Emmetsburg, IA- On January 21^st the Lakers swam their last home meet of the season. Iowa Central traveled up from Fort Dodge to join us in a fun training meet that saw both 200's and 50's of stroke, a slightly unorthodox meet line up, but fantastic meet/racing practice as the Lakers prep for the NJCAA Nationals Championships coming up March 1-4^th in Buffalo NY.

Women's Results –

• The Lady Lakers opened the meet up with a 2^nd overall finish in the 200-yard Medley relay with a season-best time of (1:59.75), the relay was compromised of Sophomore Allison Graff and Moana Wind, and Freshman Gabriela Darakchieva and Rylee Valentine
• Darakchieva later went on to grab a 2^nd place finish in the 200 freestyle, completing the event in (2:10.60)
• The Lakers had a strong showing in the 50 backstroke where Allison Graff led the way with a (30.10) earning 2^nd place, followed closely by Rylee Valentine (37.25) for 3^rd, and Madison Otto grabbing 4^th (50.52)
• Moana Wind started her meet off with a splash as she passed the competition to take 1^st place in the 50 breaststroke (29.11), winning by over 4 seconds, and breaking her own school record in the process.
• Sophomore Allison Graff raced her way to a 2^nd place finish in the 50 free with a time of (28.92)
• Freshmen Rylee Valentine and Madison Otto swam for the lady Lakers in the 100 free, Valentine placed 3^rd overall with a time of (1:10.77), while Otto placed 4^th in a time of (1:46.80)
• Gabriela Darakchieva kept the success in the middle distance events flowing with a 2^nd place finish in the 200 backstroke (2:17.72), followed by teammate Allison Graff who finished 3^rd in a time of (2:35.40)
• Moana Wind showed her dominance in the breaststroke events by picking up another 1^st place finish, this time in the 200 breaststroke, swimming it in a personal best time of (2:27.34)
•  Moana Wind had a quick turnaround as she dove in for the 50 fly right after, touching in a time of 26.46, 0.14 under the school record in the event!
• The Laker Women rounded out the meet with a 2^nd place finish in the 4x100 freestyle relay with a time of 4:11.05, swam by Darakchieva, Wind, Valentine, and Graff

Men's Results –

• The Laker Men launched the meet with an exciting 4x50 medley relay, narrowly missing first place, but earning a 2^nd overall finish for the A relay comprised of Martiniano, Santana, Rojas, and Maivusaroko (1:38.26). The B relay, consisting of Voller, Graff, Cheer, and Sarmiento earned a 4^th overall finish (1:43.10).
• Rhys Cheer represented the Lakers in the 1000 free, earning a 1^st place finish in the event by nearly a full 30 seconds ahead of the next swimmer, touching at (11:15.33)
• Eduardo Martiniano kept the momentum flowing by earning a 1^st place finish in the 200 freestyle, (1:45.28) just out touching his Iowa Central opponent. Teammate Patrick Voller raced his way to a 4^th place finish (1:55.00)
• The Laker Men showed their strength in the breaststroke event by taking 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th in the event. Andres Santana earned 2^nd (28.32), Eduardo Sarmiento 3^rd (28.82), and Erik Graff 4^th 29.06)
• Marcelo Rojas raced his way to give the Lakers their third win of the day, placing 1^st in the 200 Butterfly (1:58.08), the only swimmer of the meet to break the 2-minute barrier. Teammate Rhys Cheer earned 5^th with a time of (2:14.61)
• Eduardo Martiniano showed up for the Laker Men picking up the fourth win of the day, this time in the 50 freestyle, he earned 1^st in a time of 21.92, reaching the wall just 0.02 seconds before Iowa Central! Teammates Patrick Voller placed 5^th (24.78) and Braeden Noel place 6^th 26.66
• Andres Santana represented the Lakers in the 200 breaststroke, earning a 2^nd place finish in a time of (2:19.43)
• Marcelo Rojas picked up his second individual win of the day, and the Laker's fifth win of the day in the 500 freestyle, placing 1^st in a time of 4:55.52, the only one to swim under 5 minutes that day. Teammate Erik Graff trailed him, earning 3^rd in a time of 5:31.59, and Braeden Noel placing 6^th with a time of 6:06.38
• Eduardo Martiniano rounded his day out by earning his third individual win of the day, winning all 3 of his individual races, this time in the 50 butterfly, placing 1^st in a time of (23.19), just off of his own school record. Teammate Rhys Cheer placed 5^th (25.35)
• The Laker Men went 2,3,4 I the 200 IM, with Marcelo Rojas earning the 2^nd place spot in a time of 1:59.89, Eduardo Sarmiento taking 3^rd (2:12.57), and Andres Santana earning 4^th (2:23.60)

Finals Scores –

Iowa Central Women (413), Iowa Lakes Women (319)

Iowa Central Men (775), Iowa Lakes Men (628)

Next Up -

The Lakers will travel to the Midco Aquatic Center on Feb 3 & 4^th to compete in the USD hosted, Coyote Invite.