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Craig boys swim past Parker

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Parker/Craig Swim Meet

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JANESVILLE — Eric Rhodes, Janesville Parker High School boys swim coach, crunched all the numbers in anticipation of Friday night’s Parker-Craig Big Eight Conference dual meet.

“I scored this three or four times this week,” Rhodes said. “It was two points or three points (between winner and loser). It’s 170 points all together, so the math works out.’’

What didn’t work out for Rhodes and the Vikings was a victory over the visiting Cougars. Craig walked out of the Parker pool with a 90-80 victory.

Once again, Rhodes was left to play the role of the good loser. In the eight seasons as Vikings’ coach, Rhodes has yet to cherish a victory over Craig.

“We had some really good swims, and we swam against a really tough Craig team,” said Rhodes, whose team finished 2-5 in Big Eight duals. “And we had some off swims and that is what kind of made the difference here tonight.”

After six events, it was anybody’s meet. Parker trailed 49-45.

In the 500 freestyle, the Cougars’ finished first and third with junior Nick Hazekamp winning in 5:21.96. Parker’s 200 freestyle relay team of Marcus Genrich, David Dvorak, Dustin Moench and Lucas Witek bounced back with a victory in 1 minute, 34.38 seconds.

In the backstroke, Craig delivered the back-breaker, filling out three of the top four places, with Hazekamp winning in 57:15. Craig’s Sam Waddell finished third, and Sean Davis took fourth.

“We did better than I expected,” Hazekamp said. “I was pretty surprised.’’

Rhodes didn’t expect the Cougars to dominate the backstroke.

“You think you know these teams pretty good, and when they get in the water they surprise the heck out of you on both sides,” Rhodes said.

Meanwhile, Craig coach Jeremy Meserole thought the meet would be up for grabs past the backstroke.

“The way we had it figured was the meet was going to be won or lost after the backstroke,” said Meserole, whose team finished 3-4 in Big Eight duals. “We had our No. 1 backstroker in there, and they didn’t.’’

Parker’s David Dvorak was the 200 freestyle (1:48.35) and the 100 freestyle (48.77), while Genrich won the 200 individual medley (2:11.99) and the 100 breaststroke (1:06.08).

Rhodes and the Vikings must wait until next year.

Egemen Gozoglu, a Parker foreign exchange student from Turkey who won the 100 butterfly (57.93), said Rhodes should keep his head up.

“The rivalry between Parker and Craig is a good thing for the sport to improve on both sides of town,” Gozoglu said. “We got a good freshman team coming up and I’m sure they are going get (a win over Craig).’’

As for now, Hazekamp and his mates are happy to dominate Parker.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” Hazekamp said of controlling the rivalry. “We are pretty happy about eight years without losing. It’s pretty nice, I’m not going to lie.’’

CRAIG 90, PARKER 80

200 medley relay—1. Craig (Nick Hazekamp, Josh Terry, Sean Davis, Tyler Rockenfield), 1:47.12. 2. Parker, 1:47.76.

200 freestyle—1. David Dvorak (JP), 1:48.35. 2. Josh Babcock (JC), 1:57.11. 3. Tyler Teuscher (JC), 2:01,16.

200 individual medley—1. Marcus Genrich (JP), 2:11.99. 2. Terry (JC), 2:16.15. 3. Mike Stone (JC), 2:22.59.

50 freestyle—1. Tyler Rockenfield (JC), 24.01. 2. Lucas Witek (JP), 24.44. 3. Caleb Sigmund (JP), 24.92.

100 butterfly—1. Egemen Gozoglu (JP), 57.93. 2. Davis (JC), 1:03.21. 3. Teuscher (JC), 1:04.83.

100 freestyle—1. Dvorak (JP), 48.77. 2. Babcock (JC), 52.21. 3. Witek (JP), 53.70.

500 freestyle—1. Hazekamp (JC), 5:21.96. 2. Nick Olin (JP), 5:33.9. 3. Stone (JP), 5:36.39.

200 freestyle relay—1. Parker (Genrich, Dvorak, Dustin Moench, Witek), 1:34.38. 2. Craig, 1:36.8

100 backstroke—1. Hazekamp (JC), 57.15. 2. Gozoglu (JP), 1:00.16. 3. Waddell (JC), 1:03.40.

100 breastroke—1. Genrich (JP), 1:06.08. 2. Terry (JC), 1:07.23. 3. Alex Loftus (JC), 1:12.27.

400 freestyle relay—1. Parker (Olin, Gozoglu, Witek, Dvorak), 3:33.07. 2. Craig, 3:33.42.

Junior varsity—Craig 103, Parker 55.