Thursday evening saw the pool hopping and full of excitement. It was Senior Night and the Battle of Bogie Lake as the Lady Eagles played host to the Lady Knights of Walled Lake Northern, With the pool decked out in the theme of Candyland, the girls were looking to send the Class of 2021 out with a win in the final home meet of their careers.

In a fight from the beginning, the Lady Eagles fell behind early despite an heroic effort to by the 4 x 50 Medley Relay (Jackie Gmyrek, Karolina Spiewak, Kara Cohen, Emily Dexter) who clocked a season best (2:04.33) only to be touched out by less than a second. Swimming hard in the first half, the Lakeland kept it close before pulling ahead by 2 points thanks to a sweep of diving by Jessica Holzer, and Seniors Abby Chiminski and Alexia Folmar.

Even technical difficulties as the timing system become collateral damage could not dampened the spirit and excitement. Both sides wanted this meet and no swimmer or diver was going to concede a point without a fight. The battled continued to see-saw back and forth in the early events of the back half before the Lakeland pulled ahead behind 1-2 finishes in the 100 Freestyle (Dexter and Senior Claire Enyeart) and 1,3 finish in the 500 Freestyle (Paxton Moore and Jessica Duff) and 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay ( A Relay - Dexter, Enyeart, Cohen, Moore, B Relay - Sophia Mellado, Rachel Summers, Senior Alanna Gleason, Sydney Latham). Walled Lake Northern, however, were not going to concede victory that easy. Riding the wave of a 2-3-5 finish in the 100 Backstroke and 1-2-4 finish in the 100 Breaststroke, the Knights closed the gap to 4 points heading after the 100 Breaststroke.

As any great meet should be, this meet would be decided by the final event, 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay. From the start, it was clear that every swimmer wanted the victory. In an unfamiliar leadoff role, Enyeart swam a brilliant tactical race to keep it close before handing if off to Karolina Spiewak. Swimming a season best (sub 1 minute), Spiewak brought the deficit to practically zero before handing the race off to Cohen and Moore. Swimming with grit, Cohen and Moore put the Eagles ahead for good, finishing 4 seconds plus ahead of the Knights lead relay in a season best time of 3:57.26. Making sure the victory was not in doubt, the B Relay of Gleason, Summers, Senior Taylor Campbell, and Latham locked up third place.

It was a great night. Both sides swam with heart and grit. And Lakeland was able to send our Seniors off with our first victory over Walled Lake Northern in three years by a score of 98 to 88.

Class of 2021 Finishes:

Taylor Campbell (5th - 200 Freestyle (season best), 6th - 500 Freestyle, 3rd - 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay)

Abby Chiminski (3rd - Diving, 5th - 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay)

Kara Cohen (2nd - 4 x 50 Medley Relay (season best), 2nd - 100 Butterfly, 1st - 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay, 1st - 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay (season best))

Zoe Cutting (11th - 50 Freestyle (season best), 5th - 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay, 5th - 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay)

Claire Enyeart (1st - 200 Freestyle (season best), 2nd - 100 Freestyle, 1st - 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay, 1st - 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay (season best))

Alexia Folmar (2nd - Diving)

Alanna Gleason (4th - 4 x 50 Medley Relay, 4th - 50 Freestyle (season best), 3rd - 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay, 3rd - 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay)

Isabella Rendeiro (4th - 4 x 50 Medley Relay, 8th - 50 Freestyle (season best), 5th - 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay, 7th - 100 Breaststroke (season best))

Mati Sardi (10th - 50 Freestyle, 5th - 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay, 6th - 100 Breaststroke (season best))

Ella Szerlong (4th - 4 x 50 Medley Relay, 5th - 100 Freestyle (season best), 5th - 100 Breaststroke)

Other Top Finishes:

Karolina Spiewak (2nd - 200 Individual Medley (season best), 1st - 100 Backstroke (season best))

Jessica Duff (3rd - 200 Individual Medley (season best), 3rd - 500 Freestyle (season best))

Paxton Moore (2nd - 50 Freestyle, 1st - 500 Freestyle)

Jessica Holzer (1st - Diving)

Kara Cohen (2nd - 100 Butterfly)

Emily Dexter (1st - 100 Freestyle, 3rd - 100 Breaststroke)

4 x 50 Medley Relay (Jackie Gmyrek, Spiewak, Cohen, Dexter) - 2nd (season best)

4 x 50 Freestyle Relay (Dexter, Enyeart, Cohen, Moore) - 1st

4 x 50 Freestyle Relay (Sophia Mellado, Rachel Summers, Gleason, Sydney Latham) - 3rd

4 x 100 Freestyle Relay (Enyeart, Spiewak, Cohen, Moore) - 1st (season best)

4 x 100 Freestyle Relay (Gleason, Summers, Campbell, Latham) - 3rd

The Lady Eagles will closed the regular season next Tuesday at Waterford Mott as they face Waterford United and Howell in a tri-meet.