Grades Are In

The grades are in and they're good and Carthage will once again be named an Academic All-American team.  The guys posted a 3.07 GPA on the semester (up from 3.04 in the Fall).  Additionally, Senior Doug Schranck and Freshman Teryn Solan will be named Honorable Mention Academic All-Americans for posting a GPA of 3.50 or higher and earning a NCAA 'B' Cut.

Here's a list of guys earning 3.0 or higher this semester:

Jake Carabelli Ben Coder Ben Ertl Sam Hoffmann Steve Mathe Mike Moravek

Ryan Ortmann Kyle Rasmussen Scott Reher Derrick Rendon Brennan Reynolds

Eric Ross Doug Schranck Tyler Smith Teryn Solan Adam Van Huis Evan Weyrauch

There's one more name that JUST missed, but more about that later.

2012 Team Awards

This past week has been a veritable feast for the guy.  First their was steak (and chicken and a sweet desert) courtesy President Campbell.  You see the president takes each team that wins a conference title out to dinner at the Kenosha Country Club.  I don't want to say these are becoming commonplace but after our first title seven years ago we had to make a map to the KCC.  This year not a single guy even asked for directions.  President and Mrs. Campbell have been great supporters of swimming over the years and we presented them with a sweet gift - a pair of silicone racing caps signed by the teams (that's right, we got them the good ones).


Download the Banquet Book

On Sunday we had our annual team banquet.  It's a little lower-key, but also a little more personal affair with just members of the team and parents (and in the case of Alex George, grandparents).   We recognized several award winners including:

Hardest Worker	Ben Coder
Chapman Family Red Men Award	Mike Moravek
Most Valuable Swimmer	Kyle Drake
Most Valuable Teammate	Eric Ross
Scholar Athlete	Adam Van Huis

Additionally, we also announced the following award-winners:

CCIW Swimmer-of-the-Year	Kyle Drake
CCIW Swimmer-of-the-Championship	Kyle Drake
Jack Swartz Academic All-Conference	Adam Van Huis
All-CCIW Team	Jake Carabelli - 200 Free, 200 Back
	Kyle Drake - 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 Back, 400 Med Relay
	Connor McCurrie - 500 Free, 1650 Free
	Ryan Ortmann - 50 Free, 100 Free, 400 Med Relay
	Scott Pinter - 100 Breast, 200 Breast, 400 Med Relay
	Doug Schranck - 100 Fly, 400 Med Relay
	Teryn Solan - 500 Free, 1650 Free
	Adam Van Huis - 200 Breast

Additionally, we thanked our Seniors for their $900 donation to the Chapman Family Swimming Endowment.  Their donation brings the fund up over $33,000.  A big thanks to the Seniors for a sweet Brewers jersey.

Carthage 136, Illinois Wesleyan 96

Good meet against Illinois Wesleyan. Finally good to back in our home pool for some fast swimming (especially with the new blocks). Also hosted eight awesome recruits! Anyhow, here's the recap and results.

Licensed to Carthage College      HY-TEK's MEET MANAGER 3.0 11/13/2011 10:15 PM
                Carthage vs. Illinois Wesleyan - 11/12/2011                
                                  Results                                  

Event 2  Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
===============================================================================
  School                                                        Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Carthage-WI  'A'                                            1:38.57   11
   1) Drake, Kyle E 22                2) Pinter, Scott D 19           
   3) Schranck, Doug E 21             4) Ortmann, Ryan M 21           
     25.58    28.32    23.61    21.06                                  
2 Illinois Wesleyan University-IL  'A'                        1:40.69    4
   1) Firth, Mikey 21                 2) Tollefson, Ross H 21         
   3) Dickinson, David 19             4) Mitchell, Sam E 21           
     24.65    28.57    24.80    22.67                                  
3 Carthage-WI  'B'                                            1:43.48    2
   1) Reecher, Mitch W 18             2) Moravek, Mike R 22           
   3) Reher, Scott A 19               4) Hoffmann, Sam D 18           
     26.83    29.10    25.00    22.55                                  
4 Carthage-WI  'C'                                           x1:45.17
   1) Ertl, Ben T 18                  2) Rendon, Derrick T 19         
   3) Smith, Tyler A 20               4) Kowal, Krzysztof 21          
     27.35    29.60    24.90    23.32                                  
5 Carthage-WI  'D'                                           x1:46.74
   1) Carabelli, Jake R 20            2) Coder, Ben J 21              
   3) Reynolds, Brennan J 17          4) Weyrauch, Evan D 18          
     26.52    29.68    27.13    23.41                                  

