Beach Cities Competes at 2014 Summer Junior Olympics
Beach Cities Swimming competed in the 2014 Southern California Swimming Junior Olympic Championships at Mission Viejo from Wednesday, July 20 – Monday, July 25. We had more swimmers qualify and compete at Junior Olympics this year than ever before and the results speak for themselves. Not only did we make it to JOs with record breaking numbers but we also had an outstanding percentage of our swimmers make it back for finals in multiple events. The coaches couldn’t be more proud of the BCS athletes and we would like to thank all the parents for their ultimate support and belief in the good things coming from Beach Cities! We are a force and people want to train with US!
LOOK AT ALL THOSE QUALIFIERS….
- RED GROUP: Mackenzie Brack, Sierra Suelze, Noah Wisniewski
- JUNIOR OLYMPIC GROUP: Bradley Diaz, Frances Dygean, Evan Herr, Matthew Cullen, Claire Murray, Kennedy French, Ryan O’Shaughnessy, Robert Rogers, Zack Yakubik
- SECTIONAL GROUP: Alex Crisera, Lauren Nielsen, Nikki Cooper, Robert Atkins, Kai Bathurst, Keiko Derikoletis, Kathryn Doyle, Riley Farrell, Sean Keegan, Sarah Madrigal, Shannon O’Brien, Allison Pitman, Mary Taylor, Ella Trodd, Robert Atkins
- RELAY ONLY SWIMMERS: Mia Crisera, Sarah Quayle
- OPEN WATER TEAM: Alex Crisera, Mia Crisera, Matthew Cullen, Noah Wisniewski, Caleb Gorman, Jake Sexton
CHECK OUT THE LEADER BOARD...
Scoreing for JOs is based on the points you earn when you make it back for finals. The higher you place the more points you earn for your team. In first place, Alex Cirsera (57 points) and Zack Yakubik (45 points). Second place scorers were Frances Dygean (40 points) and Bradley Diaz (35 points). Third place scorers were Kathryn Doyle (32 points) and Matthew Cullen (33 points). Beach Cities finished 13th overall with a total of 440 points.
Alex Crisera – 57 points
Zack Yakubik – 45 points
Frances Dygean – 40 points
Bradley Diaz – 35 points
Matthew Cullen – 33 points
Kathryn Doyle – 32 points
Lauren Nielsen – 23 points
Nikki Cooper – 11 points
Kennedy French – 3 points
Claire Murray – 3 points
Kai Bathurst – 3 points
Sean Keegan – 2 points
WHO MADE IT BACK…
When you think about championship swimming you think about finals and who will make it back for finals to race the top competitors. How many races did you swim in prelims and how many of those races made it back? Did you make top 8? Did you get the number one seed? Did you drop time from prelims to finals? Did you make it back in EVERYTHING?? Well… this year Beach Cities was a TOP COMPETITIOR and we can say YES to all of those questions. Check out the swimmer’s that made it back for finals with some outstanding performances and read about what made them stand out at JOs…
Matthew Cullen – THE TOP PERFORMER! Matthew qualified and swam the maximum number of events and made it back in EVERYTHING he swam! Matthew’s record was 6 finals placings out of 6 total races. That’s a lot of championship swimming! Great job, Matthew!
Zach Yakubik – Highest men’s team scorer! Zach qualified and swam the maximum number of events, made it back in all but one, but also placed the highest in all finals races out of everyone the men’s team. 5 finals placings out of 6 total prelim races. Go get em’, Zack!
Francs Dygean – Breakout perfomer! This was Frances first time competing with Beach Cities and celebrated her 11th birthday during the meet. She dropped loads of time in all but 2 races and had 5 finals placings out of 6 total prelim races! Great job, Frances!
Bradley Diaz – Highest finals seed! Brad was the only BCS swimmer to be seeded 1st going into finals… for the 100 Fly! He had 4 finals placings out of 6 total prelim races. Way to go, Brad!
Nikki Cooper – Stand out distance performer! Nikki dropped time in both her distance races but the stand out swim for Coop was her 23 seconds drop in her 1500. 3 finals placings out of 6 total races. GO NIKKI!
Kai Bathurst – The guy that can swim best times no matter how sick he is!! Kai dropped time in all but 1 race and was sick as a dog the whole week/weekend. You can’t hold him down!! He had 2 finals placings out of 6 total races. Great effort, Kai!
Kennedy French – The deck entry queen! Kennedy blew it out of the park at Pac Com Champs the weekend before JOs and ended up qualifying for 6 total races. She stayed on her best times at JOs and event had the chance to make it back for a finals race. 1 finals placing out of 6 total races. Way to go Kennedy!
