First Place Visiting Team Finish at GPAC!

PCST Wins Fourth Travel Meet of 2010 as Top Visiting Team at GPAC Meet in Gulf Breeze!

Of course I'm not going to sit here and say we were the top team at the meet over the weekend in Gulf Breeze because that distinct honor clearly belonged to GPAC.  They had a terrific number of swimmers and loads of fast athletes there for the weekend in which they dominated.  However, I am also very proud to announce that your Tsunamis were the top visiting team from the weekend!  Out of 8 visiting teams, PCST finished 1st with a commanding 675 points.  Did I mention that some of the biggest swims came from one of the smallest swimmers at the meet too?  Congratulations to Marisa Ashley for winning the 8 & Under Girls overall high point award!

GPAC Fall Invitational Team Scores

1) Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club (GPAC)..................................2,834 points
2) Panama City Swim Team (PCST)..................................................675 points
3) Bluewater Barracudas Swim Team (BWB).....................................379 points
4) TNT Swimming (TNT).....................................................................290.50 points
5) Montgomery YMCA Barracudas (MYB)..........................................234 points

Marisa Ashley Leads Tsunamis With 1st Place High Point Finish
Of the 31 swimmers who competed for PCST over the weekend in Gulf Breeze, three of those swimmers finished as either 1st place or runner up for their respective age group high point awards.  However, in order to win a meet as the first place visiting team, it takes much more than 3 swimmers to accumulate enough points for a victory.  I am very proud of all of our Tsunamis because it was truly a collective effort to reach the 675 point mark.

Marisa Ashley (8 & Under Girls) 1st Place
Hannah Retherford (11-12 Girls) 2nd Place
Andrew Krist (13-14 Boys) 2nd Place

Six Swimmers and One Relay Win Events
In order to score points, you must have finished in the Top 8 overall for your age group in that event.  While we are VERY proud of every swimmer who scores points for the team, it's particularly enjoyable to watch some of our Tsunamis prove to be the best of them all.  Congratulations to the following athletes who won individual events at the meet over the weekend.

8 & Under Girls: Marisa Ashley (25 Free, 50 Free, 100 Free, 25 Breast, 50 Breast, 100 IM)
11-12 Girls: Hannah Retherford (100 Back)
11-12 Boys: Chad McGuire (100 Breast, 50 Fly)
13-14 Boys: Jonathan Ratliff (200 Free, 100 Fly, 400 IM)
Senior Boys: Michael Duderstadt (50 Breast); Beau Brothers (50 Back)
13-14 Boys 200 Medley Relay: Denver Dangerfield, Casey Pridgen, Jonathan Ratliff, Andrew Krist)

First Time Meet Swimmers
Every athlete who has hopes of reaching high levels in any sport has to start somewhere.  We were lucky enough to have 4 Tsunamis officially start their competitive swimming careers at the Gulf Breeze Meet this weekend.  I would also like to note that in spite of being sick, Kendra Schrieffer still stuck it out to swim the 100 free AND 100 breast this weekend.  She gets the trooper of the weekend award! :)

First Meet Ever For: Kendra Schrieffer, Chloe Schrieffer, Caleb Schrieffer, Cole Tillman

New PCST Team Record
While you are probably not surprised to hear that Kari Troia broke yet another team record in the breaststroke as she makes her claim to be the top breaststroker in team history, you may be surprised to hear that her first 50 split of her 100 race actually almost set the team record too!  And since Kari is only 11 years old, I'd say we haven't heard the last of her team records for this new age group of hers. :)

Kari Troia 11-12 Girls 100 Breast (1:15.29); breaks Jessica Chandlee (1:15.86) in 2002

All-Time Top Ten Swims
Since Evan Escobar did not get to participate in the home meet last month, he wanted to make sure he made his mark on this meet as he moved into the all-time top ten in a couple different events.  That 50 Free 10th place has seen 3 names on it in the last 3 weeks!  Twelve months ago, Michael Duderstadt was a tiny freshman at Mosley who could only swim the 50 and 100 free.  Here he stands now as quite possibly one of the most well-rounded swimmers our team has ever seen!  And finally, Hannah Retherford decided to prove once again that you do not have to be 15 or 16 years old to make the all-time top ten.  The 12 year old has made her mark once again, this time in the 100 backstroke.