Event 4  Men 1000 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Solan, Teryn N            19 Carthage-WI                   10:07.75    9
    34.54   30.26                           30.34   30.42   30.65
    30.99   30.57   30.76   30.85   31.12   30.76   31.17   30.91
    31.06   31.04   30.93   29.75   51.11                      
2 Mrozek, Shane J           20 Titans-IL                     10:44.68    2
    36.45   31.96                           32.28   32.92   32.76
    32.40   32.39   32.94   32.20   32.32   32.58   32.73   33.13
    32.49   33.34   33.17   33.01   53.34                      
-- Ross, Eric W              22 Carthage-WI                  X10:16.62    4
    35.78   31.17                           31.24   31.20   31.22
    31.01   31.07   31.50   31.60   31.17   31.52   31.06   31.29
    30.91   30.75   30.51   30.71   51.89                      
-- McCurrie, Connor D        19 Carthage-WI                  X10:18.31    3
    35.98   30.69   31.22                           31.27   31.38
    31.61   31.82   31.68   31.27   31.73   30.89   31.07   31.23
    30.95   30.59   31.21   30.86   51.71                      
-- Glover, Adam G            22 Carthage-WI                  X10:32.15
    35.32   30.65   30.86                           31.39   31.51
    31.60   31.78   31.91   32.15   32.47   32.54   32.69   32.81
    32.49   32.95   32.56   32.34   52.90                      
-- Mathe, Steven A           20 Carthage-WI                  X10:33.53
    36.45   31.66                           32.05   31.98   32.23
    32.33   32.23   32.42   32.63   32.87   32.71   32.32   31.89
    31.82   31.72   31.27   31.23   51.81                      

Event 6  Men 200 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Carabelli, Jake R         20 Carthage-WI                    1:49.32    9
    24.74   27.57   28.73   28.28                              
2 Mitchell, Sam E           21 Titans-IL                      1:50.74    4
    25.51   27.52   28.34   29.37                              
3 Dickinson, David          19 Titans-IL                      1:54.82    3
    26.23   28.49   29.63   30.47                              
4 Enix, Evan A              20 Titans-IL                      2:02.16    2
    26.82   30.84   32.50   32.00                              
5 Werkema, Andrew           21 Titans-IL                     x2:05.61
    28.46   31.75   32.93   32.47                              
-- Dobben, Aaron J           19 Carthage-WI                   X1:53.60
    25.70   28.52   29.65   29.73                              
-- Weyrauch, Evan D          18 Carthage-WI                   X1:55.72
    26.71   28.84   29.60   30.57                              
-- Hoffmann, Sam D           18 Carthage-WI                   X1:57.55
    27.76   30.33   29.99   29.47                              

Event 8  Men 100 Yard Backstroke
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Firth, Mikey              21 Titans-IL                        52.27    9
    25.58   26.69                                              
2 Drake, Kyle E             22 Carthage-WI                      53.05    4
    26.28   26.77                                              
-- Reecher, Mitch W          18 Carthage-WI                     X58.02
    27.89   30.13                                              
-- Alexander, Greg D         19 Carthage-WI                     X58.23
    28.28   29.95                                              

Event 10  Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Rasmussen, Kyle R         19 Carthage-WI                    1:02.85    9
    29.55   33.30                                              
2 Tollefson, Ross H         21 Titans-IL                      1:06.47    4
    30.06   36.41                                              
3 Moravek, Mike R           22 Carthage-WI                    1:06.49    3
    30.82   35.67                                              
4 Gilbert, Bobby L          18 Titans-IL                      1:10.21    2
    32.61   37.60                                              
-- Pinter, Scott D           19 Carthage-WI                   X1:03.10
    29.47   33.63                                              
-- Van Huis, Adam F          21 Carthage-WI                   X1:04.01
    30.30   33.71                                              
-- Coder, Ben J              21 Carthage-WI                   X1:05.19
    30.40   34.79                                              
-- Reynolds, Brennan J       17 Carthage-WI                   X1:09.07
    32.91   36.16                                              

Event 12  Men 200 Yard Butterfly
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Schranck, Doug E          21 Carthage-WI                    1:59.76    9
    26.18   30.13   31.36   32.09                              
2 Reardanz, Tim R           18 Titans-IL                      2:23.41    4
    29.67   35.53   38.72   39.49                              
-- Smith, Tyler A            20 Carthage-WI                   X2:07.65
    27.72   32.67   33.08   34.18                              
-- Rendon, Derrick T         19 Carthage-WI                   X2:08.63
    28.43   31.86   33.51   34.83                              
-- Reher, Scott A            19 Carthage-WI                   X2:12.06
    29.64   33.34   34.52   34.56                              

