Another great meet on Saturday! This time, both our boys and girls swam against Brentsville District High School, Wakefield School and Quantico Middle/High School, and we won all six meets.
The scores broke down like this:
Girls
SST 145 BDHS 141
SST 218 QMHS 49
SST 216 WAKE 45
Boys
SST 151 BDHS 128
SST 206 QMHS 45
SST 206 WAKE 35
Look at the girls score against Brentsville! It literally came down to the last relay where Kimberley Melnyk, Carolyn Claybrooks, Mary-Kate Kenna, and Meghan Morch were just to much for their “A” relay and cemented our victory. I know I would have been upset had we lost because I put some girls in their off events just to see what they would do.
A meet that close is won in some unsuspecting places – by swimmers who swam a PR and placed higher than expected. Remember that, for individual events, we score the top 7 places (8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points, respectively). Looking at the results, I saw few places where we got points only because someone swam better than expected (only 2 points actually results in a 4 point swing since it means that Brentsville didn’t get two):
- Bridget Wunderly cut over 7 seconds from her 200 Free, and, rather than placing 7th with her old time, she placed 5th.
- Carolyn Claybrooks cut 8 seconds from her PR in 200 IM and placed 4th rather than 8th.
- Lucy Bennett lowered her PR in 500 Free by 15 seconds and jumped up to 7th place, personally giving us half of our margin of victory.
- Mary-Kate Kenna, swimming backstroke instead of her normal events, lowered her PR by 5 seconds and placed 4th rather than 6th.
We all notice the swimmers that place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, but as you can see, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th can make all of the difference!
Personal Records
No matter how fast you are now, the goal is always to get faster. On Saturday, we had 77 Personal Records, including:
- Sean Bartnick had two PRs, improving his 100 Back by .84 seconds and his 100 Free by 1.31 seconds
- Freshman David Basinger looks to be the new Bryan Morch after dropping 2.8 seconds in 100 Fly to go 1:03.90. Bryan was one of our most prolific butterfliers in the past, but he didn’t go 1:03 until he was a sophomore. Based on that, David looks to have a great future in Fly!
- Lucy Bennett, as we saw above, improved greatly in the 500 Free, but she also had a PR in 200 IM, lowering her time by 2.40 seconds
- Kevin Bliss had a hat trick with three PRs in 100 Breast (by almost 24 seconds!), 100 Free leading off a relay (by 4.64 seconds), and 50 Free by 2.07 seconds
- Monica Byers cut 2.81 seconds in 100 Back and 1.90 seconds in 200 IM
- Carolyn Claybrooks made a difference in 200 IM with an 8.59 second PR. Behind after 150 yards, she just crushed the Brentsville girl in the last 50 yards!
- Michael Collins had two PRs in 100 Free (by 13.63 seconds) and in 50 Free (by 3.00 seconds)
- Eileen Corkery cut 6.63 seconds from her 100 Breast
- Jack Corkery lowered his 50 Free PR by 1.69 seconds
- Matt Crowhurst continues to improve with a 3.58 second PR in 50 Free. His stroke work is starting to payoff.
- Shaina Crowhurst followed the trend set by her brother with a PR of her own in 50 Free, by almost 5 seconds
- Judith Cummings improved her 100 Breast by 2.57 seconds and her 50 Free by 1.32 seconds
- Vincent “Catfish” Dunn had a monster day, cutting over 34 seconds from his 500 Free and almost 20 seconds in the 200 IM. Both of these times are now very competitive at the high school level.
- Casey Flanagan broke thru with a PR in 100 Breaststroke.
- Alex Harrill is really showing excellent improvement. On Saturday, he cut more than 9 seconds in 100 Free
- Mary-Margaret Harrill also showed continued improvement with a 2.67 second PR in 50 Free
- Eileen Heim cut 6.58 seconds from 100 Breast and 6.16 seconds from 100 Free leading off a relay
- Megan Hoffer cut another 33.02 seconds from her 50 Free
- Patrick Kenna got off the blocks very fast in the 50 Free and cut .2 seconds
- Shannon Kerns had a nice swim in 50 Free, lowering her PR by 2.06 seconds
- Christian “Rocky” Kleb lowered his 50 Free by 1.56 seconds
- Brendan Koehr reluctantly swam the 200 IM and improved his PR by 14.41 seconds
- Daniel Koehr’s 50 Free is now getting pretty fast for a sophomore. Leading off the 200 Free relay, he cut 1.01 seconds and got his PR down to :25.19.
- Kate Kosten’s 100 Backstroke looked good as she lowered her best time by 9.36 seconds
- David Lambrecht cut another 1.21 seconds from his 50 Free
- Rachel Lambrecht joined Kevin Bliss with a PR hat trick. Rachel had PRs in 200 Free by 22.16 seconds, 50 Free leading off a relay by 2.27 seconds, and 100 Breast by 1.46 seconds. Her Breaststroke was already pretty fast.
