News & Events
New Meet synopsis this year
This year I have determined that our post meet analysis needs to be streamlined. In the past I have written a larger synopsis of each meet. Unfortunately my schedule in the classroom this year has drastically limited my time to do this in a expeditious manner. Therefore we have chosen a different path to follow. My hope is this will still give a good snapshot of the meet and provide parents with some insight on what we discuss following meets.
This analysis will include many of the things we discuss at our post meet meetings with the girls. This list may evolve as the season progresses, so we are open to suggestions that parents would like to see following meets. After each meet we will list the following categories here on this page:
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
This is an honor we present to one or more swimmers that both Kristy and I feel deserve some special recognition for their performance or approach to a meet.
Lionheart award:
This special award is given after each meet by the coaches to someone who exemplified true heart during the meet.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
This is one of the most important parameters we have used for years to determine the success of our meets. We determine a meet highly successful if our team is greater than 50% for this measurement device. If we manage to get greater than 70% we consider it an awesome meet. On those rare occasions that we are greater than 90% it is just astounding, and the girls can bask in the amazing accomplishment that they achieved.
Top five time drops at the meet:
This one should be pretty self explanatory. We determine the five swimers at the meet that dropped the biggest percentage of time in one of their events. We use percent time drop to normalize the data and keep the middle distance swimmers from winning every time.
Spirit stick award:
This long tradition of VHS Swimming is presented by the swimmer who previously won the award. It is given to a swimmer who exhibited an inordinate amount of sprit during the meet. This swimmer is awarded the coveted green and white spirit stick upon which their name will be emblazoned. I have spirit sticks in my office dating back into the early 90's.
HIghland Dual Meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski awarded two tips at after the meet. Her first was to Audrey Belancin for dropping over 45 seconds off her time trial time in the 400 Free. Her second was to our newest members of the team for their amazing job at the meet. Every one of the new members of our team made it to their events on time and every single one dropped a lot of time.
Coach Sattler awarded two tips as well after the meet. His first was to Sydney Perry who began the first meet of her junior season with a very strong showing in all four of her events. Most impressive was her performance in the 200 Free with a converted time of 2:05 just 2 seconds away from her lifetime best time. The second tip also went to the new girls for their almost veteran like approach to their first ever meet. They all seemed to be more prepared than we ever could have hoped.
Lionheart award:
Bailey Henderlong easily won this award for the meet last evening. First of all due to a coaching error Bailey was inadvertently placed into two relays right in the beginning of the meet. She swam in back to back heats and did not say one negative word about it. Furthermore, she did awesome in her swims by dropping a little time in each event. As if this were not enough, she also got a severe laceration on her big toe during the start of her 100 Breaststroke and swam the entire race. That is the textbook definition of the Lionheart award. WOW!!!!!!
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
80% Awesome Job !!!!!!!
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Brianna Konrad 100 Fly 16.00%
2. Liz Schlichting 100 Fly 12.94%
3. Alaina Martin 100 Free 12.27%
4. Samaah Al-Najjar 50 Free 10.64%
5. Madison Whitler 100 Breast 9.23%
Spirit stick award:
Alaina Martin became one of the first new swimmers to win this award at her inaugural meet since I have been coaching. :):)
Laporte Dual meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
The tip of the goggles from coach Siminski last evening was awarded to Brianna Konrad for her performance in the 100 Fly. Brianna had a wonderful time of 1:14 which is within one second of her lifetime best in that event. Bri demonstrated a huge heart as she was closing quickly on the field in the last 25 of the race . This is always one of the best ways to get a tip of the goggles from Coach Siminski. :):)
Coach Sattler's tip of the goggles last evening was awarded to both Kaitlyn Steffus and to Mary Cobble. Kaitlyn Steffus was able to swim the 200 Free last evening, which is not one of her usual events. Her performance was very impressive with lifetime best time of 2:02. It was a drop of over a second off of her previous best performance during a championship meet.
