Clark advances to finals
Every Spartan individual and relay earns spot at 2nd day of State
By Michael Ashford
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Emporia High senior Aaron Clark made it into the finals of both his individual events after the preliminaries of the State swimming and diving meet on Friday at the Capital Federal Natatorium in Topeka.
Clark swam his fastest times in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle swims, putting him into today’s championship finals in both events.
In the 50, Clark touched the wall in 22.33 seconds, good enough to seed him fifth in today’s finals. Blue Valley North’s Austin Gulledge swam his race in 21.46 seconds to become the top seed.
Clark then swam the 100 free in 49.13 seconds, slightly more than 2 seconds off the pace set by Shawnee Mission East’s Levi Mische (46.76). Clark’s time seeded him fifth in the 100 as well.
“It feels really good,” Clark said. “In both my individual events, I had a terrible starts, and both of by turns were no good. But I swam my best times, so I’m pretty happy.
“I’ll go faster (today).”
Clark also had a hand in helping both of Emporia’s relays earn second swims.
Clark teamed with Sergio Segura, Dillon Suprian and Scott Peterson in the 200 freestyle relay, which finished with the 14th-best time of the day, while in the 400 free relay, it was Clark, Segura, Peterson and Adam Coburn who dropped 7 seconds off their time to finish with the 15th-best time. With the top-16 finishes, each relay made it to today’s consolation swims.
Derek Krause also advanced to today’s semifinals, as the sophomore is seeded sixth.
Today’s events begin with the diving semifinals at 10 a.m. The finals of all events begin at 12:30 p.m.