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

Olivet Quad

It was a bit of a rough one this weekend over in Michigan and not just because State lost to the Cornhuskers! Actually, in college football teams generally line up easy opponents to ease their kids into the season and make sure their systems are in place. You’ll see Ohio State play the Kentucky School for the Blind or Iowa take on the Kansas School for the Amputees for an early win.

This weekend was definitely not that. Our freshmen were thrown into the fire right away against a pair of MIAA heavyweights. Day one was a little rough, but we started beginning to hit our stride by day two. Highlights included Kyle going the 3-4th fastest 200 Backstroke in the country and some nice swims by Ben Coder. While the results weren't what we wanted, we left Michigan with the knowledge that this team is setting up to get better and better each week.

Instead of a lengthy writeup (which not everyone read anyhow), I decided to put some of my observations from this weekend on video for a change. You can still check out the results, but I kind of like the ability to record my thoughts and observations on the weekend. As you'll quickly realize, I'm a better coach than video editor, but hey, its our first time doing this. We'll try to post race videos tomorrow.

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

Final Wrap-Up

It's been a mixed weekend, but we went out on a positive note tonight. We moved up eight spots to 32nd, even topped a couple of teams that had relays here. In the 200 back, Kyle - after going out like a bat out hell this morning, went out a little more conservatively tonight - that conservation ran into the second 100 though as he added time and dropped a spot.

In the breaststroke, Steve was a little gassed this morning and to be honest, I gave him a lot more rest than years past (especially after watching our outstanding swims at Conference where we really rested the guys). So going into tonight, we talked about a couple of ways to approach the race - either swim to our level of conditioning (i.e. take it out a little smoother) or just lay it all on the line and see what happens. Steve did both - he backed off a little more on the 1st hundred - so much so I wasn't sure he'd come back that fast. He controlled the race though and as he got a challenge from JHU's Keggelman he went to the gut check and brought it home the way he's used to.

Regarding Keggelman - he was one of three Hopkins' swimmers in tonight's breaststroke (two in top eight). Last summer their coach, George Kennedy, a legend and a guy I really look up to, made it a point to pepper me with questions about how we'd trained our breaststrokers last year. It was kind of odd, to have George Kennedy ask ME about training kids. Well, after watching two JHU guys knock Steve into consols, I'm thinking - no more advice.

All-in-all I was really proud of this group of guys. We had some unfulfilled goals, but the meet was unbelievably fast. I don't know how many records were set, but every single event (with the exception of the 200 back) was the deepest and most experienced field in NCAA history. In fact, on the first night just FOUR freshmen even made it back at night. While we'd hoped for top-20 and perhaps an individual title, we more than held our own. Others who didn't bring their 'A' game found themselves on the canvas. It's scary and exciting to see what we can (and what we have to) do in the year ahead. We've got some great things ahead, but in the words of Will Rogers, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

On behalf of the guys thanks to everyone for their support this week.

This one is for Mrs. Drake...

Today's entry is for Sandy Drake who a) wanted me to make sure we got a photo of Kyle and brother KC together at nationals, and b) wanted KC to remind Kyle to get a shirt. Well, I think this year's shirts look ugly, but that's not my department. This photo completes my part of the equation. Kyle fulfilled his part by making it back tonight in the 200 back - unbelievably splitting a 54.90 in his first 100. No negative split this time, though I think he can win the consol heat tonight.

Same for Stephen. Unfortunately he was a bit off of last year - something you can ill afford at this meet. He goes in tonight as the top seed in the consolation heat where he'll face - KC Drake.

Bryce didn't make it back, though he looked good in warm-ups. He's had a hell of a season so today's swim leaves a somewhat bitter taste. There's little question that he would have benefitted from having his free relay mates here with him. That won't be an issue next year.

OK, they're knocking at my door. Time to head back for finals.

Springtime in Oxford!

Well we arrived in Oxford tonight. We got a later start than expected. You see it's Carthage swimming tradition to stop at the Big Star Drive In for a greasy burger and chocolate shake before leaving with nationals. It started with Geno Halpin before the 2003 Paralympic National Championships and continues to this day. Problem was - they don't open until 11:00. How popular is it? We got there at 11:05 and there were already a dozen cars in the lot.

The drive down went faster than I'd expected, though it helps to return all of the phone calls you've neglected for days (or weeks). All day it was foggy, drizzly and grey. By the time we got to Oxford it turned to pouring rain and since we were all wet, we decided the pool would be the first stop. The pool's great though Steve didn't like the locker room, Bryce didn't like the stairs and Kyle, well, Kyle was still happy that he was able to find all kinds of junk food for less than a dollar in some Indiana rest stop vending machine.

Coaches are definitely in love with the Miami pool. They'd use revererent tones when talking about it and say things like, "Is this your first time here?" Answer: No, but my first NCAA's here. Truth was when I was at IU, the fast kids would go to the US Open and I'd take the rest to the Miami Invite. It was funny because Jim Steen would brag how their Kenyon teams would come in and clean up over Division I teams "like IU." I never had the heart to tell him I was usually taking the scrubs. Anyway, it is a fine pool and if the meet is anything like the women's meet last week will prove incredibly fast.