Mary also received a tip of the goggles for achieving a lifetime best in the 50 Free on her split for the 200 Free relay. Mary came over to the coaches after her swim beaming with the news she had never gone below a 28 in the 50 before. Last evening she was able to go a 27.8. Great job Mary!!
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award last night was given to Erin Delahunty for her amazing performance in the 400 Free Relay. She had the unfortunate job at the end of the relay of trying to hold off a state finalist from LaPorte. While she was not able to hold Carly off she made a valiant effort to do so. Erin fought with all of her might to stay as close as she possibly could to the LaPorte relay and for a large part of the race was able to. In the process Erin dropped another second off of her lifetime best time with a split of 1:00. It was really fun to watch.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
72% Great job again. :):)
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Emily Walsh 100 Breast 19.99%
2. Aliana Martin 200 free 13.33%
3. Emily Walsh 50 Free 13.33%
4. Lauren Lafferty 500 Free 9.33%
5. Peyton Westergren 100 Back 7.49%
Spirit stick award:
The spirit stick was awarded to Kami Kleefisch last evening.
hobart dual meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Khalela El-Naggar received Coach Siminski's tip of the sammy (divers don't use goggles) for achieving an impressive score of 263 in diving. This score was strong enough to get the pool record at the Hobart Middle School Natatorium. It was a great performance and we look forward to watching her continue to chase her dreams this season.
Coach Sattler's tip of the goggles was awarded to Brianna Konrad for swimming in three of the first four events of the meet. As if this were not enough to receive the award she swam a LIFETIME BEST in all three of the events. This feat demonstrates just a small bit of the amazing determination and heart that Bri emulates. Great job!!
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award last night was given to Katie Mulroe for a veteran like performance in the 100 Free. Katie is one of our exciting first year swimmers this year. In just her first varsity individual event of her young career she was able to find another gear at the end of the race to close strong on the rest of the field. In the process Katie dropped an amazing 13 seconds off her previous personal best time.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
80% That is three meets in a row over 70%. Impressive start to the season ladies. :):)
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Katie Mulroe 100 free 16.05%
2. Brianna Konrad 200 free 15.63%
3. Liz Schlichting 500 free 13.75%
4. Lexi Bluhm 100 fly 10.41%
5. Ryan Thomas 50 back 7.45%
Spirit stick award:
The spirit stick was awarded to Bailey Henderlong last evening.
Lake Central Dual
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski awarded her tip of the goggles tonight to the 200 free relay. All four of the swimmers in the relay; Kaitlyn Steffus, Allie Lamberson, Justine Johnson, and Sydney Perry swam season best times. The relay managed to hold off the charging Lake Central A relay enroute to an impressive 1:44.
Coach Sattler awarded two tips of the goggles this evening. The first was given to the freshman class for their no fear performance on the evening. Mary Cobble, Erin Delahunty, and Riley Sunday all had lifetime best performances during the meet. Furthermore they all did an amazing job in their mental preparation for the meet. They swam a highly competetive meet like veterans.
The other tip of the goggles was awarded to all of the JV girls who made the long trip to Lake Central to help cheer for the meet. It was easily one of the largest showings for JV swimmers at an away varsity dual meet in many years.
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award last night was given to Kaitlyn Steffus for an impressive performance throughout the meet. Kaitlyn swam amazing last evening with two season best performances and one lifetime best performance. She did not back down from any race and fought to the end against some great competition.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
68% That is four meets in a row over 50%. Astounding!!! :):)
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Elizabeth Schlichting 100 free 6.28%
2. Elizabeth Schlichting 50 free 4.95%
3. Brianna Konrad 100 fly 4.47%
4. Marisa Cain 50 back 2.96%
5. Allie Lamberson 100 free 2.76%
Spirit stick award:
The spirit stick was awarded to Liz Schlichting last evening.
Lake Central junior varsity dual meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski awarded her tip of the goggles to all three of the participants in the 200 IM for dropping an amazing amount of time. Lexi Bluhm dropped four seconds off her lifetime best. To add to the fun Alaina Martin and Katie Mulroe dropped over 30 seconds each off of their previous best times as well. The race really got the team excited about what they could accomplish last evening.
