Gators Continue to Chomp the Competition @ YMCA North Central Regional Champs
22 of our 33 Gator YMCA State Championship swimmers also made the long trip to Marion, IA this past weekend (and drove home in a blizzard) to compete in the 2024 YMCA North Central Regional Championships. And we can say this, once again, about how our Gator swimmers performed:
C H O M P ! ! !
For the record, the following 8 Gator swimmers swallowed-up all the competition to win the following Regional Championship events.
Charlie Bobick won every event he swam. Many of them were new Meet Records in the Men's 13-14 Age Group: 200 Y Free (1:44.60), 100Y Back (:55.00), 200Y Breast (2:12.59), 200Y IM (1:58.43), 100Y Breast (:59.02), 100Y Fly (:52.09), 100Y Free (:48.49).
Hunter Jokinen won the Men's 15 & Over 200Y Back (2:03.57).
Claire Kilgard also won several events, posting a new Meet Record in one of them in Women's 11-12 Age Group: 100Y Free (:55.69), 50Y Free (:25.77), 500Y Free (5:31.15), 100Y IM (1:05.57), 200Y Free (2:02.00).
Ellie Kilgard won the Women's 15 & Over 1,000Y Free (11:09.93) and 200Y Back (2:14.34).
Ari Outhwaite won the Women's 13-14 500Y Free (5:30.28) and 400Y IM (4:52.48).
Evan Scapanski won the Men's 15 & Over 200Y IM (2:11.10).
Izzy Westling won every event she swam, except for one. And she also visited Meet Record Lane in the Women's 15 & Over Age Group: 200Y Free (1:56.68), 200Y Breast (2:32.06), 50Y Free (:24.30), 200Y IM (2:10.81), 100Y Fly (:59.65), 100Y Free (:53.21).
Megan Willenbring won 2 events in the Women 15 & Over Age Group: 100Y Breast (1:07.45), 400Y IM (4:58.99), which included another New Meet Record, as well.
That's quite a team lunch, actually MUNCH, for our little Gator team! Add to that all our other medal performances and our multiple relay victories, and what we have is a highly coveted 3rd place team finish overall. The new Banner commemorating this accomplishment is @ our Pool Office.
But there was more, much more. As always, there were our Gator Fast Swims of the Meet. In other words, who laid down some unexpected, above the call of duty, eye-popping swims? Here they are: Jack Akers 50Y Breast (:37.06), Jolif Chu 100Y Free (1:14.19), Ari Outhwaite 100Y Breast (1:09.89)
Megan Willenbring 100Y Breast (1:07.45) mentioned earlier, Olivia Willenbring 100Y Back (1:19.87).
C H O M P ! ! !
Best times! There's another area of interest for our Gator swimmers. So, who did pull underwater our Gator Most Improved Swimmer of the Meet honors? There were several. Quite a few Gators laid down multiple lifetime best times. Here they are, with some of their more impressive swims cited. Loretta Belknap - 200Y Free (2:15.13), 50Y Free (:27.97), 100Y Free (1:00.88). Madalyn Laemmle - 100Y IM (1:36.07), 50Y Breast (:52.83), 50Y Fly (:46.72). Xavier Mickelsen - 200Y Free (1:59.78), 200Y Breast (2:27.11), 200Y IM (2:13.73), 100Y Breast (1:06.81). Beckett Outhwaite - 200Y IM (2:40.54), 500Y Free (6:06.99), 100Y IM (1:13.40). Amittai Preisler - 200Y Fly (2:11.56), 50Y Free (:23.10R), Addison St. Sauver - 200Y Free (2:14.10), 500Y Free (6:12.69), 100Y Free (1:02.35). Chelsea Willenbring - 50Y Back (:28.49R), 50Y Free (:25.29), 100Y Free (:55.08).
You may recall that for most of this Short Course Season, thus far, anyway, 2 swimmers have, for the most part, dominated our Gator team competition of who is the biggest, baddest Sandbagger on our Gator Team: Kelsie Kilgard and Allie Reitmeier. Week-in and week-out, we cold always count on these 2 swimmers to lay down the Gator Law of who finished a race the baddest to the bone.
And @ Regionals, these 2 swimmers did not disappoint. Allie got the upper hand at this particular swim meet by negative spitting her 500Y Free (6:08.51) to secure her portion of the Sandbagger Swims of the Meet: (250 splits: 3:04.59 - 3:03.92). But there is a new player in town - one who just burst on to the scene most unexpectedly with multiple back-half swims @ Regionals: Hunter Jokinen. No joke! Hunter! He posted 3 potential Sandbagger award-winners @ the meet. And it was his 100Y Back (:57.01) that claimed his portion of the Sandbagger Swims of the Meet award: (50 splits: :28.60 - :28.41). What does the future hold now, Gators?
There were a few other Gator swimmers, some of whose swims were mentioned earlier in the victory column, who posted our Gator Tail Solid Swims of the Meet. Callum Huberty 50Y Free (:28.36), Ellie Kilgard 500Y Free (5:19.20), Kelsie Kilgard 200Y Free (2:09.10), Andrew Scapanski 50Y Free (:24.89), Evan Scapanski 200Y Breast (2:18.54).
Onward and upward to Y-Nationals we go!
Go Gators!
C H O M P ! ! !
