Last Updated: Friday, November 14, 2008 11:56 PM CST
Burley ends career with strong swim
By Cory Dellenbach and Kevin Damask
By Cory Dellenbach
Northwoods Media
Lakeland’s Megan Burley ended her prep swimming career with a strong performance at the WIAA Division 2 state swim meet on Friday.
Burley placed in the top 16 in both of her events at the Natatorium on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
In the first individual race of the evening, Burley placed 14th out of 16 swimmers in the 200 yard freestyle in a time of 2 minutes, .37 seconds. Burley was seeded 13th in the 200 freestyle.
“She had a great night. Her time stayed viturally the same in the 200. I think after the 200, she felt kind of tired, becuase she’s coming down with a cold,” Lakeland girls’ swim coach Sandy Bolger said. “But after the 500, she felt great and was happy with her time.”
Finishing first 200 freestyle was Brookfield Academy’s Kelsey Hojan-Clark in 1:50.27, while Shorewood’s Elli Sellinger was second in 1:50.87 and Jennah Haney of Milton was third in 1:53.49.
“The competition was very tough,” Bolger said. “(Hojan-Clark) is only a sophomore, but she’s already really fast. She was flying.”
In her second, and final event of the night, Burley finished 13th out of 16 swimmers again in the 500 yard freestyle. She set a new LUHS record with a time of 5:23.05. Burley came into the event seeded 12th.
Burley was pleased with her performances. The senior didn’t hold back during her final high school competition. “I was pleased with my places and times, becuase I didn’t really look at it as competing against the other girls, I looked at it as trying to get my personal best,” Burley said.
Placing first in the 500 freestyle was Hojan-Clark in 4:54.18, while Shorewood’s Clare Chamberlain was second in 5:03.26 and Casey Wolter of DeForest was third in 5:07.39.
Burley said competition in both races was very stiff.
“It was awesome to watch,” Burley said. “These girls were amazing. They were trained well; it was entertaining to watch.”
The trip to state was Burley’s fourth straight while at Lakeland High School. Bolger will miss coaching one of Lakeland’s all-time great swimmers.
“I was nervous for her tonight,” Bolger said. “It was fun, but I can’t believe it’s over.”
Now Burley can sit back and reflect upon her accomplishments.
“It’s a good feeling to have accomplished that, I’m proud of myself,” Burley said. “It’s somewhat bittersweet, but it’s crazy to think about what I’ve accomplished.”
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