Coach Sattler awarded his tip of the goggles last evening to Madison Whitler for her impressive come from behind win in the 100 Breaststroke. Madison was trailing a little going into the midpoint of the race and demonstrated amazing heart to out swim the stiff opposition posited by her competition. It was an awesome race to watch.
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award last night was given to Elizabeth Schlichting for her awesome anchor leg in the 200 free relay. When Liz entered the water for the final leg of her relay, they were behind by at least four body lengths. Liz quickly and deliberately went to work reeling in the leading relay. It took almost the entire 50 and a huge effort but at the flags near the finish Liz edged past the leading relay for the win. WOW!!!
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
81% That is five meets in a row over 50% and four out of five over 70%. This is getting ridiculous, you girls are awesome !!! :):)
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Alaina Martin 200 IM 12.98%
2. Katie Mulroe 200 IM 12.31%
3. Taylor Dixon 100 Free 7.36%
4. Taylor Dixon 50 Free 7.28%
5. Meara Keen 50 Back 6.89%
Spirit stick award:
The spirit stick was awarded to Ryan Thomas last evening.
Crown Point varsity Dual Meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski gave her tip of the goggles at the Crown Point meet to Riley Carter for the "fire in her heart" during awesome come from behind performances in both the 100 Breaststroke and 100 Free. In a meet in which the entire team was tired and battling some illness, Riley found something deep down within to out swim her competition to the wall in most of her races tonight.
Coach Sattler awarded his tip of the goggles to Kaitlyn Steffus for the heart she exhibited throughout the meet. Kaitlyn has been battling a bad cold for the last few days and she never let that slow her down at the meet. In each of her events she found herself in a race and while her times were not season best performances she left everything she had in the pool. That is all we ever ask. Great job Kaitlyn!!
Lionheart award:
Justine Johnson was presented with the coveted Lionheart award for the meet. Justine had a tall order for the evening with a close race in both of her two favorite events, the 200 Free and the 400Free. In the 200 free Justine was edged out by mere tenths of a second after a hard fought battle to the finish. Later in the meet her retribution came in the 400 free when she once again found herself in a race in the final 100 of the race. Justine slowly but consistently edged past her competition to win the race by over a body length. In the process she swam a season best performance. It was really fun to watch.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
30% Still a very good meet with most swims within 1.0% of season best times. :)
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Marisa Cain 100 Free 4.34%
2. Marisa Cain 50 Free 2.88%
3. Erin Delahunty 50 Free 1.02%
4. Riley Carter 100 Breast 1.01%
5. Lauren Lafferty 100 Fly 0.79%
Spirit stick award:
Justine Johnson won the spirit stick for the meet.
Crown Point Junior Varsity Dual Meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski gave her tip of the goggles tonight to Sophie Lutz for dropping over three seconds in her 50 Free. To make this an even more impressive feat, Sophie missed the wall on her flip turn. Sophie was not finished with the awesome meet with just her 50 and added a 4 second time drop in the 500 Free.
Coach Sattler awarded his tip of the goggles to Courtney Turner for her impressive performance throughout the meet. Most notable was a season best performance in the 400 free relay where she pulled even with her main competition to give her relay the lead going into the final leg.
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award for the Crown Point meet was Vanessa Delgado for her performance in the 500 Free. Vanessa had an extremely close race for the entire 500. Vanessa and her closest competition from Chesterton traded the lead for the race for the final 300 yards of the race. Unfortunately she was touched out in the end, but she fought hard for the whole race. Great Job Vanessa.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
68% It was once again an awesome meet for our new girls. :)
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Emily Wash 200 IM 18.62%
2. Samaah Al-Najjar 100 Free 18.20%
3. Madison Whilter 200 IM 15.73%
4. Lexi Bluhm 50 Free 8.90%
5. Sophie Lutz 50 Free 7.88%
Spirit stick award:
Erin Delahunty won the spirit stick for the meet.