Alex Crisera – Highest women’s team scorer! Alex dropped over 23 seconds in her 1500, was seeded 3rd for the 200 backstroke and ALMOST got her sectional cut. Alex is on fire and had 5 finals placings out of 5 total prelim races. Great swimming, Alex!
Lauren Nielsen – Mid distance champion! Lauren dropped 54 seconds in 5 races and all were over 200m distances. She dropped almost 8 seconds in her 200 back, over 10 seconds in her 400 IM, 13 seconds in her 400 free, and over 21 seconds in her 800 free. WOW! 4 finals placings out of 5 total races. Great swims, Lauren!
Claire Murray – Time drop champion! Claire dropped time in every single swim including dropping 4 more seconds in finals from her prelim swim in the 100 fly. 1 finals placing out of 5 total races. Way to go, Claire!
Kathryn Doyle – The BACKSTROKER! Doyle had top seeds in her backstroke races and finished strong for a 4th place finish and best time by over 3 seconds in her 200 back and a 3rd place finish and best time in her 100 back! 3 finals placings out of 4 total races. Great swimming, Doyle!
Sean Keegan – The 800 freestyler! Sean dropped over 3 seconds from his best time and finished top 16 in the 800. 1 finals placing out of 1 race. Great job, Sean!
NOTEABLE PERFORMANCES…
Robert Atkins made his debut performance as a Beach Cities swimmer in the 100 back. Mackenzie Brack swim at her first ever JOs in the 50 meter back. Keiko Derikoletis dropped almost 2 seconds off her best time in the 100 fly. Riley Farrell made first alternate in the 400 free. Evan Herr was a trooper and swam best times even while facing a painful ear infection. Sarah Madrigal dropped almost 4 seconds in her 200 fly. Ryan O’Shaughnessey swam the 100 breast and didn’t let turning 11 hold him back. Allison Pitman inched even closer to breaking 30 seconds in the 50 free and dropped .38 from her seed time. Robert Rogers dropped time in 5 out of 6 races! Sierra Suelze made her first appearance at JOs in the 100 breast. Mary Taylor also inched closer to the under 30 mark in her 50 free with a best time of 30.65. Ella Trodd swam three races at JOs this year and Noah Wisniewski dropped time in both the events he qualified for. Shannon O’Brien gets the TEAM SPIRIT AWARD yet again for supporting all of her teammates (young and old).
IT’S RELAY DAY….
The most important day of a championship swimming. This is when everyone comes together and competes for the whole…. ONE TEAM ONE DREAM! Congratulations to all the swimmers that competed on the relay teams... GO BEACH CITIES!
Event 71 Girls 5-10 200m Free Relay – Sarah Quayle, Claire Murray, Mia Crisera, Frances Dygean
Event 72 Boys 5-10 200m Free Relay – Robert Rogers, Bradley Diaz, Matthew Cullen, Zack Yakubik
Event 75 Girls 13-14 400m Free Relay – Alex Crisera, Nikki Cooper, Keiko Derikoletis, Riley Farrell
Event 79 Girls 5-10 200m Medley Relay – Mia Crisera, Frances Dygean, Claire Murray, Sarah Quayle
Event 80 Boys 5-10 200m Medley Relay – Zack Yakubik, Bradley Diaz, Matthew Cullen, Robert Rogers
Event 83 Girls 13-14 200m Medley Relay – Alex Crisera, Nikki Cooper, Riley Farrell, Mary Taylor
Event 89 Girls 13-14 400m Free Relay – Riley Farrell, Mary Taylor, Sarah Madrigal, Alex Crisera
Event 95 Girls 13-14 400m Medley Relay – Alex Crisera, Nikki Cooper, Sarah Madrigal, Riley Farrell
Event 99 Girls 13-14 800m Free Relay – Alex Crisera, Keiko Derioletis, Nikki Cooper, Riley Farrell
OPEN WATER JOs….
After 5 long days in Mission Viejo, Beach Cities traveled to Castiac Lake on Monday, July 28th for Open Water Junior Olympics. Jake Sexton, Mia Crisera, Matthew Cullen, Noah Wisnewski, Alex Criera, and Caleb Gorman represented Beach Cities in their bright neon green open water team caps and had a fantastic finish. Open Water veteran Jake Sexton helped his open water rookie team mate Caleb Gorman navigate the course. The following swimmers took home some nice hardware from the race:
Mia Crisera – 4th overall for 9 year old female age group
Matthew Cullen – 6th overall for 10 year old male age group
Noah Wisniewski – 8th overall for 10 year old male age group
Alex Crisera – 3rd overall for 13 year old female age group
