First Place Again
Our squad of 32 swimmers put on an awesome display of swimming and poured their hearts out during the three-day event.
We took first place in the Medium Team Division and fourth overall. This is an especially impressive accomplishment for us this year as the majority of our Sectional level athletes did not participate in a full slate if events or at all at this meet. Way to go AAAA! We continue to impress with our great group of athletes in just our 4th year as a team.
Evan Eskilson lead the 13-14 Boys qualifying for Speedo Championship Sectional Series Region 8. The third times a charm worked for Evan when he swam the 100 backstroke on the lead off of the Boys relay- qualifying in the 100 Back. Evan also achieved the time standard in the 200 backstroke on Sunday morning. Danny Christie was our second highest scorer in this division as he swam lifetime bests and placed in the Top 8 in all of his events. Danny will also be competing in at Sectionals this upcoming weekend. Stephen Johnson swam personal best times and his best race being the 500 Freestyle- breaking the 5 minute mark and finishing 3rd. Josh Florence swam in his new age division at a championship meet and scored points for Ad Astra. His top place was third in the mile- coming very close to the AAA time standard.
The highlight for the 13-14 Boys was their stellar gold performance Relays. In the 400 Medley Relay and the 400 Free Relay they put together four solid lengths to dominate the field. Evan Eskilson, Stephen Johnson, Danny Christie and Josh Florence put on a show for the crowd. In doing so they achieved the Sectional time standard- and just think- they are only 13-14 right now.
Claire Campbell, Ava Cormaney, Janet Stefanov, Emily Venters and Abby Frye swam in the girl’s 13-14 age group over the weekend. Claire achieved lifetime bests and took home the first place finish in the 200IM. Her performances set her up well for her weekend coming up in Jenks, OK at Sectionals. Ava Cormaney swam personal bests in all of her races, dropping 5 to 6 seconds. All of Ava’s races were fun to watch, but her best was breaking 57 in the 100 free- swimming a 56.94. Janet Stefanov found a new love- distance swimming. Janet cut 30 seconds in the 1000 free. She also competed in the backstroke swimming best times and placing in the Top 16. Emily Venters and Abby Frye both competed in the 200IM on Friday.
Our 15-Over athletes did well this weekend with limited swims on just Friday and Saturday. All of these athletes are headed to sectionals this week to swim in their main meet. Sydney Sirimongkhon (100 Free), David Christie (400IM), Cobe Garcia (50 Free) all took home first place in an individual event. Lucy Sirimongkhon-Dyck had a great senior performance swimming in season best times and racing in finals each night. Cierra Campbell competed in the 100 backstroke with a best time and finishing in the Top 8. Mary Reed-Weston put on a show during her breaststrokes events and distance free events. Mary raced in the Top 8 in the 1000 Free, 200 Breast and 100 Breaststroke. Mary swam a weekend of best times and swimming close to her sectionals cuts!
Payton Krug was our only 9-10 female individual competitor. Payton capped off her season with another high point award. Payton had 6 individual wins, broke 4 new team records, and was AAAA highest scoring individual with 168 points. Cadence Cheng, Halle McCullough, and Iris Sherron came and raced in Topeka in our girl’s relays. They finished 8th in the 200 Medley Relay
Tyler Jones and Adin Florence competed in the 9-10 Boys Division. Both boys did well scoring points for Ad Astra by finishing in the Top 16 in their events. Tyler’s highest finish was in the 100 fly- where he cut over 6 seconds placing 12th. Adin had a weekend of best times, Top 16 placing, and finished higher than he was seeded in all of his events. Adin- who is only 9 years old- will be back next year swimming at the top of his age group. Alexander Moore and Aiden Basore joined Tyler and Adin in the Boys Relays finishing 6th in the Medley Relay and Top 8 in the Free Relay.
Our 11-12 girls were our largest group of competitors including Ainsley Krug, Marian Frick, Morgan Jones, Maddie Dean, and Kathryn Bach. Ainsley Krug and Marian Frick both took home gold medals in the 100 back and 50 breaststroke respectively. Ainsley also went on to finish in the top 8 in 8 of her individual events and was second in high point standings. Marian finished 2nd in her 100 breaststroke as well. Morgan Jones had three Top 8 finishes in her individual events with her highest finish in the 500 Freestyle- a great finish to her breakout season. Maddie Dean swam a full schedule of events (9) and had a personal best time in the 100 fly finishing in the Top 20. Kathryn Bach’s magical moment was during the 200 Medley Relay- splitting a 30.0 in the 50 fly- 1.9 seconds better than her best time before the meet. Kathryn’s split helped the girls take home the gold, just missing the team record. Kathryn also placed in the Top 16 in three of her individual events. Kathryn Bach, Ainsley Krug, Marian Frick, and Morgan Jones won the Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay. Our 200 Free Relay finished 5th with Morgan Jones, Maddie Dean, Ainsley Krug and Marian Frick.
Some of the best spirits and attitudes during the meet were from the 11-12 year old boys. With three out of the four boys only 11 and at the bottom of their age group- there is much to come in the future- Watch out! Our highest finisher of the group- Justin Lee- competed in finals- finishing in the Top 16 in both the 50 and 100 breaststroke. JT Amrein competed a full schedule of events- qualifying in all events possible at the Championship Level. He finished with Top 16 finishes in the 200 Free, 200IM and 100 breaststoke. Devon Lyle and Noah Florence competed the weekend before at District Championships- winning events and cutting seconds off their races. In doing so they added events to their LSC Championship schedule. They raced even harder this weekend finishing in the Top 25 in their age group.
Yet another impressive LSC Championships for our team. Be on the lookout for how our Sectional group does in Jenks, OK and a total recap of the season.
