Age Group Sectionals Recap

AGS Recap:

AGS is a qualifying meet for the western section.  From Alaska to Hawaii, Oregon to Montana, 174 teams  brought over 1700 kids from around the region bring the fastest age group swimmers to compete at one of the best pools in the nation.  The qualifying times are tough to make, generally the times will rank you in the top 40 kids for your age-group for that particular event.  We sent 11 kids who to this meet, who went 33 best times and broke 4 team records.  We placed in the top fifty teams, and walked away with many finalists.  Here’s a list of every kid and their accomplishments.

AGS Rookie, Delaney Phillips swam the 200 Breast, dropped 3 seconds! She is getting better and better about staying long in breastroke, and just beginning to learn how to pace 200’s!  Delaney also dropped almost 2 seconds in the 100 breast, placing 24^th, and 29^th in the 50 breast.  She time trialed the 100 IM and dropped another 1.5 seconds.

Tommy Madill at his 2nd AGS dropped in the 50 Fly (24^th place), and 5 seconds in the 200 IM (11^th place)! Both were team records. Tommy is having a ton of fun hang’n out with the older kids, and showing them how it’s done at the same time!  He also swam the 50 free, just missing breaking the 30.00 barrier (22^nd place), dropped 3 seconds in the 100 breast (8^th place) and laster dropped .4 in the 50 breast (11^th place) all breastrokes earning him new team records.  Tommy wraped up his 2^nd AGS with a 100 IM placing 22^nd.  Great job Tommy!

Makenzie Norman placed 10th in the 100 free, 17th in the 50 fly, and 20 in the 50 back! She had great control over her breathing in and out of the turns!  She also swam the 50 free, racing to a 13^th place, dropped 1.5 seconds and place 21^st in the 100 fly, and finished the meet with a 200 free that placed 14^th.  She learned a lot at this meet about pressure and discipline, and we are really looking forward to seeing her grow as a swimmer!

Dani kicked off here AGS meet by making finals in the 50 free, and placing 5^th with a 24.93 (a tenth off of Sr. Sectionals)  She also swam the 100 back placing her 22^nd.  Dani Sherven had something click, and raced in the 100 Free, dropped over a second after dropping 1.5 from 2 weeks ago and placed 11th. She learned a valuable lesson of relaxed speed today! Can’t wait till tomorrow!  On the final day of the meet, Dani had her hardest 2 events, the 200 back and free.  She started with a whopping 5 second best time in the 200 back (11^th place), swimming so smooth and controled!  Then she followed it up with another 1.5 second drop from a time she just made 2 weeks ago placing her 15^th.

Robby Jones dropped another second in the 100 Free, making it a total of 4 seconds over the last 2 weeks! Robby really learned how to race the mornings, and has one of the best dives out there!  On the last day, Robby really got after his 200 free, going out very fast, but didn’t quite finish as well as he would like.  He placed 23^rd in that event.  In the 50 free, he dropped about half a second, making his first ever Sr. Zones qualifying time, placing 4^th in the 50 free.  Robby made some great strides, and is getting control over his stroke count which will set him up for great future success.

Jacob started the meet with the 100 back (13^th) and the 400 IM(22^nd).  Both swims were a little off, and we had to try and refocus for the next day.  Was it worth it!  Jacob White pulled a hat trick and dropped in all three races, the 200 IM (11^th), 200 Breast (21^st) , and 100 Back (13^th).  His 100 back was a new team record! Jacob is always learning new things, and found the power of focusing on one thing at a time!  He raced the 200 back on the last day and placed 9^th, one spot out of finals.  He is really honing in on finding that perfect balance of relaxed easy speed and delivering all his power to the water. 

Karen Kiehl came for 4 relays and some time trials and sure made the trip worth it!  She raced an awesome 100 back leg of the realy, experimenting with some extra underwater kicking.  Karen Kiehl swam great splits on the girls relays (best time in the 50 free by .5), and then dropped over a second in the 100 Free! Karen Kiehl, Ashley Christoff, Meghan Merrick, and Alli Bumann all combined to raced the 4 relays.  The 200 MR was DQ'd, the 400 Medly was 17th, the 200 Free was 16th, and the 400 Free was 14th. Now on to Sr. Zones and college!

Ashley Christoff started AGS off with a bang.  She broke 26 for the first time on her anchor leg of the relay.  Then followed it up with an awesome breast leg of the relay, just missed a best time in the 100. She had the smoothest 50 free leading of the relay at night! Karen Kiehl, Ashley Christoff, Meghan Merrick, and Alli Bumann all combined to raced the 4 relays. The 200 MR was DQ'd, the 400 Medly was 17th, the 200 Free was 16th, and the 400 Free was 14th. New technique is getting better and better, great work Ash!

Meghan Merrick really did some awesome and unexpected things at AGS.  While feeling both emotionally and physically off, she had one of the best meets for our whole team.  The first night she went a best time in the 50 breast by a second.  Then, the next morning, Meghan swam a best time in the Fly leg of the relay, dropped almost 2 seconds in the 500 free, and then matched her best time in the 50 free as a part of the relay! Meghan is showing how attitude is key.  She then rocked a great 1650, breaking 19 minutes for the first time! Karen Kiehl, Ashley Christoff, Meghan Merrick, and Alli Bumann all combined to raced the 4 relays. The 200 MR was DQ'd, the 400 Medly was 17th, the 200 Free was 16th, and the 400 Free was 14th.  What a meet, great work Meghan!

Stephanie Bayless started out the meet with a strong 11^th place finish in the 50 Free.  While off her best times, It was Stephanie’s 3 taper in the last 5 weeks.  Stephanie Bayless also swam the 100 free (31^st), having a rough swim, but not losing sight of her focus and preparing for college! She can’t wait to swim for Seattle University next year!

Alli Bumann swam right on her best in the morning relay, placed 20th in the 500 free, and rocked on of the best turns she’s ever had on the relay at night! She’s getting better and better at getting her mind in the right place at the right time!  Alli wrapped up her AGS meet with a great race in the 1650.  She placed 6^th, the highest for our team that day, and really did a great job of using race strategy to beat all by 3 girls from the top heat of milers.  Karen Kiehl, Ashley Christoff, Meghan Merrick, and Alli Bumann all combined to raced the 4 relays. The 200 MR was DQ'd, the 400 Medly was 17th, the 200 Free was 16th, and the 400 Free was 14th. Great work Alli!