- As referenced above, Kimberley Melnyk had a great lead off leg in the 400 Free relay, lowering her 100 Free PR by .30 seconds. She is inching closer to that elusive 1:00 barrier.
- Andrew Minarik did a really nice job in the 500 Free with a 25.68 second PR
- Emma Mooney lowered her 100 Free PR by over 3 seconds
- Meghan Morch rocked in the 50 Free cutting .68 seconds from her PR to go :26.23. Only Jessica Dunn has a faster time on our team right now.
- I was pleased to see 7th grader James Mosimann improve his 100 Free by 4.44 seconds
- Monica Mosimann also showed more improvement with 2 PRs in 50 Free (by 1.35 seconds) and 100 Back (by 4.02 seconds)
- Michael O’Donnell really put a lot of heart into 100 Free and lowered his best time by 9.00 seconds
- Michael O’Donohue cut 2.24 seconds from 100 Free and .43 seconds from 50 Free
- Peter Quinan really caught the coaches’ eye in the 100 Free when he swam 26.68 seconds faster than ever before. He also lowered his 50 Free time by 1.62 seconds
- Sam Quinan looked good in 200 Free when he cut 4.62 seconds
- Cat Rogers had another great meet with two PRs in 100 Breast by 5.62 seconds and 50 Free by .76 seconds
- Lizzie Rogers matched her sister with two PRs in the same two events
- Jonathan Rosato cut another .37 seconds in 50 Free
- Joe Ross looked good in 100 Breast, lowering his PR from last season by .78 seconds
- John Ross also had a hat trick with 3 PRs. His came in 100 Free leading off a relay (by 1.64 seconds), in 100 Breast (by 2.79 seconds), and in 50 Free (by 1.39 seconds)
- Krista Shaw had a great leadoff leg in the 200 medley, lowering her best 50 Free time by 1.62 seconds. She also looked quite good in 100 Fly with a .9 second PR
- Steven Shaw had two PRs in 100 Free (4.03 seconds) and 100 Breast (.73 seconds)
- Daniella Sinner’s shoulder must be feeling better. She cut 10.37 seconds in 100 Breast and .57 seconds in 50 Free
- Lexy Smith improved her 100 Back time by 10.69 seconds and her 50 Free time by 4.19 seconds
- Laura Talbott scored big for us with two PRs in 500 Free and 100 Breast
- Matthew Verry’s stroke work is paying dividends. He cut 17.97 seconds in 200 Free
- Sarah Welsh lowered her 50 Free PR by .55 seconds
- Bernadette Wunderly had our 4th hat trick of the meet with 3 PRs in 50 Free (by 2.24 seconds), 100 Breast (by 2.02 seconds) and 100 Free (by .95 seconds)
- Bridgett Wunderly had a nice meet for us with 2 PRs in 200 Free (by 7.12 seconds) and 100 Breast (by 1.45 seconds)
- Sarah Zapiain lowered her 100 Breast time by 3.84 seconds
Other Noteworthy Swims and Happenings
- It has not escaped my notice how much the beginning swimmers are improving. Coach Hoffer is doing a great job with them, but I’d also like to highlight the work that Danielle Smith has been doing with the beginning swimmer lane at practice. With some help from David Harris and Mary-Kate Kenna, Danielle has really made a difference with her coaching efforts. Thank you Danielle!
- Sean Bartnick lowered his 100 Free time to :57.46. Daniel Koehr’s 100 Free last week was :57.47. I haven’t done the meet sheet for Friday’s meet yet, but I already know two guys who will be swimming side-by-side in 100 Free!
- Joe Ross had an opportunity to see some video from Coach Lowell and took the lessons to heart. During his leg of the 200 Free relay, he split a very fast :25.26, easily his fastest split ever. The differences? Only 3 breaths during the entire 50, with none of them near a wall, and a much improved catch-up on his stroke. With continued focus in practice, Joe can swim that way every time. Great swim Joe!
- I really enjoyed watching Matt Crowhurst and Michael O’Donnell swimming the 50 Free. They are definitely giving a maximum effort, and their strokes continue to improve. Michael Collins was fun to watch in the 100 Free for the same reasons. These 1st year swimmers are really improving. Hey Michael, longer is easier isn’t it?
- In the 500 Free, Kimberley Melnyk showed that she could swim without her pony tail rocking back and forth. It definitely looked good.
- Rocky Kleb, Jonathan Jacobeen, and Peter Mooney join to 1st-Time-500-Freestyler club with great swims to complete the event. I know they were nervous before the race, but collectively, the got 5th and 7th, scoring 4 points.
- Monica Mosimann has been paying attention in practice. In 100 Backstroke, her head was back, and she was looking very smooth.
- Rachel Lambrecht’s breaststroke has never looked as long – or as fast.
- Thomas Kosten did a nice job this week. He was on the losing end of a snowboard ride but swam with the hurt shoulder anyway.
- Catfish Dunn has definitely improved his underwaters. Also, in the 200 IM, Catfish won a close one over Brentsville that helped set the tone for the rest of the meet for our boys.
- Daniel Koehr took only 2 breaths in the 50 Free on the back end of our medley relay – now that’s how you do it! He also took the 200 Free out in 1:00 – properly swum, the 200 is nearly a sprint. Nice work Daniel.
- Alex Doonis’ underwaters were crazy good on Saturday. In backstroke leading off the medley, she was even with Bridgett Wunderly, who I have highlighted before for her outstanding underwaters. In freestyle, she was even more amazing, gaining a half a body length on the field right off the blocks.
- I was standing next to Sean Koehr when Lauren Donohoe was in the water on the back end of the girls medley relay. I had to laugh when he yelled, “Lauren Donohoe is a machine!”
- Leslie Zapiain had a nice breaststroke leg during the girls medley relay. She gained a lot of ground on the Brentsville girl.
- David Basinger’s freestyle looked much better. He was getting longer and catching-up much more. He almost did his PR, which is unusual for a top swimmer in a middle distance event at this early point in the season.
- Sam Quinan was looking long and strong in the 200 Free
- Bridgett Wunderly had a great finish in the 200 Free to beat out a friend of hers from Brentsville
- Keeley Cook is going to be very good. She had a really nice 200 Free.
- The boys 50 Free was quite a race. Both Sean Koehr and Patrick Kenna had super-fast starts, but most of the excitement came for Patrick Kenna at the end. He out-touched a Quantico swimmer by .03 seconds!
- In the 50 Free, Rocky Kleb had the best start and streamline I’ve seen from him yet.
- Meghan Morch’s 50 Free was phenomenal! I looked up after the start, and somehow Meghan was way out in front. She is getting very close to breaking the :26 second barrier.
- Emma Mooney did a very nice job with her first ever 100 backstroke. Shaina Crowhurst also swam the event for the 1st time and did very well.
- At the point in the meet where we got to the 200 Free Relay, the boys meet with Brentsville was still close, but Brendan Koehr, David Basinger, Peter Mooney, and Sean Bartnick took some of the stress out of it for me. As the “B” relay, they got a big 3rd place. Combined with a first place from our “A” relay gave us a 13-5 victory in that event alone.
- For all practical purposes, the boys meet with Brentsville ended in the very next event, 100 Backstroke, when Daniel Koehr, Patrick Kenna, and Sean Bartnick went 1-2-3. Combined with Brendan Koehr’s 6th place finish, we won that event 21-8 and put the final nail in the coffin.
- Sarah Welsh had a nice looking backstroke.
- David Harris split a 1:02.80 on the back end of one of our 400 Free relays. His best time from a standing start is 1:03.78, so that was an excellent split. It also helped his relay secure a 3rd place for the team.
- Right at the end of the meet, Eileen Corkery was anchoring a 400 Free relay when Coach Lowell turned to me and said, “That’s a nice looking stroke”. Eileen was really working hard and almost caught the Brentsville relay in the next lane
Opportunities to Improve
Mrs. Mazzoccoli sent me a message saying that several parents from the opposing teams commented on how our team was standing on the side of the pool cheering for their teammates throughout the meet. Now that’s what I like to hear! The improvement we showed on Saturday in this area was great, but we continue to have areas where we really need to improve:
- As a whole, our turns are not very good. I want to start building everyone’s Breaststroke on Monday morning, but we are going to have to carve out some time to work on this.
- I saw a couple of I-Pods under sweatshirts at the meet. No need for that on our team. We should be cheering and encouraging our fellow teammates instead.
- In spite of my pre-meet admonition, we still had 2 swimmers miss events and a couple more show up at the last second. We’re not a bunch of 8-and-unders eating jello off our fingers at a Sudley summer meet. We’re high school aged kids who should be able to get themselves to a predetermined place at a predetermined time without intervention from the head coach. I hope that this never happens again. I was very unhappy about it.
- The other thing that made me unhappy was the way we behaved during the break. We normally take a 10 minute break between the 50 Free and 100 Fly to give swimmers a chance to warm-up for the 2nd half of the meet. I wasn’t paying close attention to what was happening until the very end of the break. When the referee announced that we should clear to the pool, I looked and saw a bunch of kids playing on the ropes rather than warming up. Break time is not play time.
I hate to end on an unhappy note, but, no matter how good you get, you can get better. And these are obvious things for us. We have a really good thing going here – let’s make it even better.
This week in practice, we’ll be working primarily on Breaststroke. We’ll also have to mix in some turn work.
We’re preparing for two meets this weekend. The meet on Friday is at the new Warrenton Aquatic and Recreation Facility (WARF) against all of the teams in our new conference, the NVSC. On Saturday, I have scheduled two Division II powers that challenge us for the title at States every year, Stonebridge and Peninsula Catholic, both from southeastern VA. That will be the biggest meet of the season for us so far. Let’s work hard this week to get ready.
See you tomorrow morning,
Coach Koehr