State Champion Relay Highlights 2-A High School Postseason!

PCST Swimmers Help Mosley Boys Finish 3rd Overall at the 2-A State Championships!

It was a post-season unlike any other the Mosley Dolphins have ever seen before!  You knows it's an amazing season when you have to choose between a first ever Relay STATE CHAMPION, a new Junior National Qualifier, a 3rd place Boys Team Finish and multiple county records to figure out which one to highlight first in your news article.  The Tsunami swimmers that competed for Mosley High this year have loads to be proud of and the most exciting part is that the team is so young, it's simply a precursor to the amazing things we have to come in the next few years.

PCST Adds 2 New Swimmers to the Team List of State Champions!
Never before has Bay County high school swimming seen the likes of a high school relay quite like this one.  The Mosley Boys 200 Medley has been nothing short of absolutely dominating all season long.  The race started off with Michael Whitehead swimming a blistering 25.8 in the back, Chet Seaman killing the field with a 27.4 in the breast, Tyler Kent going 24.5 and Sammy Reyes going 21.9 in the free.

And just to make it more dramatic, in spite of the great first 3 swims, they started the first 150 yards of the relay down by nearly 2 seconds.  However, the leading team knew that former Tsunami swimmer, Sammy Reyes, was coming and their anchor swimmer actually false started trying to get whatever advantage he could.  Well, it didn't help anyway because Sammy ran him down by the 30 yard mark and the boys ended up winning the race by over a second before the disqualification took place. 

The relay team of Michael Whithehead, Chet Seaman, Tyler Kent and Sammy Reyes won the State Championship in a County Record time of 1:39.80!  Both Whitehead and Seaman become the 3rd and 4th ever State Champions for the Tsunamis in the history of the team.  It was an exciting race and a great way to kick off a fantastic state championship.

Victoria Hove Finishes 3rd In 200 IM With Junior National Qualifying Time!
Coming into this short course season, the Tsunamis have had 4 swimmers qualify for the NCSA Junior Nationals over the past 4 years, but never before have we had two at the same time.  Well, now we do!  Mosley Junior Victoria Hove swam a 2:08.00 in the 200 IM to become the Regional Champion, only to smoke that at States with a 2:07.00 as she finished 3rd overall in Orlando.  That was the only individual podium finish (Top 3) for a Mosley or PCST swimmer at the 2-A State Championships and it sure was a great one!

Mosley Boys Finish 3rd Overall (Highest Finish Ever!)
While it was nearly a foregone conclusion this year that Belen Jesuit would win the overall boy's team state title, the battle for 2nd was wide open!  Although Mosley had never finished higher than 7th before, we knew with some of the star Tsunamis (and former Tsunamis) on the team helping out, there was a chance for a 2nd place finish.  Well, they got pretty darn close as they only finished 17 total team points out of 2nd behind Gainesville High for an incredible 3rd place finish.  With the team being led by loads of freshman, sophomores and juniors, I'd say next year should be pretty fun!!

Chet Seaman Finishes in Top 6 In Two Seperate Races at State Champs!
For years and year, when somebody mentioned Chet Seaman (Junior; Mosley), the first thing that always came to mind was "Breaststroke".  While Chet is continuously proving to be one of the best breatstrokers in the entire state with his 6th place finish in the 100 Breast (1:00.3), his other 6th place finish in the 200 IM (1:58.3) shows that he's becoming one of the best well-rounded swimmers in Florida!  Did I mention that Chet was also the Regional Champion in the 100 Breast with a 1:00.09?! :)

Michael Duderstadt Attempted to Become King of Consolation Finals In Orlando!
"Duder" (Soph at Mosley) had two very good swims in the morning of the State Championships, but we knew he had more in him.  So I challenged him to go win both consolation finals races; a VERY difficult feat to accomplish.  After SMASHING the entire heat in the 200 IM winning with a 1:58.24, he came within a single breath inside the flags of winning the 100 free console final race as well.  His 48.50 was good enough for a 10th place finish, not too shabby for a 15 year old who barely made the District team 12 months ago!

Whitehead Leads the Way As Loads of High School County Records Fall!
When Mosley Sophomore, Michael Whitehead, went 4:50 in the 500 free in February as a 14 year old, we were pretty sure he would break the 4:52 County Record held by Brian Robeson from 2003.  The question was, by how much!  Turns out, he would break it 3 time in 7 days to finish up with a 4:44.99 as he pulled off a terrific 11th place finish.  Once again, not too bad for a 15 year old!  :)  Michael was also a part of the 200 Medley Relay and 400 Free Relay County Records!  PCST had 4 other Tsunamis break county records this year as well!  Congrats to Michael Commins, who will also be returning next year, (200 Fr Rel, 400 Fr Rel), Michael Duderstadt (200 Fr Rel, 400 Fr Rel), Chet Seaman (200 Med Rel), Victoria Hove (200 IM) for their new county records as well!

Final Tsunami Rankings at State Championships
For the entire weekend, PCST sent 13 total Tsunamis to the State Championships in Orlando after qualifying 25 for the Regional Championships the weekend before.  It was the final high school season for perennial breaststroke star Kyle Olstad.  In spite of a leg injury taking away much of the power on her kick, she still battled for a consolation final finish in the breast!  And just when most people would be too tired to turn around only a few minutes later to race in the 400 free relay, Kyle stepped up for the team and put together a blistering :56 freestyle once again for a very impressive relay finish. 