Event 14  Men 50 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Ortmann, Ryan M           21 Carthage-WI                      21.74    9
2 Mitchell, Sam E           21 Titans-IL                        23.50    4
3 Enix, Evan A              20 Titans-IL                        24.45    3
4 Werkema, Andrew           21 Titans-IL                        25.45    2
5 Ford, Hayden              18 Titans-IL                       x25.55
-- Reecher, Mitch W          18 Carthage-WI                     X23.30
-- Ertl, Ben T               18 Carthage-WI                     X23.38
-- Weyrauch, Evan D          18 Carthage-WI                     X24.06
-- Kowal, Krzysztof          21 Carthage-WI                     X24.49

Event 16  Men 100 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Ortmann, Ryan M           21 Carthage-WI                      49.16    9
    23.30   25.86                                              
2 Mitchell, Sam E           21 Titans-IL                        51.25    4
    24.40   26.85                                              
3 Dickinson, David          19 Titans-IL                        51.75    3
    25.43   26.32                                              
4 Enix, Evan A              20 Titans-IL                        54.02    2
    25.46   28.56                                              
-- Dobben, Aaron J           19 Carthage-WI                     X51.55
    24.92   26.63                                              
-- Hoffmann, Sam D           18 Carthage-WI                     X51.80
    25.03   26.77                                              
-- Kowal, Krzysztof          21 Carthage-WI                     X53.21
    25.42   27.79                                              

Event 18  Men 200 Yard Backstroke
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Drake, Kyle E             22 Carthage-WI                    1:52.97    9
    27.21   28.41   28.77   28.58                              
2 Firth, Mikey              21 Titans-IL                      1:56.46    4
    27.85   30.14   29.40   29.07                              
3 Mrozek, Shane J           20 Titans-IL                      2:04.86    3
    30.06   32.14   31.90   30.76                              
-- Carabelli, Jake R         20 Carthage-WI                   X2:04.02
    29.36   32.27   31.91   30.48                              
-- Reecher, Mitch W          18 Carthage-WI                   X2:07.22
    29.20   31.94   33.28   32.80                              
-- Solan, Teryn N            19 Carthage-WI                   X2:09.92
    31.09   32.72   33.30   32.81                              
-- Ertl, Ben T               18 Carthage-WI                   X2:19.39
    32.53   35.94   37.30   33.62                              

Event 20  Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Van Huis, Adam F          21 Carthage-WI                    2:17.83    9
    31.20   35.11   35.80   35.72                              
2 Gilbert, Bobby L          18 Titans-IL                      2:33.46    4
    34.88   39.51   39.58   39.49                              
3 Tollefson, Ross H         21 Titans-IL                      2:39.61    3
    34.63   39.54   41.64   43.80                              
-- Rasmussen, Kyle R         19 Carthage-WI                   X2:18.62
    31.49   35.58   35.58   35.97                              
-- Alexander, Greg D         19 Carthage-WI                   X2:20.42
    30.78   36.18   37.17   36.29                              
-- Pinter, Scott D           19 Carthage-WI                   X2:21.21
    31.78   35.60   37.12   36.71                              
-- Rendon, Derrick T         19 Carthage-WI                   X2:22.25
    32.21   36.57   37.38   36.09                              
-- Coder, Ben J              21 Carthage-WI                   X2:23.06
    32.04   36.78   36.93   37.31                              
-- Moravek, Mike R           22 Carthage-WI                   X2:25.12
    32.66   36.80   37.31   38.35                              

Event 22  Men 500 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Solan, Teryn N            19 Carthage-WI                    4:57.94    9
    26.75   29.38   30.15   30.21   30.18   30.39   30.42   30.59
    30.35   29.52                                              
2 Reardanz, Tim R           18 Titans-IL                      5:12.79    4
    28.59   30.56   31.11   31.69   31.88   32.23   32.04   32.41
    31.73   30.55                                              
3 Werkema, Andrew           21 Titans-IL                      5:48.11    3
    30.54   34.88   35.62   35.85   35.96   36.42   35.11   35.43
    34.70   33.60                                              
4 Ford, Hayden              18 Titans-IL                      5:56.91    2
    29.91   34.20   37.46   35.54   36.37   36.97   36.36   37.56
    37.72   34.82                                              
-- McCurrie, Connor D        19 Carthage-WI                   X5:03.78
    27.09   29.90   30.83   31.14   31.46   30.85   30.77   30.73
    30.57   30.44                                              
-- Mathe, Steven A           20 Carthage-WI                   X5:06.39
    26.72   30.04   30.82   31.28   31.24   31.28   31.64   31.76
    31.29   30.32                                              
-- Glover, Adam G            22 Carthage-WI                   X5:10.13
    27.12   30.42   31.19   31.83   31.76   31.48   31.92   31.89
    31.73   30.79                                              
-- Ross, Eric W              22 Carthage-WI                   X5:12.82
    28.09   30.97   31.92   32.14   31.79   32.09   31.98   31.44
    31.72   30.68                                              

Event 24  Men 100 Yard Butterfly
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Schranck, Doug E          21 Carthage-WI                      53.27    9
    24.83   28.44                                              
2 Dickinson, David          19 Titans-IL                        58.80    4
    27.59   31.21                                              
3 Mrozek, Shane J           20 Titans-IL                      1:02.51    3
    28.95   33.56                                              
-- Reher, Scott A            19 Carthage-WI                     X56.42
    26.75   29.67                                              
-- Smith, Tyler A            20 Carthage-WI                     X56.96
    26.34   30.62                                              
-- Reynolds, Brennan J       17 Carthage-WI                     X59.88
    28.44   31.44                                              
-- Dobben, Aaron J           19 Carthage-WI                   X1:01.42
    27.02   34.40                                              

Event 26  Men 200 Yard IM
===============================================================================
  Name                     Age School                           Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Firth, Mikey              21 Titans-IL                      2:02.62    9
    26.95   28.98   37.76   28.93                              
2 Alexander, Greg D         19 Carthage-WI                    2:04.41    4
    27.34   31.55   36.55   28.97                              
3 Schranck, Doug E          21 Carthage-WI                    2:04.88    3
    26.11   32.02   36.98   29.77                              
4 Van Huis, Adam F          21 Carthage-WI                    2:07.17    2
    27.72   33.48   36.63   29.34                              
5 Rendon, Derrick T         19 Carthage-WI                   x2:10.22
    28.02   35.04   36.27   30.89                              
6 Rasmussen, Kyle R         19 Carthage-WI                   x2:10.34
    28.73   34.12   37.31   30.18                              
7 Tollefson, Ross H         21 Titans-IL                      2:18.18    1
    28.37   36.12   40.90   32.79                              
8 Gilbert, Bobby L          18 Titans-IL                      2:18.22
    31.24   36.47   39.29   31.22                              
9 Reardanz, Tim R           18 Titans-IL                     x2:21.63
    30.91   37.36   42.04   31.32                              
-- Pinter, Scott D           19 Carthage-WI                   X2:07.37
    27.75   34.18   36.17   29.27                              
-- Coder, Ben J              21 Carthage-WI                   X2:09.93
    28.18   34.73   35.72   31.30                              
-- Ertl, Ben T               18 Carthage-WI                   X2:13.20
    27.08   34.69   40.14   31.29                              
-- Moravek, Mike R           22 Carthage-WI                   X2:21.34
    32.24   38.32   38.19   32.59                              

Event 28  Men 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
===============================================================================
  School                                                        Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Carthage-WI  'A'                                            3:24.06   11
   1) Drake, Kyle E 22                2) Mathe, Steven A 20           
   3) Reher, Scott A 19               4) Hoffmann, Sam D 18           
     23.19    47.78    24.19    50.66    25.59    54.77    24.16    50.85
2 Illinois Wesleyan University-IL  'A'                        3:44.31    4
   1) Werkema, Andrew 21              2) Enix, Evan A 20              
   3) Mrozek, Shane J 20              4) Reardanz, Tim R 18           
     26.92    56.52    26.23    55.93    26.04    55.43    27.09    56.43
-- Carthage-WI  'B'                                           X3:24.95
   1) Ortmann, Ryan M 21              2) McCurrie, Connor D 19        
   3) Ross, Eric W 22                 4) Kowal, Krzysztof 21          
     24.31    50.92    24.03    50.80    24.54    51.16    24.73    52.07
-- Carthage-WI  'C'                                           X3:29.12
   1) Carabelli, Jake R 20            2) Dobben, Aaron J 19           
   3) Smith, Tyler A 20               4) Glover, Adam G 22            
     24.77    50.72    24.41    51.53    24.77    52.51    26.08    54.36

                  Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 28                   

1. Carthage                            137   2. Illinois Wesleyan University         96

Meet Recap

For as long as I have attended Carthage, and certainly dating a ways before then as well, there has always been an intense rivalry between Wheaton and Carthage. As of late, the Red Men have certainly held the upper hand. Wheaton had put up some pretty impressive swims at mid-season, but that is pretty standard for them, and having more or less made an exhibition out of them at conference the past 3 years, we went into the meet very confident. Coach Belton reminded us all week how strong of a team they were and how difficult it would be to win, but I think everyone felt pretty good about our chances. We were all pumped up and ready to destroy our conference rivals.

