Deep talent pool could help Lady Bobcats

By Lisa Paine
Posted Thursday, August 21, 2008

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By Lisa Paine
VIEW Sports Editor

GRAND BLANC — Strength in numbers and experience on the grand stages of the regional and state swim meets certainly can’t hurt the Grand Blanc Swim and Dive team as it prepares for the upcoming season.

After a 7-4 overall, 3-0 Big Nine season in 2007, expectations are high, and the pressure is on. However, five new divers-Cassandra Novajosky (Sr.), Swati Rao (Sr.), Amy Venturino (Jr.), Katy Campbell (Fr.) and Sarah Limbach (Fr.) — will help shore up the squad as critical points in the diving can make or break a meet for schools. A talented 200 freestyle relay team that medaled at last year’s state meet also returns with seniors Shae Lambert, Christine Rygiel, Allison Berger and sophomore Lauren Baywol. Emily Eaton, a sophomore and standout at the state meet and in summer recreational league competitions, also is expected to make great strides after a very successful freshman campaign on the varsity. A large contingent of incoming freshmen, which benefit from the feeder program at the junior high level, already will be seasoned and ready to test their mettle in the pool.

Coach Lee Ann Hagan enters her seventh season in charge of the Bobcats as they look to splash water in the faces of their stalwart foes from Davison, Carman-Ainsworth and Flint Powers Catholic. Several changes from last season have split up some combination teams, most notably the Kearsley-Davison squad. Kearsley joins the Flint Metro League this season and conference rules prohibit cross-league combo teams. Kearsley will swim as one team, while Davison will make history as it swims as its own unit for the first time in history.

Grand Blanc and Carman-Ainsworth are the only schools to have their own pool, but Davison will continue to use Kearsley’s facilities, so the heat is on for all five of the remaining Big Nine schools — Grand Blanc, Flushing, Carman-Ainsworth, Davison and Flint Powers Catholic.

The Lady Bobcats posted wins over rivals Saginaw Heritage, Swartz Creek, a former Big Nine nemesis, the Carman-Ainsworth/Flushing combined team, Fenton, Powers, Kearsley-Davison and Brighton. They also won the Genesee County Meet and the Big Nine title. Academically, the team ranks seventh in Div. 1 averaging a 3.62 GPA.