Most Successful Grads

So our sports information director recently sent out an e-mail asking for a list of successful graduates for a series of articles he's working on. A couple of coaches hit "reply all" with some decent names, but in just a couple of minutes here's what I came up with:

• Alex Van Huis - admitted to four of the top fourteen biomedical engineering programs in the country (he didn't apply to the other ten) and is currently pursuing his PhD.
• Bryan Pelka - studying medicine at the armed services medical school in Bethesda (i.e. he's earning a salary instead of paying $100k/year in med school tuition).
• Ivan Manolov - recruited by Yahoo! out of school, quit that to make six-figures for a hot start-up in the valley (Honestly.com), though he's quitting that to work for another start-up (CollegeSwimming.com)
• Dr. Brad Wipfli - after studying neuroscience, Dr. Brad got his PhD from Arizona State. After this, he was awarded the 2009 dissertation of the year award from the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and is now a researcher at the Oregon Health & Science University.
• Nathan Fisher - just graduated from the National University of Health Sciences and is now a Chiropractor.
  
• Chris Trella - Getting Masters in Kinesiology from University of Johannesburg (South Africa) after teaching in Alaskan village and in China.
  
• Henry Somers & Nathaniel Chapman - rapidly rising up the corporate ladder for Oracle and Cummins up in the Twin Cities.
• Stacey Kiefer - Swimwear/Apparel Purchasing Manager with Adolph Kiefer & Associates. She's also a part-time model for Jockey International (photo right).
  
• Steve Szymanski - recruited straight out of Carthage to work for PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the Big Five accounting firms.
• James Beaman & Charlie Staniger - James works at Corporate for Walgreens while Charlie is on the managerial fast-track and running the store at 18th street;
• Justin Reeder - Deputy Sheriff, Porter County Indiana; and
  
• Teachers & Coaches: Almost too many to mention and many I'm sure I've forgotten but they include Andy Bax & Tracey Keckler - both teachers here in KUSD; Tricia Biedron and Kristen Martin (Suburbs), Nick Parry (West Chicago), Jessica Bogie (Delta Aquatics), Delilah Center (Chesterton, Indiana) Amanda Croix (west point), really too many to mention
• 
  

I'm sure I've forgotten some, but not a bad list.

Wearing Orange Jumpsuits

This past weekend Carthage hosted the CCIW Track & Field Championships. It's always an honor to host a conference championship, but its also kind of a pain in the butt. Sure you have home field (or track, or pool) advantage, but you've also got to set up the pool (or track), round up timers, print programs, and collect admission.

Well, after this weekend, I'm thankful I'm not a track coach. You've got running events, jumping events, throwing events, and events that combine all three. Even worse, many of them run at the same time - its not like the pool where only one heat or one event runs at a time. Anyhow, in an effort to help our fellow teams, a bunch of guys (Bax, Coder, Moravek, Ross, Schranck I, Schranck II and another I can't remember) donned orange shirts better suited for roadside trash collection to help out. The help was appreciated (so was our budget).

One Carthage track guy of note is Tyler Wishau. He's a 'joggler' meaning he juggles while jogging and is aiming to set the world record for joggling a 5K (he's run at 17:08). That got our own Mike Moravek to thinking - always a funny thing - and the results were predictable:

Carthage Senior Class

Today’s Carthage bids farewell to the most decorated class in school history. These five young men have tallied twenty-two CCIW titles, seven CCIW Open and Championship records, nine All-American certificates, and seven Academic All-American awards. As much of an impact as they’ve left on conference, pool and school record boards, they’ve also made a significant contribution to the ethic and culture of Carthage swimming and we’d like to recognize them briefly here today.

We begin with one of the most accomplished butterfliers in conference history – Bryce Davis. In his career thus far, Bryce is a twelve-time CCIW Champion and two-time NCAA Qualifier. As a freshman, he earned All-American recognition as a part of the 200 Freestyle Relay and last qualified individually in the 50, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. A month prior, Bryce established CCIW Championship records in all three events en route to being named the conference Most Valuable Performer. Bryce is also the 2006 Carthage Captain’s Biathalon Champion. A deep thinker, Bryce is a double major in philosophy and psychology and two-time member of the Carthage athletic director’s honor roll. In the history of the CCIW three men have won the 100 fly three times – next month Bryce could become the first to win the event four times. Ladies and gentlemen, Bryce Davis.

Next we celebrate Chris Steenrod. As a freshman Chris was not selected as a scorer to the a very deep conference team. Still, he posted times that would have scored. Since then, the Freeport, Illinois native has developed a valuable contributor having reached the conference finals on five different occasions. Chris has proven one of the most versatile performers in Carthage history – he ranks among Carthage all-time Top-25 list in six different events including the 1650 where he currently ranks 13th – ten spots ahead of his father Dave Steenrod. Chris was named a member of this year’s homecoming court – something big brother Andy couldn’t match. A psychology major, Chris has twice been named to the Carthage dean’s list and is a three-time member of the Carthage athletic director’s honor roll. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Steenrod.


Our third senior, Bryan Pelka will graduate this spring as the greatest distance swimmer in CCIW history and why not – nobody has ever been faster in the 1000 or 1650 freestyle. Bryan is a two-time honorable mention All-American in the mile. On the conference level he has won three individual events and finalled nine different times. His academic resume is as impressive as his performance in the pool. He is a three time CSCAA Academic All-American and two-time CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Second Team All-Academic honoree. He was the 2007 CCIW “Jack Swartz All-Academic Award Winner” and will soon be nominated for a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Ladies and gentlemen, Bryan Pelka

Andy Bax leaves us as one of Carthage’s most valuable and consistent sprinters. No swimmer has split under 21.0 seconds more times than Andy has in his time here and he will likely be remembered as one of the best sprint breaststrokers in school history. Andy is an eight-time CCIW Finallist and five-time CCIW Champion, including an individual win in the 50-freestyle. Andy has achieved five different NCAA consideration times and last season was recognized by the College Coaches Association as an Academic All-American. A double major in elementary and special education, Andy is a three-time member of the Carthage athletic director’s honor roll, member of the dean’s list and, along with Chris was a member of the homecoming court. Ladies & gentlemen, Andy Bax.

Our final senior today is Stephen Schranck. Nationally, Stephen has garnered more attention than any other swimmer in Carthage history. He has earned All-American or Honorable Mention All-American recognition on six different occasions – the second most in school history. On the conference level, Stephen won four individual and six relay titles in spite of often swimming off events for the team. In fact, in 2007 failed to win a single individual CCIW title, but was still recognized by Carthage as its Athlete of the Year. A double major in accounting and business administration, Stephen is a three-time CSCAA Academic All-American and has swum the 14th fastest 200 breaststroke in NCAA History. Ladies & gentlemen, Stephen Schranck.

Robbed !

Robbery at the ballot box! No I'm not talking about Barrck, McCain or Chicago politics. Its homecoming week here at Carthage and two of our swimmers-Andy Bax and Chris Steenrod- were on Homecoming court. When the results for King were announced though, they didn't match up with the roar of the pep rally.
Maybe it was Andy's quip about the Cubs.

The Venice Diaries: Day One Andy Bax

Check out our Venice Photo Album

Riding in a Yellow School Bus is noting new to me and Saturday morning was like just the rest of my rides . . so I thought.
We loaded up and headed out after a wardrobe change from one of the freshman (jeans wont get you a ride to the airport) and since it was 6am everyone quickly fell asleep. I was awakend by the noise of the bus drivers radio falling on the ground. Since I was in the front row I stood up and grabbed it for him. Next thing I know the bus stalls in the middle of I-94 and the drivers quickly and safely pulls over during the snow.

The bus started running again but the horn would not turn off. After a few back door slams and pushing every button on the dashboard it finally turned off (after about 15 minutes of beeping). Back to sleep for us all, 2 minutes from the terminal the bus driver turns to me and asks "Can this bus fit under the bridge?". Like a deer in the headlights I stared out the front window hoping our bus was not about to be the first convertible on of its kind. Luckily we made it and got on the plane (after some baggage check-in trouble, I still dont have my red equipment bag)

We were on the plane and off to Tampa! I slept most of the flight and woke up just before landing. Getting off the plane Coach comes up to me and asks if I saw who was on the plane. I was sleeping so did not, it was Jose Conteras from the Chicago White Sox. I powerwalked to baggage claim so I didn't miss him. He was there with his family and I shook his hand and told him I was a big fan (even though he played pretty bad this year, hope he doesn't read this).

Loading up the vans was easy this year because we had a van from the hotel come and get our bags. arriving at the Hotel I noticed its not as close as my freshman year (Mexico, walking distance) or as far as my sophomore (9 mile van ride). This scares me because its about a good running distance to the pool (hope Greg doesn't read this til after training trip).

So far the practices have been tough (except for the picture above) but the guys have come together really well. I'm excited to see what this team can accomplish the rest of this trip. We need to find the heart to finish off this tough dual meet season (Kenyon, Northwestern, Wheaton) and succeed at NCAA's and CCIW's. I know we have it and I know we can find it but it's going to take a lot from everyone to not just get through this week alive but get out of this week with the heart and motivation needed to finish this season as strong as we can. I can't wait to finish this week and see where we stand, but I'm even more excited to see where this team stands at the end of the season.

Time for me to wrap it up and head to bed, apologies to Steenrod's rooms and Go Red Men!