Boys Swimming: No star power needed for Munster

Updated: December 30, 2011 10:34PM

HIGHLAND — It wasn’t one of those loud statement showings — the type of victory amplified by an assault of individual triumphs.

In fact, the Munster boys swim team’s control of the field at Friday’s Highland Boys Invitational was taken through attrition. While fellow area forces Valparaiso and Highland were building up to four wins each, the Seahorses maintained a quiet surge of scoring with their depth.

And by the time Wilson Beckman placed the squad’s only event victory, during the 10th event, Munster’s second and third-place finishes truly stood out. The single win mixed with eight other top-three finishes gave Munster the title in the eight-team invite by a dominant 284-218 margin over runner-up Lake Central. 

A similar tactic worked for the second-place Indians, who edged the Vikings (third with 217) and host Trojans (fourth with 212) with continuous top-fives, but no firsts.

“We kind of knew this was going to be the dynamics of the team this year,” Munster coach Matt Pavlovich said of his young squad, which lost four key swimmers to graduation. “It’s a nice win, you’ve got a lot of young guys racing in pressure situations that they haven’t had to be in.”

Beckman, as a freshman, fits into the group trying to forge a name with a historic program. His 100 backstroke win in 55.02 seconds, an advantage of 0.57 seconds, was a major contribution.

“I knew my team was going to back me up,” said Beckman, who also contributed a second place in the 200 free and was part of a similar finish on Munster’s 200 medley relay team. “I know I’m required to score a lot of points during the meets.”

Lake Central coach Todd Smolinski liked the push from his group, which is undefeated in regular season duals so far.

“I’m proud of our boys for fighting that way and fighting the way they did,” he said.

Portage’s Alex Rosales took the 1-meter diving portion with a score of 406.65.

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