Downstate Schools, Henlopen Conference Meet

After the Henlopen Conference Meet, a little more became clear regarding downstate schools, so I will do my best to say what I am comfortable saying about them (it is hard to compare times from their Conference Meet as well as many other meets, because of the use of 25 Meter Pools). Now, the level of competition is not nearly as high downstate as it is upstate, the times aren't necessarily as fast, but it doesn't mean things are any less exciting. With a dearth of year round swimming clubs south of the canal, it makes things tougher on swimmers to be able to train for the few months during the high school season and make it to the state level. Looking through the top 3 results from the Conference Meet, there certainly were close races, making it I'm sure an exciting meet. And the girls' meet had some close team matchups, with Cape taking first by 8 over Seaford and Dover taking 3rd by 3 over Milford. Ryan MacLeish and Bryan Brown of Caesar Rodney and Dover respectively look to play a factor in the state meet in 2 weeks, each winning 2 events and MacLeish setting 2 meet records in the process. On the girls' side, Laura Askin from Caesar Rodney set a new meet record in the 100 Free, and won the 200 Free. NicoleHaag from Cape Henlopen took first in the 50 Free with a meet record, as well as the 100 Back. Alexis Coon from Milford won the 200 IM and the 100 Fly. While realistically, these teams do not have a shot at a top 2 finish at the state meet, they certainly have some swimmers who will get into top heats and add to the competition.
Next update will be on the Delaware Independent Schools Conference (DISC) Meet, and then I will focus primarily on the state meet, which is coming up in only 2 weeks!