We departed for Wheaton by bus at 10:00 A.M. It is not too bad of a bus drive, only about 1.5 hours from Kenosha. When we got to the pool everyone sat around for awhile as per usual. Eventually everyone started stretching and getting ready to do a little swimming, maybe with some extra motivation from coach. By the time the meet was about to start, you could feel the energy in the pool. The rivalry is not only fierce between Wheaton and the Carthage men’s teams, the women’s teams also have a rivalry all their own. Each team wanted to leave with a win that day.

The meet got started with the 200 Medley Relays which Wheaton is very strong in. They came away with the win, but the times we posted for our relays were impressive compared to our regular results throughout the season. The 1000 followed next where we took advantage of one of their weaknesses as the distance crew swept the top 4 spots, giving us a lead and some extra energy to finish strong to the first break. When we got to that break, we were up by only a few points. Wheaton had performed strongly in the 200 free and 100 breast, but wins in the 100 back and 200 fly by Bob Pellican and myself had served us well. In the last event before the break, Ryan Ortmann put together a dominating performance in the 50 free, going a near season-best (21.64). It was that which gave us the lead into the break. We had some strong events coming up and definitely looked forward to the possibility of putting away the Thunder before the next break.

In an unfortunate turn of events, the Thunder outscored us handily in the 100 free, an event we definitely consider to be one of our strongest. The 200 backstrokers followed up nicely with Kyle Drake taking the win and Jake Carabelli narrowly touching third in a strong in-season effort. Everyone was getting behind each other and supporting each other the way coach had wanted us to all season. This was important to everyone, and we did not want to be the ones walking away disappointed. Wheaton then went 1-2 in the 200 breast and managed to win the 500, though we swept the rest of the spots. The next event figured to be one that had the potential to be a large determining factor in the meet’s final outcome, and it featured several very talented swimmers from both schools. However, the race did not turn out to be as close as anticipated as Wheaton’s Matt Gallagher easily downed the field with a very impressive time (51.77).

At this point, things looked pretty grim for the Red Men. I was not aware of the score until Andrew informed us in our team meeting during the second break. If we won the 200 IM while scoring three other swimmers AND won the 400 Free Relay, we would win the meet. It seemed like our chances were actually very good at this point. We had our best swimmers in the 200 IM and our 400 Free Relay is an event we usually feel pretty good about. The 200 IM went just as it needed to as Drake came through with the win and the others placed accordingly. Now, the stage was set. Whoever won the relay would win the meet. The noise in the pool was almost deafening. Through the first two legs, we were basically dead even. Then, Wheaton used their strongest split in the third swimmer, an interesting tactic that gave them the lead heading into the anchor leg. Isaac dove in trailing and pulled out an amazing (47.28) split. But it was not enough; Wheaton had touched first to win the meet.

Were we upset to lose? Of course we were. Is it the worst thing to ever happen to us? It most definitely is not. This will only fuel our fire these next few weeks coming into conference and really bring out the best in the Red Men. We were coming off an extremely difficult week of practice that left most of us practically run into the ground. There has been a noticeable difference in the level of intensity this year compared to last, and it was certainly wearing on us at this point. However, excuses are only excuses. They really are not worth anything. We gave all we had and turned in some quality swims, but it was not enough. Wheaton had been roaring and ready to go and made it obvious that they wanted the win very badly. We will have our chance to redeem ourselves in 3 weeks, and we plan on doing so and then some. If you are going to be around Wheaton, IL February 17-19, I suggest stopping by the Chrouser Natatorium on the campus of Wheaton College because things are fixing to get pretty wild.
--Doug Schranck

Schranck Lowers 100 Fly Record

Doug Schranck lowers his team LCM record in the 100 fly this weekend becoming the first Red Men to go under 58.0 seconds.  He also went a solid 2:13 in the 200 fly but Bryan Pelka lives to hold onto the record for another summer.

