GIRLS STATE SWIMMING
Funk 'flawless' in final, gets fourth
Kenton Ridge junior swims personal-best in 100 freestyle.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
CANTON — Kenton Ridge junior Lauren Funk followed up her silver medal in the 50-yard freestyle on Friday, Feb. 22, with a fourth-place finish in the
100 freestyle at the Division II state meet at the C.T.
Extras
Branin Natatorium on
Saturday, Feb. 23.
Funk finished sixth in the preliminaries Saturday in 54.44 seconds. She then swam the first 50 yards of the 100 in 25.2 and finished with a personal-best time of 53.11.
"Lauren took the turns slow in the prelims," said Kenton Ridge coach
Heather Shaffer. "She saw the mistakes she made in the morning and knew how to correct them. She swam a flawless race in the finals."
Funk won the 100 free at the Southwest District meet in 53.53. That was the fourth-best qualifying time for the state meet. The junior was happy with her finish Saturday.
"I came in fourth, and I went out fourth," Funk said, "and that was actually what I want to do."
Funk took almost three seconds off the time she swam in the 100 free (56.24) in the state meet in 2007.
Funk's Springfield YMCA teammate, Margo Geer of Fairbanks High School, won the 100 free with a new state record and new state tournament record time of 50.30. Funk celebrated the victory with her friend.
"We hugged each other and took pictures with our medals, and it was really fun," Funk said.
With a second-place finish in the 50 free and fourth-place finish in the 100 free, Funk is already looking forward to next year's state meet.
"I know when I come back next year, I will get first in the 50 and finish top three in the 100," Funk said. "But it all depends on what Margo does."
Catholic Central's Paige Smith finished 22nd in the preliminaries of the 100 breast with a time of 1:12.54 and did not qualify for the finals.