Evan Escobar: 50 Free 10th (23.23), 100 IM 6th (59.53)
Michael Duderstadt: 50 Back 6th (27.02), 100 Back 8th (57.72), 50 Breast 6th (29.52)
Hannah Retherford: 100 Back 8th (1:05.19)

Age Group All-Time Top Ten Swims
The All-Time Top Ten list is not the only one that's starting to become a pretty elite list.  The Age Group Top Ten list is still on the move towards becoming incredibly difficult to put your name on it.  That didn't stop 9 of our 31 swimmers from either improving their positions on that list, or getting on it for the first time ever!

8 & Under Girls: Marisa Ashley 25 Free (5th), 50 Free (6th), 100 Free (6th), 25 Breast (7th), 25 Fly (8th), 50 Fly (5th), 100 IM (8th)
11-12 Girls: Hannah Retherford 500 Free (7th), 100 Back (2nd), 200 IM (4th); Kari Troia 100 Breast (1st), 200 IM (10th)
11-12 Boys: Chad McGuire 100 Breast (8th)
13-14 Girls: Fallon Gelsleichter 1000 Free (8th), 50 Breast (9th), 100 Breast (10th), 200 Breast (8th); Shannon Doyle 100 Breast (9th), 200 Breast (9th)
15-16 Girls: Kristen Ratliff 50 Back (8th)
15-16 Boys: Evan Escobar 50 Free (4th), 100 Free (6th), 200 Free (6th), 200 Back (6th); Michael Duderstadt 50 Back (3rd), 100 Back (7th), 50 Breast (5th), 200 Breast (9th)

New Tsunami Awards
In case you have not had a chance to read about it, the Tsuanmis Awards are a home-grown incentive program designed to give our swimmers various levels of swimming to shoot for.  However, we are also encouraging a little friendly rivalry amonst our Tsunamis to get them to shoot for becoming the overall fastest, most well-rounded swimmer on the team in their age group for the 2010-2011 Short Course Season.  You will notice that I specifically mention when a swimmers moves into a new position because I love seeing our young Tsunamis bring the best out of each other.  As one strives to improve their position, so must the others in order to stay on top. :)  A special congratulations goes out to Fallon Gelsleichter for breaking the PCST 13-14 Girls Team Record for points!

8 & Under Girls: Marisa Ashley improves 1st (74 points)
8 & Under Boys: Caleb Schrieffer moves into a tie for 5th (2 points)
10 & Under Girls: Breanna Nouskhajian and Sarah Kate Paine tie for 5th (19 points)
11-12 Girls: Hannah Retherford moves into tie for 1st (95 points), Kari Troia improves 3rd (74 points), Michaela Ashley moves into 4th (47 points)
11-12 Boys: Chad McGuire improves 2nd (65 points)
13-14 Girls: Fallon Gelsleichter moves into 1st (50 points), Shannon Doyle improves 2nd (42 points)
13-14 Boys: Jonathan Ratliff improves 1st (95 points), Denver Dangerfield improves 3rd (59 points), Andrew Krist improves 4th (55 points), Cameron Fitzgerald improves 5th (38 points)
15-16 Girls: Kristen Ratliff moves into 3rd (49 points)
15-16 Boys: Michael Duderstadt moves into 1st (79 points)
Senior Boys: Beau Brothers improves 3rd (37 points)

The next meet for our Tsunamis will be this weekend in Dothan as 28 of our swimmers get ready to strut their stuff!  Then you'll start seeing all sorts of great news from the high school District, Regional and States Championships, as well as the CMSA meet in Mobile!

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan