Swimmers third at BRC meet

• Charlie Skinner competes in the 100 yard butterfly

Hudson senior Charlie Skinner competes in the 100 yard butterfly at the Big Rivers Conference Swimming and Diving Championships earlier this season in Eau Claire. File photo by Steve Dzubay

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Hudson earned all-conference honors in seven different events, including the top two spots in the 500 yard freestyle, on its way to a third place team finish at the Big Rivers Conference Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday, Feb. 4 in Eau Claire.

Eau Claire Memorial/North won the team title with 561 points followed by Chippewa Falls with 444 and Hudson with 396.

Raider junior Lucas Rukavina won the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 4 minutes, 58.6 seconds to earn first team All-BRC honors while sophomore Sawyer Arndt was second in 5:18.01 to take second team accolades.

Rukavina also took second in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:50.18 while Arndt was fifth in 1:58.9.

The top three finishers in each event earn all-conference honors with third place receiving honorable mention.

The race of the day came in the 100 butterfly where Raider senior Charlie Skinner and Eau Claire Memorial’s Biwer Bailey battled to the end. Bailey edged Skinner at the wall to win with a time of 54.19 seconds while Skinner was just one-hundredth of a second behind in 54.20. Junior Ty Davis gave the Raiders two of the top eight spots in the event with a seventh place time of 1:01.3.

Skinner also took second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.01 seconds while sophomore Miles Townsend was sixth in 1:02.1 and sophomore Nick Lundberg placed eighth in 1:04.1.

Sophomore Willie Skinner earned All-BRC honorable mention with a third place time of 51.28 seconds in the 100 freestyle, while sophomore August Jorgensen was eighth in 53.7. Willie Skinner just missed all-conference honors in the 50 freestyle, placing fourth in 23.31 seconds while teammate Townsend was seventh in 24.17.

The Raiders’ 400 freestyle relay team of Willie Skinner, Jorgensen, Rukavina and Charlie Skinner took second team all-conference honors with a second place time of 3:23.19. Arndt, Lundberg, sophomore Evan Groehler and Townsend boosted the Raiders’ team score with a fourth place time of 3:43.54.

In the 200 freestyle relay, Willie Skinner, Jorgensen, Rukavina and Charlie Skinner were third with a time of 1:34.29, while sophomore Ross Wusterbarth, junior Jack Boylan, freshman Justin Aherns and Davis finished eighth in 2:04.98.

Evan Groehler, junior Louie Hoffman, Boylan and Lundberg combined for a seventh place time of 2:01.51 in the 200 medley relay, while sophomore Hunter Frey placed fifth in diving with a score of 302.6.

The Raiders will host a WIAA Division 1 Swimming and Diving Sectional this week at the middle school pool. Diving competition will be held Friday, Feb. 10 beginning at 5 p.m. with swimming slated for Saturday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m.

Tags: sports, swimming, raiders, prep