Marlins win 3rd Straight Junior Olympic Championship
Bowling Green, OH, March 11. When the wake had settled, the Marlins had earned their third straight (short course 2011, long course 2011, short course 2012) Ohio Swimming Junior Olympic Title. Over the weekend the Marlins earned nearly 3000 points to outlast second place, Northern Kentucky Clippers by 373 points. After the first day it had turned into a two team race as the Dayton Raiders were over 1,000 points from first.
1 Cincinnati Marlins 2,936
2 Northern KY Clippers Swimming 2,563
3 Dayton Raiders 1,923
On an individual note, Carson Foster (10 and Under) and Josh McDonald (11-12) won their respective age group high point awards. While the 10 and Under Boys, 11-12 Girls and11-12 boys also walked away with the highest point total for their respective age groups.
The Marlins sure did not disappoint when it came to the final night of racing. The final events of the meet were the 200 Medley Relays (all age groups), 1650 Free for 13-14,100 and 200 IMs, 100 freestyles, 100 and 200 butterflies, 50 and 100 backstrokes and finished off with the 11-12 and 13-14 400 free relays.
The 10 and Under Girls 200 Medley relay was another nail biter. The race once again came down to the Marlins, Clippers and Ohio State Swim Club. The team of Grace Luebbe, Katie Hayes, Anna Voelkerding and Bridget Logan came away with the sweep of the relay events. The boys’ A relay of Ian Brann, Aaron Sequiera, Carson Foster and Jacob McDonald was a little more dominant, winning the race by over 6 seconds and breaking the meet record and Marlins record by two seconds. The B relay team picked up huge points with their 6th place finish. The 11-12 Girls relays finished 3rdand 16th while the boys’ A relay of Justin Grender, Jake Foster, Ben Hayes and Josh McDonald was victorious and the B relay placed 5th. Not to be outdone, the C relay placed 10th. The 13-14 Girls A relay placed 11thwhile the boys’ A relay placed 5th.
In the distance races this evening, Katie Kerr placed 7thwhile Nathan Jonas (6th), Graham Lindquist (7th) and John Prangley (12th) picked up big points in the team race for the men.
Katie Hayes continued her winning ways by touching the wall first in the 10 and Under girls 100 IM while Grace Luebbe placed 7th. Carson Foster broke another meet record in his victorious 100 IM while Jacob McDonald, Aaron Sequiera and Christian Wall placed 4th, 5th and 15th respectively. The 11-12’s looked to Hannah Foster (7th), Ashley Voelkerding (8th), Abby Rapien (14th), Ben Hayes(2nd), Josh McDonald (4th), Jake Foster (10th),Tindar Cyr (11th) and Justin Grender (12th) in their 200IMs. The 13-14 200 IMs were paced by Marissa DelGado who touched the wall first for the ladies while Mitchell Frey used a strong second 100 to get his hand on the wall in 2nd place for the guys.
Katie Hayes was back in the pool for the 10 and Under 100Freestyle placing 4th while Carson Foster continued to impress with his 100 free victory. Also picking up points for the Marlins were Jacob McDonald (3rd), Ian Brann (5th) and Andrew Morstadt (13th). The 11-12s had Hannah Foster (4th), Ashley Voelkerding (6th),Lia Thomas (9th), Abby Rapien (15th) and Izzie Murray (16th). The boys were paced by Josh McDonald (4th),Christian Imbus (9th), Justin Grender (10th) and PhillipBrocker (11th). In the 13-14’shad Grant House winning his first JO title (and achieving another USA Swimming Sectional cut) as a 13-14 year old in the 100 Free and Mitchell Frey who placed7th.