Munster Varsity Dual Meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski awarded two tips of the goggles at the meet last evening. The first was given to Allison Drever for a time drop of two seconds in the 200 IM setting a new season best performance. Both Allison and Natalie Wirsing are in a tight battle for the coveted third varsity spot for the 200 IM and have been going back and forth since the beginning of the season. Allison's time last night raised the bar once again between the two. Now we will get to see how Natalie will counter with the next opportunity she has to swim the event. :):)
Kristy's second tip of the goggles was awarded to Liz Schlichting for her impressive season best performance in the 100 fly. Much like Allison Liz has been battling for the third spot in her respective events. Liz dropped over a second off of her time last evening to counter Brianna Konrad's amazing performance at the Lake Central Dual meet.
Coach Sattler also awarded two tips of the goggles as well at the Munster meet. The first was given to Lauren Lafferty for her lifetime best performance in the 500 free. Lauren's swim last evening shaved a little over three seconds off her previous lifetime best of 5:55. In the process Lauren managed to once again battle for a come from behind win against her closest competition in the race.
Coach Sattler's second tip of the goggles was given to Madison Whilter for her back to back performances in the 100 Breast. On Wednesday evening at our tri meet Madison achieved a lifetime best time of 1:27 and then came back the next evening to drop another second to a 1:26. That is over five seconds in just two nights!!!
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award was given to Sydney Perry last evening. In every single race last night Sydney found herself in a race either with a Munster swimmer or with someone from her own team. She never backed down and in a vast majority of the swims with each respective swimmer being visably tired, she managed to find something else deep within to pull ahead. In in all four of her races last night Sydney attacked with the heart of a lion that exemplifies the meaning of this coveted award.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
38% This is still much higher than the same meet last year where we we just 15%. Impressive!!
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Allison Drever 50 Free 4.75%
2. Allison Drever 200 IM 1.68%
3. Riley Sunday 100 Free 1.54%
4. Liz Schlichting 100 Fly 1.32%
5. Lauren Lafferty 500 Free 1.04%
Spirit stick award:
Lauren Lafferty won the spirit stick for the meet.
Chesterton Varsity dual meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski awarded her tip of the goggles last evening to Sydney Perry for her awesome performance in the 500 Free. Sydney has already had a very impressive early season, but it can easily be argued that she saved her best performance thus far for tonight. Sydney managed to drop 4 seconds off of her LIFETIME best time in the 500 Free. In the process she managed somehow to run down a girl from Chesterton that was over three body lengths ahead of her with 100 yards to go.
Coach Sattler's tip of the goggles last evening was awarded to Erin Delahunty for her 100 yard freestyle. Erin was determined to break the one minute barrier for the first time ever in the 100 free last evening. She swam the race with perfect splitting and managed to drop over 2 seconds to get a time of 59.31. Great Job Erin!!
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award last night was given to Kaitlyn Steffus. At the outset of the meet Kaitlyn was determined to break a minute in the 100 Fly and get her lifetime best time. Her focus and drive toward this goal was palpable the closer we got to the event. She managed to just barely get under a minute with a time of 59.96 for the first time ever. This just goes to show us all how fast we can go fueled solely on desire and heart.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
33% With some really fast swims.
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Erin Delahunty 100 Free 3.04%
2. Ryan Thomas 100 Back 2.18%
3. Ryan Thomas 50 Fr 2.04%%
4. Kaitlyn Steffus 100 Fly 1.38%
5. Sydney Perry 500 Free 1.01%
Spirit stick award:
The spirit stick was awarded to Samaah Al-Najjar last evening.
Chesterton JV Dual Meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski awarded two tips at after the meet to two girls who droped an almost inconceivable amount of time. Emily Walsh dropped over 20% of time off of her 100 free and another 10% off of her 100 fly time. In the process she had some awesome races with the girls in her heat. Great job Emily.
Coach Siminski's second tip of the goggle for the meet was presented to Peyton Westergren for her equally impressive time drops. Peyton dropped over 6% off her time in the 100 Fly to set a new lifetime best. It was an impressive performance all around.
Coach Sattler awarded his tip of the goggles for the evening to Brianna Konrad. Bri is currently in a hard fought battle to gain a varsity spot in the 100 Fly. She has been trading lifetime best performances with Liz Schlichting for the last few meets. Last night Bri was determined to get a lifetime best swim, and managed to drop over three seconds off her previous time. This moves her back in the varsity spot, but I am sure knowing her that Liz is is not done yet with dropping time. :):)
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award was presented to Alaina Martin for her performances at the JV meet. In race of the evening Alaina found herself in a dogfight to the finish and in each race Alaina somehow managed to sneak ahead of her nearest foe to victory.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
71% Awesome Job !!!!!!!
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Emily Walsh 100 Free 20.39%
2. Emily Walsh 100 Fly 9.95%
3. Peyton Westergren 100 Fly 6.78%
4. Alaina Martin 50 Free 6.44%
5. Alaina Martin 200 IM 5.43%
Spirit stick award:
Marisa Cain was awarded the spirit stick for the Chesterton JV meet.
Lafayette Jefferson Dual Meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski awarded her tip of the goggles to Ryan Thomas for her effort during the meet. Ryan had some really strong races during the course of the meet. She also did a really nice job of working on the pre race focus while swimming her races. Ryan always has a smile on her face and works hard to make the people around her shine as well.
Coach Sattler awarded his tip of the goggles to Sydney Perry for getting two season best times during the meet. Sydney was able to swim really fast in some of her off events at the meet. She dropped over seven seconds off of her 200 IM time and gave Riley Carter a strong race all the way to the finish. She also continued to demonstrate her versatility in the 100back where she dropped a few more seconds off her season best.
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award was given to Erin Delahunty for her awesome performance in the 400 free relay. Erin entered in the water slightly behind the anchor leg for the Lafayette Jefferson "A" relay. She edged her way past her competition and managed to touch out their relay. It was a great race.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
23% I guess a practice before the meet does effect performance. :):) Still very strong.
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Sydney Perry 200 IM 3.90%
2. Erin Delahunty 500 Free 2.63%
3. Sydney Perry 100 Back 2.12%
4. Marissa Cain 50 Back 0.56%
5. Kaitlyn Steffus 500 Free 0.46%
Spirit stick award:
Sophie Lutz won the spirit stick for the meet.
Merrillville Dual Meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski awarded her tip of the goggles to Marissa Cain for getting two lifetime best times. Marissa achieved a lifetime best performance in both the 100 free and the 50 free.
Coach Sattler's tip of the goggles was given to Sophie Lutz for stepping up when we needed a last minute stand in. Sophie came to the meet expecting to act in the ever important role of team support, but due to a last minute line up change she was asked to swim the 500 for us. Sophie was very nervous but excited to step up and participate in the varsity line-up. during the race she had an amazing race where she dropped over 11 seconds to go a lifetime best time and achieved a fourth place finish. Awesome job Sophie!!
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award was given to Liz Schlichting for showing the true heart of a champion during her final bid to make the championship team line up in the 100 free. Liz has found herself in at least three battles in different events for a spot in the championship team this year. In the two previous bids she fell just short of making the team, but was not deterred. Last evening Liz dropped an amazing 2.5 seconds in the 100 free to go a lifetime best time of 59.65 and earn the third spot in the 100 free.
Traditionally the Merrillville meet is the final chance to make the championship team since the swimmers who do not make the team will start their taper for JV DAC on Monday. We also like to get a preview for our final championship team this weekend at the Highland invitational which showcases the best teams in Northwest Indiana. This meet is deeper and faster than both our conference and sectional meets coming up in the next few weeks. The meet will showcase four of the top twenty ranked teams in the state.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
39.7% A very strong meet coming off intense holiday training .
