Zones Recap
The Inland Empire selects kids of all age-groups to represent them in a high-level region wide competition. Swat sent 9 of the 40 swimmers that participated in the 2011 Western Zone Championships. That is something to be very proud of. One of the things about the Zones meet that I love is that feeling you get when you send kids away from home, away from their coaches, and they do you proud. That is one thing the SWAT kids did in spades. As a large portion of the IES Zones team, they represented SWAT in style.
Marissa Stapleton: Marissa qualified at the last second for her first Zones trip. At champs she dropped over 10 seconds in the 200 free to make her time. Great work Marissa! Marissa swam all the 50's, the 100 free and 200 Free. She dropped 3 seconds in her 50 Back and was a huge part of some great 11-12 relays!
Danielle Sherven: Dani did something impressive. She qualified for the 13-14 age-group while still 12. Then a week before the meet, she turned 13. Dani dropped 10 seconds in the 200 Back (going a best time the 100 as well), dropped 3 seconds in the 100 Fly, dropped 4 seconds in the 100 Back, went a best time in the 100 Free, and anchored several of the IES 13-14 relays.
Kaylee Beck: Kaylee started the meet out with a bang, and just kept it rolling. Her first night she dropped another 11 seconds (over 60 for the seaon) in the 1500, breaking the team record, and placing 2nd at Zones. The next day she went a best time in the 100 Fly, and placed 2nd in 200 Free dropping 1 second. On day 4 she placed 2nd in the 200 Fly, and dropped 2 seconds to place 4th in the 400 Free. On the last day of the meet she finished as well as she started, dropping 16 seconds and placing second in the 800 Free. Great work Kaylee!
Jacob White: Jacob swam his fist zones ever, starting out with a bang! He broke team records in the 50,100, and 200 Backstroke races. All three were best times by over 2 seconds. He dropped time in the 100 Breast, 200 Free, and 100 Fly. He almost made finals in 2 events on his first trip to Zones! He helped relays place top 8 several times, and just missed qualifying for Senior Sectionals in the 100 and 200 Backs.
Asa Wolfe: After qualifying at the last possible minute, he swam best times in the 200 Breast (2 seconds), 100 Breast (2 Seconds), 100 Fly and anchored several relays for IES. Often times rookies struggle their first time at a new level of competition. Not Asa! It was his first trip to zones, and he was awesome.
Nate Endebrock: Nate had a great week. He swam a best time in the 200 Free by 2 seconds, set a new team record, and won the 15-16 Western Zones title! He also finaled in the 400 Free, dropping another 5 seconds on his way to another team record. In the 800 Free he dropped 4 seconds, setting another team record. Nate was also a part of all 4 IES A relays, their top place was 3rd on the last night. Nice work Nate!
Conner Hickey: Conner started out a little rough and then settled into having a fantastic week. He set a new team record and dropped almost 5 seconds in the 200 Fly, placing 2nd. (He has lowered the team record by 15 seconds this season alone!) Conner also made finals in the 100 Free (5th) , 200 IM (7th) , and 100 Fly (2nd). Both the 100 Free and 100 Fly broke old team records. He had the fastest split of all the IES on the last night, anchoring in a 25.0 in the 50 Free on the way to a 3rd place relay finish.
Stephanie Bayless: Stephanie was on her first zones trip and made it one to remember. She went best times and placed in the 50 Free (4th), 100 Free (6th -1 second) , 200 free (4rd -4 seconds), 100 Breast (5th), 200 Breast (4th -7 seconds), and 100 Back (3 second best time). Unfortunately, there were not enough girls to make a relay, but Steph sure made a huge impact for the Inland Empire at this zones meet. Great work Steph!
Rustin Babcock: Rustin also made his first Zones appearance. He was a force to be reckoned with. He dominated the sprints, being the fastest leg on all the relays, breaking our team records in the 50 free (Placing 4th), the 100 Free (placing 4th), and going best times in the 100 fly (4 seconds), 100 Breast (6 seconds), 100 Back! Awesome meet Rustin!
Overall, I'm so proud of our kids who went to zones. It was a lot of fun here in China trying to figure out when finals would be and trying to get somewhere with internet to hear and watch how they did. Great work guys, way to work hard for your goals and to go out and achieve them!
-Kevin
