The LaPorte Slicers Swimming and Dive team traveled to Valparaiso today for Sectional prelims. Fourteen teams competed, and the Slicers are seeded well heading into Saturday finals. LaPorte had 24 individual swims and 3 relays to combine for 27 total races. 26 of those made it back to finals. Our goal was to try and get everyone back into the top 16, and we nearly did. Top 8 finishers return for the 'A' Championship final, and the next 8 return for the 'B' Consolation final. The Slicers opened the meet finishing first in the 200 Medley Relay behind: Jakob Schroeder (back), Abbas Hakim (breast), Otto Wildhart (butterfly), and Chaise Adrian (freestyle). In the 200 Freestyle, Roman Garay finished 3rd, Chaise Adrian 5th, and Chase Childers finished 9th. In the 200 Individual Medley, Gavin Crail finished 3rd, Abbas Hakim 5th, and Karter Griffin 13th. Otto Wildhart, Allen Fuller, and Caleb Johnson finished 9th, 10th, and 14th respectively in the 50 Freestyle. In the 100 Butterfly, Jakob Schroeder, Otto Wildhart, and Caleb Johnson finished 3rd, 4th, and 10th. Allen Fuller moved up from a 12 seed to finish 8th in the 100 Freestyle with a lifetime PR. Chase Childers finished 14th, with Malachi Talbot finishing 24th. In the 500 Freestyle, Chaise Adrian was 2nd, and Roman Garay was 3rd. Milo Jimenez finished 14th. The Slicers finished 2nd in the 200 Freestyle Relay behind: Gavin Crail, Otto Wildhart, Allen Fuller and Roman Garay. LaPorte was out-touched by .01 seconds by Chesterton. In the 100 Backstroke, Jakob Schroeder finished first with a solid swim. Schroeder is a freshman, and he's handling the pressures of success well. Andrew Hayes and Karter Griffin just missed the A final finishing 9th and 10th respectively. Abbas Hakim finished 2nd in the 100 Breaststroke, with Gavin Crail finishing 6th, and Michael Clark finishing 12th. Clark is a senior, and his swim was a lifetime PR. The Slicers finished the meet getting 2nd in the 400 Freestyle Relay behind: Chaise Adrian, Jakob Schroeder, Roman Garay, and Allen Fuller. It's been a grueling season for all of our swimmers, and it's all coming down to how well we can do on Saturday. We're hoping for top 3 finishes in most of our events, and with the amount of work these boys have put in over the past 4 months, it shouldn't come as a surprise. Finals are at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday at the Valparaiso Natatorium. Always proud. Go Slicers! Coach Brahim