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Riley Carter 100 Fly 5.72%
2. Allie Lamberson 200 IM 4.41% and Liz Schlichting 100 Free 4.41%
3. Sophie Lutz 500 free 2.71% ** In the same race - 100 Free 3.25% and 200 Free 3.05% WOW!!
4. Marissa Cain 100 Free 1.34%
5. Erin Delahunty 200 Free 1.27%
Spirit stick award:
Brianna Konrad won the spirit stick for the meet.
highland invitational
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Coach Siminski awarded her tip of the goggles to Riley Carter for her awesome performances at the meet. Riley had two season best performances today in the 200IM and the 100 Breast. Riley is also rapidly approaching lifetime best performances with these performances as well. Riley along with the other seniors at the meet demonstrated what is possible no matter how tired and beat up you may be. It was really fun to watch.
Coach Sattler's tip of the goggles was given to Justine Johnson for her come from behind performance in the 500 Free. Justine's swim may not have been her best of the season, but she demonstrated what is possible when you put it all on the line. With 100 yards to swim Justine was well behind her closest competitor in the race, but was consistently closing on her. As the two swimmers turned to swim the final 50 of the race Justine was within striking distance. At the final turn Justine had somehow pulled even with the girl and passed her with about 5 yards to swim to beat her to the wall.
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart at the Highland Invite this year s was given to Ryan Thomas. Ryan had a huge meet where she dropped 2 seconds off of her lifetime best time in the 100 back. Ryan has always performed at meets with a no fear mentality, but today was extra special. In a meet where the majority of the team was obviously tired, Ryan showed us all what the true heart of a champion can accomplish. Ryan was easily the top performance for us at the meet.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
25%
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Ryan Thomas 100 Back 2.60%
2. Marissa Cain 50 Back 1.32%
3. Marissa Cain 100 Back 0.62%
4. Kaitlyn Steffus 200 Free 0.61%
5. Natalie Wirsing 100 Back 0.41%
Spirit stick award:
Allison Drever won the spirit stick for the meet.
Portage Dual Meet
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Kristy gave her tip of the goggles to the 400 Free relay for a strong performance at the end of the meet. The relay posted one of their stronger performances we have seen all year. The team swam a time of 4:16 which is a strong showing going into the challenging DAC meet this weekend.
Coach Sattler's tip of the goggles was given to Riley carter for her strong showing in the 200 IM. Riley managed to shave a few hundredths of a second off of her previous season best time in a very close and exciting race. While ultimately Riley was not able to touch out her competition from Portage, she had one of the best structured race strategies I have see her put together in a while.
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart at the Portage Dual meet was awarded to Marisa Cain for her lifetime best swim in the 100 back. To make this amazing feat more impressive Marisa has been suffering from a reoccurring injury that has once again flared up in the last few days. She is a very tough kid with a lot of heart. She is a consummate example of the type of leadership I have grown accustom to during my tenure here at VHS from a vast majority of swimmers .
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
10%
Top three time drops at the meet:
1. Marissa Cain 100 Back 0.75%
2. Sydney Perry 400 Free 0.11%
3. Riley Carter 200 IM 0.01%
Spirit stick award:
Natalie Wirsing won the spirit stick for the meet.
DAC championship
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Kristy gave her tip of the goggles to the entire flight of 500 Free from our team. They all did an awesome job of swimming their own race. All three swimmers of Justine Johnson, Sydney Perry and Lauren Lafferty did not let the other swimmers in the heat take them away from their race strategy. While the rest of the heat went out far too fast, each of our girls remained calm and cool. Then as the race continued they slowly but consistently inched back into the race. In the end both Justine and Sydney managed to get into the top two spots of the heat with Lauren just two spots behind them.
Coach Sattler's tip of the goggles was given to the Three backstrokes for their amazing race. Natalie Wirsing, Ryan Thomas, and Marisa Cain all achieved season best performances in the race. Furtherore both Ryan and Marisa achieved lifetime best swims as well. On top of that they managed to go first-second-and third in the heat. This group has dropped a combined 15 seconds of time since time trials this season.
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart at DAC this year was given to Ryan Thomas. Once again Ryan epitomized the definition of a big meet swimmer. At virtually every championship meet since Ryan joined the team she has managed to find something deep within her soul that allows her to perform amazing feats. Yesterday, in her first DAC as a backstroker Ryan managed to get into the top eight finishers by dropping another 2 seconds off her LIFETIME best time. That is four seconds in two weeks!!