These State Championships were also the first for Mosley Junior Kristen Ratliff.  She was on the 200 Medley Relay that nearly broke the county record at Regionals!  At state she swam the fastest 50 fly of her life but unfortunately the relay team got disqualified in the preliminary session.  Nonetheless though, you can't ask for much more than swimming faster than ever at the meet you want to swim the fastest at. :)

Boys 200 Medley Relay 1st (1:39.80); Michael Whitehead, Chet Seaman
Boys 200 Free Jonathan Ratliff 23rd (1:50.87)
Girls 200 IM Victoria Hove 3rd (2:07.00)
Boys 200 IM Chet Seaman 6th (1:58.33); Michael Duderstadt 9th (1:58.24)
Boys 500 Free Michael Whitehead 11th (4:44.99); Jonathan Ratliff 18th (4:53.45)
Boys 200 Free Relay 3rd (1:29.37) Michael Commins, Michael Duderstadt
Girls 100 Breast Kyle Olstad 16th (1:10.57)
Boys 100 Breast Chet Seaman 6th (1:00.30)
Girls 400 Free Relay 13th (3:48.06) Victoria Hove, Kyle Olstad
Boys 400 Free Relay 7th (3:18.81) Michael Commins, Michael Duderstadt, Michael Whitehead

New PCST Team Records Are Set!
Since the high school championship meets are observed by USA Swimming Officials, the times count for PCST records and rankings!  Here are some of our own fastest swims in team history!

Records Set at Regionals in Panama City Beach
Victoria Hove 15-16 Girls 50 Back (29.43) breaks Victoria Hove (29.94) from 2009
Victoria Hove 15-16 Girls 200 IM (2:08.00) breaks Victoria Hove (2:10.44) from 2009
Michael Whitehead 15-16 Boys 500 Free (4:48.28) breaks Michael Whitehead (4:51.32) from 2010

Records Set at States in Orlando
Victoria Hove 15-16 Girls 200 IM (2:07.00) breaks Victoria Hove (2:08.00) from 2010
Michael Whitehead 15-16 Boys 500 Free (4:46.41) breaks Michael Whitehead (4:48.28) from 2010
Michael Whitehead 15-16 Boys 500 Free (4:44.99) breaks Michael Whitehead (4:46.41) from 2010
Michael Whitehead 15-16 Boys 50 Back (25.88) breaks Cody Bronnenberg (26.19) from 2008
Michael Duderstadt 15-16 Boys 200 IM (1:58.24) breaks Kevin Faulhaber (1:59.21) from 2007

New All-Time Top 10 Swims From Districts
Victoria Hove 100 Free 6th (56.28)
Jonathan Ratliff 500 Free 6th (4:58.70)
Zach Wilbur 50 Breast 9th (30.46); 100 Breast 8th (1:04.67)
Michael Duderstadt 200 IM 7th (2:04.24)

New All-Time Top 10 Swims From Regionals
Victoria Hove 100 Free 4th (55.73), 50 Back 3rd (29.43), 50 Fly 5th (28.39), 200 IM 1st (2:08.00)
Alysiah Stock 50 Breast 10th (34.03)
Michael Commins 50 Free 8th (22.91), 100 Free 9th (50.42)
Michael Duderstadt 100 Free 4th (49.18), 200 IM 7th (2:03.50)
Jonathan Ratliff 200 Free 5th (1:48.92), 500 Free 3rd (4:53.42)
Michael Whitehead 500 Free 1st (4:48.28), 50 Back 5th (26.59)
Chet Seaman 50 Breast 3rd (28.58), 100 Breast 4th (1:00.09), 200 IM 4th (1:59.36)

New All-Time Top 10 Swims From States
Victoria Hove 100 Free 3rd (55.37), 200 IM 1st (2:07.00)
Michael Commins 50 Free 7th (22.80), 100 Free 7th (50.03)
Michael Duderstadt 100 Free 3rd (48.50), 50 Fly 7th (25.55), 200 IM 2nd (1:58.24)
Michael Whitehead 500 Free 1st (4:44.99), 50 Back 4th (25.88)
Chet Seaman 50 Breast 3rd (28.43), 200 IM 3rd (1:58.33)

Other Great Regional Swims!
Congratulations to Shane Young and Alysiah Stock who also made it to the Regional Championships and had fine swims in the consolation finals.  Shane's performance helped the Mosley boys WIN the Regional Title!!

New Sectional, Junior National and "AAAA" Swims!
It was not that long ago when PCST used to get excited about having a single "AAAA" swimmer in a calendar year.  Now, thanks to a couple new additions, the Tsunamis have 7 "AAAA" swimmers in 2010!  And while this is the first time we've had 2 Junior National qualifiers at the same time, we also have 3-4 more swimmers who are right on the edge of qualifying this year!

Victoria Hove 200 IM (2:07.00) NCSA Junior Nationals and "AAAA" time for 15-16 Girls
Michael Duderstadt 100 Free (48.50) Spring and Summer Sectionals
Michael Duderstadt 200 IM (1:58.24) Summer Sectionals and NCSA Junior National Bonus Time and "AAAA" time for 15-16 Boys
Michael Whitehead 500 Free (4:44.99) Summer Sectionals
Chet Seaman 100 Breast (1:00.09) Summer Sectionals and NCSA Junior National Bonus Time
Chet Seaman 200 IM (1:58.33) Spring and Summer Sectionals
Jonathan Ratliff 200 Free (1:48.92) "AAAA" for 13-14 Boys

Next up for the Tsunamis will be the Gator Swim Club Winter Invite in Gainesville, FL Dec 3-5 and the Speedo Junior National Championships Dec. 10-12.

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan