Unlike years past we didn't go on a team retreat. Instead of bonding over ultimate frisbee and a ropes course, I wanted to see our guys meld into a team as they faced REAL challenges. November is always the toughest month for college swimmers. The newness of the season and competition is over, yet you're still weeks away from training trip. The days get shorter, the yardage gets harder, the tests and papers (and occasionally snow) pile up, and of course the competition gets tougher.
Every guy responds differently. Some buckle down, others shut down. A few attack the challenge with flair, others' have tempers that flare. This year is no different, but I think this group is. When we had them take personality tests earlier in the fall they largely fell into the ENFP category - that's a personality group marked by eagerness and perseverance. This year you could see those traits tested, but the good news is that they emerged from a tough week with some solid swims and smiles on their faces.
We'll need even more from them as we head into next week. On the schedule is a tough two-day dual meet against Hope and Kalamazoo. Both are top-20 teams, loaded with talent and eager to avenge last year's meet. Hope to see a Red Tide in the stands in Holland! Anyhow, here's the play-by-play.
Licensed to Carthage College HY-TEK's Meet Manager 11/7/2008 11:52 PM
Lake Forest Dual - 11/7/2008
Results
Event 2 Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
===============================================================================
We mixed our relays up a bit tonight. First, we wanted to get a lot of guys
some swims, second, we wanted to generate some racing amongst ourselves, and
third, to somewhat mask what we've got before next week's Hope/KZoo meet.
I was pleasantly suprised to see TWO backstrokers under 27 to lead off for
us. Chris, I figured would be there, but Bob's backstroke hasn't been so hot
so seeing that 26.87 go up there was a good sign. Eric isn't exactly built for
the 50 back, but we wanted to get an early swim while Pat swam well, but really
struggled to get to the water's surface. Our breaststrokers all showed signs
of tired legs. To a man, their feet were slow on the recovery and timing was
off. It's something I've come to expect and not worry about, but you can tell
its frustrating to the guys. Each of our flyers started to show a little more
speed than we'd seen up until this point. In the end, Kyle was able to hold
off Blake in a battle of Minnesotans. Dan and Buck finished off with their
best splits of the season. In Dan's case it was all start - we was a full 1/2
second faster just in his relay takeoff.
===============================================================================
1 Carthage College 'B' 1:44.67
1) Pellican, Bob 2) r:0.37 Coder, Ben
3) r:0.33 Rothenbaum, Isaac 4) r:0.34 Winiecki, Kyle 18
26.87 29.30 26.18 22.32
2 Carthage College 'C' X1:45.67
1) Alfes, Patrick 2) r:0.14 Moravek, Mike 18
3) r:0.39 Bax, Andy 4) r:0.25 Bendix, Blake
28.41 30.20 24.39 22.67
3 Carthage College 'A' X1:46.70
1) Varner, Chris 2) r:0.33 Van Huis, Adam 18
3) r:0.41 Scheirer, Clinton 19 4) r:0.31 Hoover, Buck
26.65 30.58 26.39 23.08
4 Carthage College 'D' X1:48.12
1) Ross, Eric 18 2) r:+0.0 Steenrod, Chris
3) r:+0.0 Stowe, Tom 4) r:0.02 Jones, Dan 18
28.33 31.09 25.75 22.95
Event 4 Men 1000 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
The 1000 proved one of many 1-2-3- sweeps on the day. Adam Glover continued to
gain experience. Today he cruised a 10:23, and learned that he could have been
out much faster. Adam Van Huis learned that he doesn't like the 1,000. In the
case of Blake, today's 1000 brought him one step closer to his goal of swimming
in every event over his career here at Carthage. To give him some incentive
though, I told the team that I'd lop 25 yards off their post-meet warm-down for
every 25 he came off the wall and managed two hand-hits before his first breath.
Every time he did a cheer went up from the guys and every time he didn't, a
collective groan could be heard. I had to explain to the Lake Forest coach
what was up. In the end, he managed to take 300 yards off their warm-down.
(Incidentally, Pelka's sister beat him by 26 seconds).
===============================================================================
1 Glover, Adam 19 Carthage 10:23.41
2 Van Huis, Adam 18 Carthage X10:47.74
3 Bendix, Blake Carthage X11:26.24
4 Atchley, Derek LFC 12:40.34
Event 6 Men 200 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
I'm getting more and more confidence in our 200 freestyles. Today Stephen and
Doug teamed for a 1-2 finish. In Stephen's case it was a lifetime best flat-
start (though he's been a 1:42.6 relay). I thought it was well split, though
he did look pretty labored throughout it. Doug, meanwhile did everything he
could to not take it out too much faster. In the end, he did an excellent job
of splitting. Isaac did the same, though he couldn't cover the early pace set
by Doug. Still, it was a full second under his unrested best time. Eric and
Alex both had a tough time maintaining any kind of speed. Both looked un-
comfortable, almost as if I should have had them swim the 1000 beforehand just
to warm them up. Krzystof did try to go with the big boys early on and it
really cost him - adding two seconds in his last 100 alone.
===============================================================================
1 Schranck, Stephen V 21 Carthage 1:45.36
24.22 26.60 27.53 27.01
2 Schranck, Doug 18 Carthage X1:49.11
24.88 27.51 28.49 28.23
3 Rothenbaum, Isaac Carthage X1:52.47
25.42 27.91 29.24 29.90
4 Ross, Eric 18 Carthage X1:54.42
25.55 28.42 30.22 30.23
5 Van Huis, Alex Carthage X1:56.37
26.56 28.75 30.18 30.88
6 Kowal, Krzysztof 18 Carthage X1:58.87
27.23 29.53 31.79 30.32
7 Wright, Taylor LFC 2:03.78
28.87 30.71 31.18 33.02
8 Sun, Yuzheng LFC 2:32.94
32.70 38.49 40.94 40.81
Event 8 Men 100 Yard Backstroke
===============================================================================
The string of wins continued. This meet was also Rip's annual 100 backstroke.
His freshman year he was pressed into service and served admirably, going a 55
or 56, which was pretty solid, but slower than our 55.6 breaststroke split.
Ever since then we've had ample backstrokers, but once or twice a year we try
it for old time's sake. He led our motley group of backstrokers today. Like
the 200 Medley, Pat struggled to get up to speed. As for Tom and Chris, this
wound up being a training swim - Steenrod tells me that it was a lifetime best
for him - looks like it could be for a long, long time.
===============================================================================
1 Mackin, Mike LFC 56.04
27.16 28.88
2 Ripley, Nathan Carthage 57.86
29.08 28.78
3 Alfes, Patrick Carthage X59.02
28.64 30.38
4 Stowe, Tom Carthage X1:03.06
30.17 32.89
5 Steenrod, Chris Carthage X1:03.52
30.83 32.69
6 Ardelean, Raul LFC 1:15.48
35.75 39.73
Event 10 Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
===============================================================================
If you were to graph our breaststrokers, it'd look like the most random scat-
terplot you can imagine. We were all over the place. We gave Buck a shot in
here and he busted his rear-end to hold off a hard-charging Lake Forest swimmer.
More importantly though, Buck was able to go faster than his girlfriend on the
women's team (a 200 and she'd have had him).
Mike was really disappointed with his time and after looking at his splits
it was clear that he needed to be out faster. He was a 30-mid on the relay,
and should be be around there in the individual 100. Both he and Ben's timing
were way off. Their legs were lagging behind the hands. Once we get them some
rest they should be able to pick it up.
===============================================================================
1 Coder, Ben Carthage 1:04.42
30.13 34.29
2 Moravek, Mike 18 Carthage X1:09.01
32.58 36.43
3 Hoover, Buck Carthage X1:13.37
33.95 39.42
4 Atchley, Derek LFC 1:13.46
5 Tran, Alex LFC 1:17.96
6 Chen, Kuan LFC 1:33.50
Event 12 Men 200 Yard Butterfly
===============================================================================
We went uncontested in the 200 fly. Bryan was really struggling, and we suspect
still sick. Clinton had an outstanding swim. Earlier this week he was
lamenting his finish in the 200 fly and how he 'died' and how he wanted to be
under 2:12 this year. "This year?" I said, "You'll be under 2:12 this week" if
he could take control of the race and holding his stroke/breathing together when
his body told him no. Well, he kept his head down, breathing every other stroke
and lopped five seconds off last week's time. Breakthrough swim right there.
===============================================================================
1 Pelka, Bryan M 22 Carthage 2:06.08
27.60 32.35 33.10 33.03
2 Scheirer, Clinton 19 Carthage X2:10.10
28.38 32.75 34.26 34.71
Event 14 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
We did go with mostly our 'A' lineup in the 50 free, mostly to take advantage
of such good pool conditions - bright lights, deep water, open lanes, and LOUD
start system with speedlights. They all combined for a very solid heat of 50's.
Rip's time was his best unrested time and just shy of a lifetime best. Bax was
also his best this season. When you add in Kyle, we've got the CCIW's top four
guys (with a fifth not far from returning to the water). Chris Varner was a
little low in the water and not particularly powerful coming off the wall.
Finally, Alex Boyer started to relax in the water and he took a full second off
of his best time this season. It was a breakthrough for Alex's confidence and
I think a good sign of things to come.
===============================================================================
1 Ripley, Nathan Carthage 22.08
:+0.85
2 Bax, Andy Carthage X22.38
:+0.80
3 Winiecki, Kyle 18 Carthage X22.80
:+0.68
4 Wright, Taylor LFC 23.13
:+0.82
5 Varner, Chris Carthage X23.38
6 Pellican, Bob Carthage X23.45
:+0.74
7 Boyer, Alex 18 Carthage X23.65
:+0.79
8 Tran, Alex LFC 27.84
:+0.89
9 Sun, Yuzheng LFC 29.49
:+0.90
Event 16 Men 100 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
After the break we came back and put up a solid group of 100 freestyles. Dan
held back just a bit in the first 25, and really held his stroke together better
on the second fifty. Buck went out like a jet and paid for it on the back half.
Blake's swim was disappointing, not so much for the time, but for how he'd
reacted after losing his goggles. It really got the better of him, so I told
him that at least one of his stand-up swims this week would be done without
goggles if for no other reason as he can learn that he can swim fast without
them.
===============================================================================
1 Schranck, Doug 18 Carthage 49.99
24.05 25.94
2 Jones, Dan 18 Carthage X52.09
24.85 27.24
3 Boyer, Alex 18 Carthage X52.14
25.42 26.72
4 Hoover, Buck Carthage X53.11
25.39 27.72
5 Wright, Taylor LFC 53.17
26.00 27.17
6 Bendix, Blake Carthage X54.01
25.95 28.06
7 Kowal, Krzysztof 18 Carthage X54.09
25.88 28.21
8 Ardelean, Raul LFC 1:03.12
29.65 33.47
9 Chen, Kuan LFC 1:13.84
Event 18 Men 200 Yard Backstroke
===============================================================================
Bob's night of destruction continued in the 200 back where he looked very
strong and very comfortable. It was clearly his easiest 200 back in quite some
time. The same can't be said for Chris, Eric and Adam. Chris' stroke was all
over the place - digging so much that his head was going under water. I told
him, "Chris, you're the only backstroker I know who needs a breathing pattern."
Eric was a season best time, but like his 200 free looked forced. Adam's back
didn't look forced, it just looked like a distance guy trying to get through
a 200 backstroke.
===============================================================================
1 Pellican, Bob Carthage 2:00.86
28.95 30.22 30.85 30.84
2 Mackin, Mike LFC 2:08.29
29.69 31.92 33.55 33.13
3 Varner, Chris Carthage X2:09.35
4 Ross, Eric 18 Carthage X2:09.99
30.35 32.95 33.77 32.92
5 Glover, Adam 19 Carthage X2:22.66
33.12 36.02 37.09 36.43
Event 20 Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
===============================================================================
The 200 breast offered another brotherly 1-2 finish and again the oldest had
the last laugh. Like the 100, all of our breaststrokers looked like their
timing was off. Their heels were slow in coming up to their rear-end and their
arms were all over the place. That wasn't the case for Alex who hasn't done
much breaststroke. He looked smoothing, timing right and not suprisingly, he
pulled away from the field about 75 yards into the race.
===============================================================================
1 Van Huis, Alex Carthage 2:22.12
32.63 35.83 36.48 37.18
2 Van Huis, Adam 18 Carthage X2:26.40
33.11 37.46 38.14 37.69
3 Coder, Ben Carthage X2:26.61
31.22 37.47 39.22 38.70
4 Moravek, Mike 18 Carthage X2:32.09
34.00 38.69 40.03 39.37
5 Atchley, Derek LFC 2:45.87
6 Tran, Alex LFC 2:54.98
Event 22 Men 500 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Earlier in the week I'd asked Stephen if there was anything in particular he'd
like to swim and he said the 500 - so the 500 it was and what do you know, he
swims his best unrested-500, and his fastest in nearly two years. Chris also
tore it up - he swam his fastest-ever 500 in a meet that wasn't called the
CCIW Championships or TYR Invitational. Chris has been swimming as well as
any point in his career. Bryan was another story - it was clear from his
heaving chest that he was sick and having trouble breathing.