Grace Luebbe added an individual state title to her relay victory from earlier in the day when she swam the 10 and Under girls 100butterfly while Anna Voelkerding who snuck into the consolation final moved up to place 11th. If you were abetting person you would have put money on Carson Foster finishing his meet with another victory. That would have been a very safe bet. Carson finished the 100 butterfly 3 seconds ahead of second place while Christian Wall (4th)and Kellen Roddy (14th) completed their meets on very high notes. In the 11-12 races Izzie Murray(5th), Ashley Voelkerding (7th), Ben Hayes (6th),Nick Pfeifer (11th), Christian Imbus (12th) and Joel Engelhardt (14th) each raced tough and were vital to the team race. The 13-14 races were led by Marissa DelGado(2nd), Markie Duffy (4th), Tigar Cyr (12th) and John Prangley (14th) swimming one of the toughest events in swimming, the 200 butterfly.
The final individual events of the meet were the 10 and Under and 11-12 50 backstrokes while the 13-14s swam the 100 backstroke. Grace Luebbe finished her meet with a 6th place finish in the 10 and Under girls race while the boys had Andrew Morstadt, Jacob McDonald, Aaron Sequiera and Ian Brann all swimming in the championship heat for the boys. (The results link did not update the final results, placing will be updated once it has been fixed). The 11-12 Girls looked to Izzie Murray (6th), Hannah Foster (10th) and Sarah Yanzsa (16th) to complete their meet while the boys finished up with Josh McDonald (4th), Justin Grender (7th) and Joel Engelhardt (16th). In the 13-14 100 backstroke Grant House dominated his consolation final heat to finish 9th over all, but improved on his 400 Medley Relay lead off time which was another USA Swimming Sectional Cut.
The 400 Free Relays were the last event of the meet, however they were contested during the prelim session. The 11-12 Girls A relay of Ashley Voelkerding, Izzie Murray, Lia Thomas and Hannah Foster were victorious while the B relay placed 4th. The girls C relay finished in 13th, however they were not allowed to score points as only the top two relays from each team are eligible. The 11-12 Boys were equally impressive with their win. The team of Ben Hayes, Christian Imbus, Justin Grender and Josh McDonald won by 4 seconds while the B relay placed 3rd and the C relay finished 12th. The 13-14 girls relays finished in 6th and 11th places while the boys placed 4th and 14th.
When it was all said and done the Marlins had State titles and new meet records from:
Jacob McDonald – 10 and Under Boys – 100 Back
Josh McDonald – 11-12 Boys – 100 Back, 500 Free
Carson Foster – 10 and Under Boys – 50 Fly (Meet Record), 200 Free, 50 Free, 200 IM (Meet Record), 100 IM (Meet Record), 100 Free, 100 Fly
Marissa DelGado – 13-14 Girls – 100 Fly, 200 IM
Katie Hayes – 10 and Under Girls – 100 Breaststroke, 100 IM
Jake Foster – 11-12 Boys – 100 Breaststroke
Ben Hayes – 11-12 Boys – 100 IM
Grant House – 13-14 Boys – 100 Free
Grace Luebbe – 10 and Under Girls – 100 Fly
10 and Under Girls 200 Free Relay – Grace Luebbe, Lauren Meschoulam, Bridget Logan and Katie Hayes
10 and Under Boys 200 Free Relay – Jacob McDonald, Ian Brann, Aaron Sequiera and Carson Foster
11-12 Boys 200 Free Relay – Ben Hayes, Christian Imbus, Justin Grender and Josh McDonald
10 and Under Girls 200 Medley Relay – Grace Luebbe, Katie Hayes, Anna Voelkerding and Bridget Logan
10 and Under Boys 200 Medley Relay (New Meet Record) – Ian Brann, Aaron Sequiera, Carson Foster and Jacob McDonald
11-12 Boys 200 Medley Relay – Justin Grender, Jake Foster, Ben Hayes and Josh McDonald
11-12 Girls 400 Free Relay – Ashley Voelkerding, Izzie Murray, Lia Thomas and Hannah Foster
11-12 Boys 400 Free Relay – Ben Hayes, Christian Imbus, Justin Grender and Josh McDonald
The Marlins not only had an outstanding amount of swimmers winning events and setting records, but their incredible depth is what led to this Team Championship. The Marlins were able to score points from 57 different swimmers over the course of the weekend! Congratulations Marlins!
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