Piranhas place three at state swimming contest
Lisa Whitcomb/Courtesy photo The Plains Piranhas Swim team sent seven swimmers to states this past weekend. Out of those seven, three placed in their events: Dankisa Whitcomb, Joshua Connelly, and Laurel Danhof.
The Plains Piranhas competed at the State Swim Meet in Fort Benton this past weekend and they had quite a showing.
Three of the seven swimmers that qualified for the meet placed in their events. Danika Whitcomb placed seventh in the 50-meter backstroke and ninth in the 50-meter freestyle. Joshua Connolly placed ninth in the 25-meter freestyle, fifth in the 50-meter freestyle and 10th in the 25-meter backstroke. Laurel Danhof placed 10th in the 100-meter backstroke and seventh in the 50-meter butterfly.
Coach Derek Danhof said that the meet went pretty good. “My goal was to have people make it to finals, and we met that goal.”
In addition to Laurel Danhof, Whitcomb and Connolly, Kelli Nance also made it to finals.
“They all did really well,” Danhof said.
Lisa Whitcomb, mother of Danika, said that it was a pretty exciting weekend, filled with good weather, nice people, hearts beating and crowds screaming.
She said that the teams from the eastern part of the state had the major times to beat, but that they did a great job.
Danhof agreed and said that the east side of the state has some very strong swimmers, and he was just happy his team was able to send four swimmers to finals and have three of those place. “It was pretty good for us to get four of our seven swimmers into finals,” he said.
“We did it, we’re very proud of our team,” Whitcomb said. “Next year we hope our team grows bigger with dedication and team spirit.”
She also said that she was really pleased with how Danhof did as coach. “He just did an awesome job.”
The Plains Piranhas will host an ice-cream social tomorrow night from 7-9 p.m. at the Plains pool. Anyone is encouraged to attend and support the Plains Swim team.