• Photo Showcase: Westside Invitational, Jan. 28

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The closeness of the girls and boys team races at Saturday's Omaha Westside Warrior Swimming Invitational showed just how much fun fans might have watching next month's state meet.

Elkhorn/Elkhorn South edged Millard West 272-260 for the boys team title, while Westside was third with 253 points. Millard West won the girls crown by outscoring Westside 293.5-244.5, with the Elkhorn co-op third at 206.

The girls score would have been much closer had Westside not been disqualified in the 200-yard medley relay, a mistake it likely will work hard to avoid during the Feb. 23 to 25 state meet at the Devaney Center in Lincoln.

Wildcats coach Tracy Stauffer said it was good for all of the teams to test each other in a meet like this before the Feb. 11 conference championship meets in Omaha, Ralston, Lincoln and Columbus, especially on the boys side.

“It's good to see where we're at against other good teams like Elkhorn, Ralston and Westside,” Stauffer said. “On paper it looks like (Creighton) Prep and Millard South are 1-2, which means there are about five teams that will be battling for third place.”

Elkhorn/Elkhorn South won two of the three relays, and Ralston/Omaha Gross sophomore Garrett Cadotte was the only swimmer to win a pair of individual boys events. Cadotte touched first in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly.

Cadotte's IM time of 2:01.35 was 1.01 seconds faster than his previous season best and helped him solidify his fourth-place spot on the season leaders chart. He won the 100 fly in 54.66 but has a season best of 53.66 from the Jan. 14 Skutt Invitational.

The only two meet records also came on the boys side. Addison Boschult of Ralston/Gross won Friday's 1-meter diving competition by scoring 508.50 points, and Millard West senior Isaac Springer won the 100 breaststroke in 58.72.

On Jan. 20, Springer moved into seventh place on The World-Herald's all-time chart in the breaststroke with a 57.82 in a dual against Lincoln Southeast. Earlier in the month, he had debuted at No. 8 on that list.

Two of the most competitive races came in the final two events of the girls meet. Five of the state's top seven swimmers in the 100 breaststroke were in the final heat.

Ralston/Gross senior Jordane Linhart, the silver medalist at the 2011 state meet, touched first in 1:10.60. Second place went to a swimmer who wasn't in that last heat — Krista Van Wie of Grand Island.

Van Wie — who entered the meet ranked No. 14 in the state — won the sixth heat in 1:10.68. Linhart's teammate, Katie Ditter, was third in 1:10.84, followed by a pair of Elkhorn/Elkhorn South underclassmen — freshman Bryn Lohrberg (1:11.17) and sophomore Yuan Yuan Jiang (1:12.01).

The loudest cheers from the capacity crowd at the Westside pool came during the dramatic finish to the 400 freestyle relay. Westside went into the final leg with a one-second lead, but a 54-second anchor leg by Millard West junior Erin Oeltjen — who also won the 200 IM and 100 butterfly — allowed the Wildcats to edge the Warriors by 0.01 seconds with a winning time of 3:46.84.

“We've been working on her sprints because that's one of the few things where she still needs a lot of work,” Stauffer said. “After that, I guess we have some tough decisions to make on (state) relays.”

BOYS

• Team scoring: Elkhorn/Elkhorn South 272, Millard West 260, Omaha Westside 253, Ralston/Omaha Gross 205, Millard North 110, Bellevue West 102, Scottsbluff/Gering 86, Kearney 85, Lincoln Pius X 64, Grand Island 53, Hastings 0.

• Event winners: 1,000-yard freestyle: Michael Mollak, Elkhorn/Elkhorn South, 10:38.96. 200 medley relay: Elkhorn/Elkhorn South (Mike Stein, John Overman, Nick Kirklin, Willy Morris), 1:41.48. 200 freestyle: Cody Andrews, Westside, 1:50.49. 200 individual medley: Garrett Cadotte, R/G, 2:01.35. 50 freestyle: Austin Hagge, Pius X, 23.21. 1-meter diving: Addison Boschult, R/G, 508.50 points (meet record, betters 447.95 by Jason Bauman, Lincoln East, 1989). 100 butterfly: Cadotte, 54.66. 100 freestyle: Luke Van Wie, GI, 49.04. 500 freestyle: Mollak, 4:58.91. 200 freestyle relay: Omaha Westside (Andrews, Spencer Modlin, Daniel Hamilton, Matthew O'Dell), 1:32.37. 100 backstroke: Kirklin, 55.16. 100 breaststroke: Isaac Springer, MW, 58.72 (meet record, betters 58.79 by Rich Nolte, Lincoln Southeast, 1991). 400 freestyle relay: Elkhorn/Elkhorn South (Kirklin, Riley Herchenbach, Overman, Mollak), 3:24.34.

GIRLS

• Team scoring: Millard West 293.5, Omaha Westside 244.5, Elkhorn/Elkhorn South 206, Omaha Marian 167, Millard North 148, Ralston/Omaha Gross 129, Grand Island 102, Kearney 67, Lincoln Pius X 64, Scottsbluff/Gering 41, Bellevue West 16, Hastings 0.

• Event winners: 1,000-yard freestyle: Molly Kroeger, Westside, 11:01.35. 200 medley relay: Millard North (Cahner Olson, Amber Baesler, Mary Kate Luddy, Laura Ney), 1:55.61. 200 freestyle: Triniti Counter, S/G, 2:00.07. 200 individual medley: Erin Oeltjen, MW, 2:13.88. 50 freestyle: Lauren Smith, Pius, 25.21. 1-meter diving: Elizabeth Howorth, Elkhorn/Elkhorn South, 453.65. 100 butterfly: Oeltjen, 1:00.64. 100 freestyle: Counter, 56.18. 500 freestyle: Mary Kate Luddy, MN, 5:17.36. 200 freestyle relay: Millard West (Taylor Korte, Kacy Thurman, Tara Goss, Oeltjen), 1:43.08. 100 backstroke: Summer Baldwin, Marian, 1:02.92. 100 breaststroke: Jordane Linhart, R/G, 1:10.60. 400 freestyle relay: Mllard West (Korte, Shea Marcinski, Brooke Stilmock, Oeltjen), 3:46.84.

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