===============================================================================
1 Schranck, Stephen V 21 Carthage 4:45.21
25.65 28.49 29.20 29.39 29.22 29.14 29.00 28.85
28.60 27.67
2 Pelka, Bryan M 22 Carthage X5:03.04
27.19 30.15 30.54 30.74 31.04 30.87 30.96 30.96
30.69 29.90
3 Steenrod, Chris Carthage X5:14.28
28.10 30.63 31.34 32.03 32.12 32.01 32.19 32.42
32.03 31.41
Event 24 Men 100 Yard Butterfly
===============================================================================
Bax continued to shake the rust off as started showing some speed here in his
100 fly. Before his race, I'd asked Kyle what his lifetime best was in the 100
fly. "57 point zero-zero" he said proudly. Well, she haved point zero seven
off of that lifetime best. We're not planning on swimming him in it too often
though so it might be his lifetime best for awhile. Clinton and Isaac followed
with season-bests, but Tom and Alex, well neither looked very sharp.
===============================================================================
1 Bax, Andy Carthage 56.21
26.16 30.05
2 Winiecki, Kyle 18 Carthage X56.93
26.52 30.41
3 Mackin, Mike LFC 57.56
26.63 30.93
4 Stowe, Tom Carthage X58.17
27.00 31.17
5 Scheirer, Clinton 19 Carthage X58.81
27.71 31.10
6 Van Huis, Alex Carthage X59.16
7 Rothenbaum, Isaac Carthage X1:00.79
27.99 32.80
8 Ardelean, Raul LFC 1:39.45
40.50 58.95
Event 26 Men 400 Yard IM
===============================================================================
About two minutes before the 400 IM, Bob Pellican, who was riding high after
some excellent swims, asks, "Can I swim the 400 IM?" That's not exactly some-
thing you hear very often, but that's the kind of team we have. "Lane two", I
tell him, "that way you won't have far to crawl to get to your 400 free relay."
Well, the time puts him 30th all time in school history, and 6th all time on
the "Sprint 400 IM" list (you have to be sub-22 on a relay to qualify). Bax
sits 5th, just 0.07 ahead. Pat's swim was good, but was a little hot in that
first 50. Adam gave me a look of, "C'mon coach, never again" while Ben, as is
is nature, just smiled and enjoyed his latest lifetime best.
===============================================================================
1 Pellican, Bob Carthage X4:34.61
28.40 34.02 33.10 33.52 40.52 40.32 32.90 31.83
2 Alfes, Patrick Carthage 4:41.59
29.12 35.15 35.04 35.07 41.19 41.96 32.02 32.04
3 Van Huis, Adam 18 Carthage X4:47.73
29.73 34.95 38.80 38.64 39.94 40.10 33.06 32.51
4 Coder, Ben Carthage X4:51.64
29.88 34.80 41.77 39.27 39.02 39.58 34.68 32.64
Event 28 Men 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
===============================================================================
As we have the past few weeks, we split our relays up - in part to mask what we
have, in part to test different people out in different spots. One thing about
tonight's relay was that I tied it to our team warm-down after the meet. We've
been working on kids getting two "hand-hits" of the water before taking a breath
on every race 100 yards and under. For every wall where we didn't do that on
this relay, we were adding a 100 to warm-down. End result was just six walls,
six out of forty-five, that didn't meet the goal. Subtracting 300 yards because
of Blake's 1000 and they escaped with a pretty short warm-down.
Just a couple of swims of note - Boyer led off with his first sub-52 of the
season and looked good - Dan jones backed off the gas the first 50 and had his
best second 50 of the season, Pellican-what can you say a 50.90 after his 400 IM,
Isaac bringing his relay from behind to win. Finally the lasting image for me
was watching Rip on the blocks rolling his hand, saying "C'mon, c'mon" to Buck
in hopes of overcoming an insurmountable lead.
===============================================================================
1 Carthage College 'C' 3:25.15
1) Glover, Adam 19 2) r:0.20 Van Huis, Adam 18
3) r:0.22 Schranck, Doug 18 4) r:0.29 Rothenbaum, Isaac
24.59 51.94 25.41 54.41 23.06 49.21 23.61 49.59
2 Carthage College 'B' X3:25.96
1) Jones, Dan 18 2) r:0.58 Ross, Eric 18
3) r:0.19 Pellican, Bob 4) r:0.21 Pelka, Bryan 22
25.28 52.14 24.47 52.06 23.89 50.90 23.75 50.86
3 Carthage College 'A' X3:26.44
1) Boyer, Alex 18 2) r:0.38 Kowal, Krzysztof 18
3) r:0.26 Hoover, Buck 4) r:0.16 Ripley, Nathan
25.16 51.68 24.97 53.08 25.21 54.19 22.81 47.49