Topeka West’s Jordan Edwards, Clark, who won the 50 in a time of 23.14 seconds, said he needed the boost to win.
“I was a little slow off the start, but I caught him (Edwards) off the turn,” he said. “I can keep up with people just swimming, but my turn is definitely my strong point.
“It (the win) really boosts my confidence heading into State next weekend.”
In taking the 100-yard race, Clark finished in 50.48 seconds, .37 seconds ahead of Topeka High’s John Powell (50.85) and more than a second ahead of Edwards (51.91).
Junior Adam Coburn turned in a second-place performance in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5 minutes, 38.66 seconds to turn in the the next-highest finish for the Spartans.
Coburn also led the way for EHS in the 200-yard free, finishing fifth (2:03.64) while his teammates, Andrew Wayman (2:10.52) and Scott Peterson (2:10.78) finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
In the diving part of the competition held on Thursday, Mason Mounkes came in fourth with a score of 334.40 while Derek Krause finished right behind in fifth with a score of 282.55.
Cody Yevak finished seventh in the 100-yard fly, Dillon Suprian finished in eighth in the 100-yard backstroke and Miles Ringgold came in 11th in the 100-yard breaststroke to highlight the rest of the Spartan performers.
Emporia’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Clark, Tyler Michales, Peterson and Coburn finished fourth, and the 200-yard medley squad of Suprian, Ringgold, Justin Prentiss and Cord Stanley came in seventh.