50 Free	24.73	Davis, Bryce	8/4/2007	Steve Keller
	24.99	Ripley, Nathan	7/11/2009	Shane Ryan
	25.43	Schranck, Doug	7/24/2009	Dave Stephens
100 Free	54.31	Ripley, Nathan	7/13/2009	Shane Ryan
	54.65	Somers, Henry	7/24/2003	Bill Schalz
	54.70	Davis, Bryce	8/4/2007	Steve Keller
200 Free	2:02.24	Schranck, Stephen	7/19/2006	Dave Stephens
	2:02.66	Somers, Henry	7/24/2003	Bill Schalz
	2:03.83	Ripley, Nathan	7/11/2009	Shane Ryan
400 Free	4:18.08	Ross, Eric	7/22/2009	TJ Day
	4:19.18	Pelka, Bryan	7/20/2006	Greg Lake
	4:19.55	Chapman, Nathaniel	7/23/2004	Jim Sheridan
800 Free	8:53.06	Pelka, Bryan	7/20/2006	Greg Lake
	9:06.21	Ross, Eric	7/23/2009	TJ Day
	9:06.50	Glover, Adam	7/23/2009	Mary Liston
1500 Free	16:58.65	Pelka, Bryan	7/20/2006	Greg Lake
	17:11.12	Ross, Eric	7/20/2009	TJ Day
	18:14.47	Glover, Adam	6/25/2009	Mary Liston
100 Back	1:02.79	Drake, Kyle	7/17/2008	Bill Schalz
	1:02.90	Chapman, Nathaniel	7/24/2003	Jim Sheridan
	1:04.15	Pellican, Bob	6/11/2008	Mary Ruffin
200 Back	2:11.06	Drake, Kyle	7/17/2009	Bill Schalz
	2:15.23	Chapman, Nathaniel	7/24/2003	Jim Sheridan
	2:17.82	Pellican, Bob	7/11/2008	Mary Ruffin
100 Breast	1:07.15	Schranck, Stephen	7/19/2006	Dave Stephens
	1:08.71	Somers, Henry	7/24/2003	Bill Schalz
	1:10.51	Moravek, Mike	7/22/2009	Andy Rose
200 Breast	2:26.29	Schranck, Stephen	7/19/2006	Dave Stephens
	2:32.26	Moravek, Mike	7/22/2009	Andy Rose
	2:41.85	Somers, Henry	7/10/2003	Bill Schalz
100 Fly	57.93	Schranck, Doug	7/21/2010
	59.16	Davis, Bryce	8/6/2006	Steve Keller
	1:00.57	Somers, Henry	7/24/2003	Bill Schalz
200 Fly	2:12.01	Pelka, Bryan	7/20/2006	Greg Lake
	2:13.04	Schranck, Doug	7/22/2010
	2:16.96	Chapman, Nathaniel	7/24/2003	Jim Sheridan
200 IM	2:16.58	Schranck, Stephen	7/19/2006	Dave Stephens
	2:18.70	Chapman, Nathaniel	7/23/2004	Jim Sheridan
	2:20.12	Drake, Kyle	5/22/2009
400 IM	4:53.88	Schranck, Stephen	7/19/2006	Dave Stephens
	4:54.97	Pelka, Bryan	7/20/2006	Greg lake
	4:57.07	Drake, Kyle	7/17/2009	Bill Schalz

Team Banquet

Thanks to all who made it back for this year's Team Banquet (Mother's Day Edition).  It's always nice to get a chance to see parents without the chaotic frenzy that surrounds a meet.  Additionally, while we like recognizing our team, having it on Mother's Day was also nice because it gave us a chance to recognize the people who help mold our guys into who they are.  There's a reason why I have parents hand out awards if their son wins an event at conference.  After all, they've done a lot more to get them on that podium than I have.

All that said, we present five awards each year.  They embody what is vital to our team - performance in the water and the classroom, hard work, and being a great teammate.  This year's Award Winners are:

• Most Valuable Teammate - Pat Alfes
• Most Valuable Performer - Mike Kozak Kyle Drake
• Scholar Athlete - Isaac Rothenbaum
• Hardest Worker - Eric Ross
• Red Man Award - Doug Schranck

Additionally, you can download a copy of the team booklet here.  Glad to hear people liked it!

NCAA's Continue

It's been a mixed week in Minneapolis thus far. On Wednesday Amanda Croix won the first NCAA Swimming title in Carthage history as the women flirt with the top eight.

On the guys side we seem to be coming up just short here and there. The NCAA Championships are a meet where 50% improvement is considered a great achievement and each day Doug and Kyle have flirted with a great swim, but at a meet like this you need the perfect swim to make it back at night.

What I've liked though is how both guys have been approaching the meet - both this week and in the weeks leading up to it. A couple of years ago I think it would be safe to say Kyle was a nervous wreck, but its clear he's much more composed and confident going into his best event tomorrow - the 200 Backstroke. Doug has been much the same. As I told him this morning, I've watched him grow from "hopefully confident" to genuinely confident here in the last year and that confidence has begun paying off and will pay even bigger dividends down the road.

That's about as sentimental as I get - and we're not about sentimentality. We've got some big swims tomorrow, and with the announcement on Tuesday that they will be qualifying sixteen relays next year we've got some big plans for the coming season.

CCIW Championships - NCAA Cuts

It doesn't seem possible - not when you graduate a class that includes four NCAA Consideration qualifiers and three All-Americans - but this weekend the Red Men posted the most NCAA 'B' qualifiers in school history.

Time will tell what shakes out and who makes Minneapolis, but here's a rundown of who got cuts:

1. Blake Bendix - 200 & 400 Free Relays
2. Jon Bond - 100 Back, 200 Med Relay
3. Kyle Drake - 100 & 200 Back, 400 IM, 400 Med Relay, 800 Free Relay
4. Mitchell Jackson - 800 Free Relay
5. Dan Jones - 200 Free Relay
6. Mike Moravek - 200 Medley Relay
7. Ryan Ortmann - 200 & 400 Free Relays
8. Bob Pellican - 100 Back, 400 Free Relay
9. Nathan Ripley - 50, 100, 200 Free - 400 Medley, 200, 400, 800 Free Relays
10. Isaac Rothenbaum - 200 Free Relay
11. Doug Schranck - 100 & 200 Fly, 200 & 400 Medley Relays
12. Alex Van Huis - 400 Medley Relay
13. Chris Varner - 100 Back

Day 6: New Year's Eve

Day 6 gave us the latest start that we have had thus far with practice not starting until 9:30. I took advantage of this and visited the continental breakfast for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually pretty decent. So then it was off to the pool.
We only had one workout today because we had tickets to the Insight Bowl, but it was a long one. We were at the pool until around 1:00. This was the only time we have swum in the middle of the afternoon and really allowed me to finally get a pretty decent base tan. I’m hopeful I will be able to develop it a little further so as to not look too pasty next to the Lady Reds next week who are really beaching it up in Ft. Lauderdale.

Anyways, practice began with a pretty standard warm up and we then split into different stroke groups. I usually get pretty bitter on these days as I feel the fly practices are surely more demanding than any of the other strokes and I feel as though I can somewhat understand how the distance guys feel on a daily basis, as they are pretty much always very bitter.

Our main set was 4x50 drill, 4x100 descend (25 fly, 25 free, 50 fly), 4x50 drill, 4x200 descend (50 free/ 50 fly), 4x50 drill, 4x300 descend (loco free/fly).
However Greg lets us know after the 3^rd 300 that #4 would be stroke for time. I will not post my time, but I will say I felt good enough about myself just finishing it without completely breaking down.

After that we got into some 50s that were descend to FAST. We were supposed to have 4 rounds of the set, but thanks to Pat Inness’s sandbagging efforts it was reduced to 3 rounds. Of course any time saved by having to swim less was again lost while we waited for him to get out of the locker room. However, at this point of the trip, we’ll take any reduction of practice that we can get. We then did our dryland routine that left my arms at the point of failure. Then it was back to the hotel where we got some much needed food and prepared to make our way over to the stadium for the Insight Bowl between Iowa State and Minnesota.

We are lucky enough to have several Iowa State fans also staying at this fine establishment. Greg was actually born in Iowa, and he told me that someone used to tell him Iowa stood for Idiots Out Walking Around. After the encounters we have had with our friends from Iowa this week that may actually be a pretty solid assessment.

Nevertheless, they have provided us with some colorful entertainment. The game was actually pretty exciting all the way through with the final score ending up 14-13 Iowa State. Though our seats were just about at the very top of the stadium, they were actually great seats as they allowed us to have great view of the entire field. This was especially key when the marching bands came out, where we decided Iowa State was also superior. A few of us also really got into the noise making sticks they were handing out; a little too into them. After the game we weaved in and out of people making a quick getaway from the stadium onto the packed metro and back to the hotel as we were all pretty hungry. After getting some food we have all just been sitting around relaxing and enjoying each other’s company, for the most part. So, it’s a pretty low key new year’s eve.

Greg mentioned to us this morning that only 6 weeks remain until the CCIW Championships commence in our pool. That begs the question: If not now, when? It’s time to really key in and pay attention to every detail. There’s no more time to waste, no time to say you’ll start working on that tomorrow. We really have to make it count. We have big goals this year, and we are on the cusp of exceeding the expectations that many people probably have for us. But it’s not going to happen automatically. We have to show how much we want it. So may 2010 be a little kinder to the Red Men than the past few have been. May it bring another conference championship, but also several national qualifiers that are ready to show the rest of the country that Carthage swimming is the real deal.


