SPRINGDALE — Fayetteville swimming coach Michael Kaminski kept a low-key approach through most of the Har-Ber Invitational, but that changed when the boys 500-yard freestyle took place.
He stood on one side of the pool Thursday and waved his arms in encouragement as Ben Heil completed lap after lap, hoping the senior could finish the event with an automatic qualifying time for the state meet later this month. Heil did it as he completed the event in 5 minutes, 31.4 seconds, beating the qualifying standard by almost 5 seconds and finishing third behind the Bentonville duo of Jason Hunt and Joey Nemesi.
“He was one of our closest to the state cut,” Kaminski said of Heil. “We wanted to get our whole team up for that event and root him on, and he made it.
“I think most swimmers see the waving. We try to have some signals to let them know they are on pace. We try to wave our arms and scream at them if they are off pace, and most of them know where they should be.”
Bentonville dominated the 10-team meet — the last before the 7A-West Conference meet — and ran away with both titles in the Jones Center. The Tigers won the boys crown with 516 points to 279 for second-place Mountain Home, while the Lady Tigers enjoyed a 450-242 cushion over second-place Mountain Home.
Bentonville won seven of the 11 girls events and five of the boys events. Coach Steve Duwel, meanwhile, had hoped for a little more from his team.
“I wanted our swimmers to be a little up for this meet,” he said. “There was some good efforts. Logan Smith gave herself a chance to make state, and we had a couple of guys that are getting close.
“We still got a little bit of work to do. I didn’t quite see the effort I wanted or the intensity I hoped for. They’re swimming good, but I wanted them to be better leaders.”
Springdale Har-Ber coach Samantha Brown hoped to see two things Thursday — a smooth meet, and more state qualifiers. She received both of them, and a bonus was Har-Ber’s girls finishing fourth.
Katie Huff made the standard in the 200 free, giving the senior three events for the state meet. Meanwhile, freshman Mariah Lucas qualified in the 100 backstroke for her second event.
“I think everybody was pretty happy,” Brown said. “We also had several top 16 finishes in both boys and girls. That meant a lot of points, so that’s good.”
Tina Nguyen gave Rogers Heritage a girls state qualifier with her time of 27.55 seconds in the 50 free style, while the boys won three events and finished third in the team standings.
Springdale High’s Dexter Thomas continued his winning ways by taking the boys 200 free, while Fayetteville’s Jenny Holtzen earned victories in the girls 200 free and the 100 breaststroke.
HAR-BER INVITATIONAL
TEAM SCORES
GIRLS
Bentonville 516
Mountain Home 279
Fayetteville 232
Springdale Har-Ber 207
Siloam Springs 176
Rogers Heritage 110
Rogers High 104
Russellville 88
Springdale High 78
Fort Smith Southside 44
BOYS
Bentonville 450
Mountain Home 242
Rogers Heritage 205
Fayetteville 190
Russellville 181
Siloam Springs 161
Fort Smith Southside 141.5
Springdale High 121
Rogers High 116
Springdale Har-Ber 85.5