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
50% The best percentage since the Lake Central Dual Meet!!
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Ryan Thomas 100 Back 3.63%
2. Allie Lamberson 100 Free 1.52%
3. Marisa Cain 100 Back 1.11%
4. Erin Delahunty 100 Free 0.96%
5. Kaitlyn Steffus 100 Free 0.80%
Spirit stick award:
Vanessa Delgado won the spirit stick for the meet.
Michigan City Dual
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
Kristy and I both decided to give the tip of the goggles at our last dual meet of the season to our beloved seniors. This group of seniors has had some interesting challenges to deal with during their tenure and we have watched them grow into amazing young women who can succeed at anything they put their minds to. In most years the freshman classes have some time to hide in the line up behind a strong core of upperclassman and seniors. They can learn what we expect as coaches and how to perform under pressure. Unfortunately right before this class came in to VHS a LARGE class of 12 seniors graduated that made up 66% of the championship team. Our Senior class did not have the luxury of learning the ropes and had to be ready for the big time in their first meet. In their freshman year this class comprised over 50% of the championship team line up. By the end of the season both Kristy and I knew this would be a special group.
Our current team identity is defined by this senior class. They are a group that are born leaders, intimidating racers, intelligent students, and very well rounded individuals. We can only hope that the legacy of this years senior class will last for years to come. Kristy and I would like to thank you for letting us be a small part of your lives for the last few years. :)
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award was given to Riley carter for her awesome swims at the end of the meet. In the last four years I have learned that Riley will inevitably perform her best when she knows she will have a very tough race. Last night was no different than what we have come to expect. Riley has been just hundredths of a second off of getting a 1:16 in her 100 Breast for the last two meets and was determined to get that time. Furthermore, Riley knew very well that Michigan city has a strong core of breaststrokers right near her time. Last night she was able to finally get below the 1:17 for her season best time and win the race. Then to show even more heart she came back in the very next race, the 400 Free relay, to pass the A relay from Michigan city and help her team to a second place finish.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
45%
Top five time drops at the meet:
1. Ryan Thomas 100 Free 5.29%
2. Erin Delahunty 500 Free 2.26%
3. Liz Schlichting 200 Free 1.87%
4. Erin Delahunty 200 Free 1.85%
5. Lauren Lafferty 200 IM 1.42%
Spirit stick award:
Kaitlyn Steffus won the spirit stick for the meet.
JV DAC Championship
Tip of the goggles from each coach:
My tip of the goggles (Coach Sattler if you have not figured that out yet:) ) was awarded to the entire JV team for an AWESOME season. It was easy to observe, as the results demonstrated this weekend, that this group is one of the most dedicated and hard working JV teams we have had the pleasure to coach. There were many massive time drops at the meet. In fact in order to even break the top ten time drop list from the meet a swimmer had to drop over 5% of time.
While the end result helps to provide evidence that hard work always pay off, the biggest thing we hope is that the girls learned a lot about themselves along the way. We have always looked at swimming as a microcosm of life itself. The JV team is a special group of young women who will no doubt be very successful in life. Hopefully most of them will return to us next year.
Coach Siminski's tip of the goggles was awarded to Alaina Martin. Alaina had many jaw dropping performances at the meet. The most impressive of all was her 100 Fly where she dropped 30% off of her lifetime best time. She added to the fun with another 5% time drop in the 200 IM as well.
Lionheart award:
The Lionheart award was given to Samaah Al-Najjar for her never quit attitude this season. Samaah started the season as a brand new swimmer with no experience. This can be very frustrating as many of the girls on the team have previous experience. Day after day Samaah continued to improve and continued to work hard. When most people would have shown frustration and been easily down hearted, she kept a positive outlook and never let down. Each day she demonstrated the heart of a champion, by facing a monumental task for her and conquering it with huge success. She proves that there is so much more to swimming and competition in general that just winning and losing. Samaah should hold her head high as one of our biggest champions this season.
Percent of swims that were lifetime or season best times:
80% WOW, SIMPLY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Top ten time drops at the meet:
1. Alaina Martin 100 Fly 30.11%
2. Samaah Al-Najjar 50 Free 13.19%
3. Emily Scarsella 50 Free 12.04%
4. Samaah Al-Najjar 100 Breast 10.99%
5. Audrey Belancin 50 Free 10.81%
6. Kami Kleefish 100 Free 9.82%
7. Peyton Westergren 100 Fly 9.16%
8. Emily Walsh 200 IM 6.63%
9. Sophie Lutz 100 Free 5.34%
10. Alaina Martin 200 IM 5.07%
Spirit stick award:
Natalie Lichtenburger won the spirit stick for the meet.
IHSAA State Tournament, Step 1-Sectionals
What an awesome and amazing weekend our girls were able to put together at the IHSAA Sectional Championships. Year after year these girls prove what big hearts and hard work can accomplish. Both Kristy and I are extensively proud of what the girls were able to achieve during the meet. In total at the meet 57 out of 65 swims including relay splits and legally extracted splits from their races were lifetime best swims. That means that on both Thursday and Saturday all in total our girls swam a lifetime best time 87.6% of the time. This is almost unheard of in a prelims and finals meet. This means that with the JV DAC meet added our total team average this year at championship meets is right around 85%. All of the girl's this year deserve a HUGE TIP OF THE GOGGLES!!
There are far too many highlights over the past weekend to mention them all here. Every one of our girls accomplished goals they set for themselves when the season started. In the next week after we have all finished, I plan to compile a table of all the amazing time drops the girls had from the beginning of the season to the end. This helps to put into perspective the amazing things our girls did.
I would like to mention just a few of the special swimmers and divers that will be continuing on to the next step of the state tournament. This years state team is as follows:
Allie Lamberson- 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 and 400 Free Relay
Kaitlyn Steffus- 100 Fly (sectional champion), 200 Free and 400 Free Relay
Khalela El-Naggar- Diving (sectional champion)
Taylor McBride- Diving
Sydney Perry- 200 and 400 Free Relay
Justine Johnson- 400 Free Relay
Erin Delahunty- 200 Free Relay
Alternates- Ryan Thomas, Mary Cobble, Liz Schlichting, and Riley Carter
One of the themes this year for the team dealt with mindfulness and realizing that the journey is far more important than the destination. In today's society we spend so much time rushing to the next thing that we rarely take time to slow down and savor the moment. It is when we realize that each and every moment has a purpose and therefore is inherently special that we can enrich our lives. Concentration on each and every moment will make the journey more special as we take in all the trials and tribulations and learn from them. Then in the end, if the journey is memoriable, regardless of what happens it will be special and possibly life altering. It is our hope as coaches and teachers that this season has been a special one for our swimmers.
This season, as well as any other for that matter, can be likened to climbing a mountain. In the beginning on day 1 it is easy to look far ahead at the summit and be thoroughly intimidated, scared and apprehensive. It is after all a long and tedious climb to the summit. One in which each girl has no idea how the view will be at the top. Concentration to make each step along the way the best it can possibly be is how to enjoy the journey. Each step closer to the summit may provide a beautiful vista or ugly uninspired surroundings, but each step can be lesson to learn.
Our girls this year did an awe inspiring job of looking at each step with focus and determination along the way. There were ups and downs this season, but the team took them all in and continued to strive to be better and stronger as they continued their assault on the summit. The girls helped each other up when a fellow teammate stumbled and encouraged each other to be the best they could be in each and every moment. There were many times they were tired, stressed, and even times when they may have wanted to stop, but they continued unabated. As we near the end of the season with each girl standing on their own personal summit (and some who are on their last push this week). We all realize that while the view is awesome to behold, my hope is that we are more proud of how we accomplished it rather than what we accomplished. This is a special group of girls and we all should be very proud of their accomplishments. So next time you see one of the girl's give them a huge hug and tell them just how awesome their accomplishment is.
