Badgers swim past Redskins in final meet

Brokaw has captured lightning in a bottle...

By Mike Hackworth

(Updated: Wednesday, April 30, 2008, 5:02 PM)

Yosemite High School swim team head coach Brandon Brokaw has managed to capture lightning in a bottle and is about to turn it loose on the rest of the North Sequoia League.

The Badgers soundly defeated the Chowchilla Redskins in the teams' final competition Friday at Chowchilla, with Yosemite holding all of the cards at the end.

The Badgers girls varsity team came away with a 121-46 victory and then the Yosemite boys trounced the Redskins 117-52.

"This was a good meet," Brokaw said. "Kari Lauterbach qualified for Valleys and improved her school record in the 100 Fly ( 1:05.91); it was a nice swim."

Brandon Thacker improved on his 200 IM team record (2:16.94), shaving off .38 of a second. The "other" Thacker on the team, Courtney, broke the 30-second barrier in the 50 Free (29.86 seconds).

Wade Stritzinger broke the six-minute bubble in the 500 meter Free with a time of 5:57.53.

"Now we focus on dominating the North Sequoia League Championships," Brokaw said.

Pool notes

Daniel Tennant is also devoting time to coaching the Yosemite Hornets youth swim club, a swim team for kids 5 to 18 years old. It is affiliated with Central Valley Recreational Swim League (CVRSL) and practices on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Baker Swim Complex.

Tennant is being helped by Arthur Hernandez and Colleen O'Neil. To sign up, just show up for practice. Or e-mail Tennant at yosemitehornets@gmail.com.