After an easy swim to work out the kinks it was off to La Rosa. We wanted to test it out to see if it would be a good option for Thursday and Friday night. The sauce on my lasanga was a bit tangy and Chef-Boyardeesque, and we thought it odd that the "house" dressing at an Italian restaurant was ranch, but overall it received thumbs up from the guys.

Then it was across the street to get some items. This Kroger had everything including a five- piece patio set. The sign above the set said "Springtime in Oxford" which was somewhat ironic considering the fact it's been raining cats and dogs and we're currently under a flash-flood warning.

Afterwards we FINALLY made it to our hotel, I mean resort, well, how about just the lodge. We're staying at the Hueston Woods State Park Resort and Conference Center. It's rustic and cozy, though we are staying in the lodge, not the cabins. When I told the guys where we were staying, I think they were nervous that we were going to staying in something like the platform tents from this fall's team retreat. Nope, this place is warm and cozy and I'm told that our rooms overlook a beautiful lake, but then again the rain has cut visibility down to about the edge of the deck. Come to think of it, with that flash flood warning, I shoud give some thought to moving to the second floor.

That's all for one night. I'll see if I can get the guys to contribute some on their own, though its going to be pretty tough to follow the standard set by eighdolla holla and c-rizz

It's Not the Size of the Dog in the Fight...

...it's the size of the fight in the dog. - Mark Twain.

Three qualifiers - that's what Carthage will take to the deepest NCAA Division III Championships in history. Stephen Schranck, Kyle Drake and Byrce Davis all qualified on their own merits. The relays came up just short - 400 Medley Relay by 1.29 seconds, 200 Medley Relay by 1.23, and 200 Free Relay by 0.21 seconds. Bryan Pelka, who qualified for the mile in 16:15 as a freshman and 16:10 as a sophomore, went 16:04 this year - and missed qualifying by 1.28 seconds - that's 0.07 seconds per 100. Add all of those up and just 4.01 seconds separated us from qualifying eight guys instead of three.

If it wasn't so painfully true, the meet would be unbelievably fast. Except for the 200 backstroke, every single event posted the fastest qualifying time in NCAA history. How fast? Three years ago, just three guys went under 21 seconds in the 50 free. This year over thirty did and those slower than 20.89 didn't even qualify. The 200 breaststroke? We thought Stephen was in at 2:05.51 and he was (Phew!) but only by 0.43 seconds.

Because it traditionally takes a full taper for most guys to qualify, the NCAA Championship typically only produces about 60% improvement on seed times. With such incredibly fast times needed just to qualify, I'm going to predict that fewer than half of the swimmers entered improve their times.

So three qualifiers it is. That didn't stop us from beating out teams with relays last year. In fact, if the meet goes as I predict, we're going to be just fine. Two of our three guys haven't had a full rest yet, and the third - well, he's a sprinter and so damn competitive you don't need to worry - you know he'll be there. Like Twain said.

We'll find out in 312 hours.

Pool Records, Learning Highlight Start of the Season

They say the best thing about freshmen is that they turn into Sophomores. With our first meet under our belt, that was never more evident than today. There are a lot of different thoughts running and I’ll try to collect them here. I’ll confess, that my attention might be distracted. It pains me that so many college kids have never been exposed to some of the great works of American Cinema. So today, for the return trip I made sure to bring along one of the classics – Blazing Saddles.

But I digress. Here are the quick thoughts on today’s 162-132 loss for the good guys. First thought – we have a team that can be VERY good. Second thought – we’ve got a LOT TO LEARN. When horn sounded, Wabash was ready to pounce while we were still getting our bearings. By mid meet, the Little Giants had built up a 40+ point lead. By the back half though, we’d begun to hit our stride. Mistakes made in the early races were corrected in the second half. By the end, we’d made a meet of it. Some highlights:

• Andy Bax, Nathan Ripley, Jeff Walkotten and Bryce Davis equalled the fastest unrested 400 free relay in school history (12th fastest all time)
• Kyle Drake jumped onto the top-ten list in the 100 (5th) and 200 (6th) backstrokes.
• Derek Schneider became the 7th fastest 1000 freestyler in school history.
• The 200 Medley relay of Kyle Drake, Schranck, Bax and Davis was the 11th fastest in school history and second-fastest unrested ever.
  

A lot of credit goes to Wabash. They competed tough and as always, were a classy bunch to race against. In a lot of years we’d start with an easier opponent. The problem with those meets is they don’t really expose your weaknesses. They don't make you a better team. This year’s schedule is the toughest we’ve ever faced – five top-25 teams, two more conference champions and 4-5 Division I & II schools – but its one that I think will prepare us well for February and March. Wabash, for instance, is one of the teams that we’ll be battling for relay spots with and by the time we reach the CCIW and NCAA Championships, we should be well rehearsed for some great performances.