Doug Schranck

Carthage Edges Hope 133-129

The cliche says, "It's not whether you win or lose, its how you play the game." We put that cliche to the test yesterday. It was a typical Hope-Carthage match-up with the lead going back and forth event, right up until the 200 Breaststroke. Hope went 1-2 on us and then minimized Doug Schrank's win in the 100 fly by going 2-3-4.

That wasn't enough for the guys and the fans to get up for the final relays. Every voice was at full throttle and helped push the guys to TWO sub-3:16 free relays. Even those weren't enough to withstand Hope's final point total . . . or so we thought.

So after the relay, I'm surrounded by and talking to the guys - still jacked from the race they just saw when our Sports Information Assistant comes by. He whispers, "133-129". Really? It was that close? "We won." What? No. Go recheck the score. He did and he was right - and for the next hour I sat and wondered how on earth we pulled it out. It wasn't until I was reading the results that I discovered Hope had DQ'd a relay way back in the first event.

No matter really, because even when we'd thought we'd lost we could appreciate the meet we saw - and what a meet it was. Nathan Ripley put up three big swims for us. If you'd have seen after practice on Friday, you wouldn't have imagined he could swim another 200 yards, much less race it. He not only raced, he won the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles while adding a 47.35 split on our 'A' free relay.

Rip was one of many highlights on the day. To win, we knew we'd need some breaks in a few events. The 1000 free was one such event so we opted to slip Kyle Drake in. He responded with a 9:54.60 - the fifth fastest 1000 in school history. While he was en route to a win though, Eric Ross and Jeff Shade showed why dual meets can bring out the best in guys. The two were back and forth over the final 400 yards and Eric, who often been a better trainer than racer, finally dashed all Hope by putting his head down the final 12 yards to finish just 0.25 ahead of Jeff.

Doug Schranck also had a big day. He swept both relays and when given a shot to swim on the 'A' free relay gave us a 48.8 split. His fly times were big-time drops from where he was at a year ago and gave us a couple of well-timed victories.

A couple other observations of things we need to work on in the upcoming weeks:

• Underwater Kicking: Our work here is paying off. As good as our backstrokers and flyers have been, I'd never say that underwater kicking was a real asset. That's beginning to change, and it was especially evident in the 100 backstroke where Chris, Bob, Jon, and Pat all pushed far beyond their normal kick zone.
• Breaststrokers: We're going to need our breaststrokers to develop and develop quickly. While Ben, Mike and Adam were all much faster than this time last year, we got 1-2-3'd in the 100 breaststroke for the first time ever. Several breaststroke recruits were on campus, but they won't be here until next year, plus, I'm not that patient. The development of these three guys plus freshman Tyler Smith is vital to our Medley relays this year.
• Freshmen: Our new guys have a lot of raw potential, but were a little overwhelmed by the early speed of racing at the college level. We saw a lot of guys either giving up 1/2 second in the first 25 of a 100 or holding a little too much in reserve in the 200's. The lone exception was Steve Mathe. If you haven't read the blog post about Steven you need to, but he jumped out to a bistering pace in the 500 - he was leading at the 200 mark. At that point he died on his shield, but he also posted a lifetime best (and entered the all-time list at 49th). More importantly, he showed the aggressiveness that we can tame into a great racer.
  
• Depth: We relied on our big dogs in a big way during this meet. On six different events we only scored two guys (out of maximum of three) and finished 6th (i.e. out of points) six times. While a handful of swimmers can score well at NCAA's, we'll have to rely on our next line of guys if we're going to defend our CCIW title.

That next line of guys will get a chance to shine next weekend. We'll be leaving some of our big guns at home as we take on a much improved Lake Forest team on Friday night. If that next line of guys doesn't rise to the occasion, we could find ourselves on the short end of the stick.

Complete Results

Ross is the Boss! 400 Free Record Goes Down

Another LCM record goes down this morning.  Eric Ross nipped Bryan Pelka's 400 free record.  According to Dad (and Purdue head coach) Dan Ross - he swam a great tactical race - out in 2:08.78.

Will it last?  Adam Glover will make a run this weekend in Missouri where Doug Schranck says I'd better "get ready to see some lightning fast swimming."  I'll be at Mizzou (taking the train tomorrow). 

Meanwhile, up in Minnesota, Mike Moravek ust crushed his lifetime bests in the 200 breast and 100 free. 

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: