PCST Takes Visiting Team Victory at ECS Meet!
Tsunamis Come Home With Team Victory in Destin!
For the second straight year, PCST has brought home some terrific hardware from the Emerald Coast Swimming May Meet in Destin, FL. In 2010, the Tsunamis went to the meet armed with 45 of our toughest age group and novice swimmers and pulled off the upset victory to win the visiting team 1st place trophy. So you can imagine we had high hopes this year as we entered the meet with 65 total swimmers, mostly coming from our age group and novice program. I am proud to say that our up and coming Tsunami stars did not disappoint as we topped the Bluewater Barracudas to win the overall visiting team award.
While we did not defeat the home team (ECS), we managed to hold off our great friends from Niceville (BWB) by scoring 552.5
points to their 418 points. Here are the overall top 5 team scores.
- Emerald Coast Swimming (ECS)………………………..1057 points
- Panama City Swim Team (PCST)………………………552.5 points
- Bluewater Barracudas (BWB)……………………………..418 points
- Dothan Dolphin Swim Team (DDST)…………………260.5 points
- Holly By The Sea (HBTS)………………………………………107 points
Three Team Records Fall in Destin!
Since Kari Troia and Chad McGuire have already broken 11-12 team records in long course, it was no major surprise that they would break the short course records as well. However, we did not realize that they would smash them by so darn much! Congratulations to Kari and Chad for helping dominate the breaststroke events in the area! (When you throw Michaela Ashley and Alex Phlegar in the mix, PCST really has a stronghold on the 11-12 breaststroke events in these parts!)
Kari Troia 11-12 Girls 50 Breast (34.58) breaks Sara Evans (35.32) from 2003
Kari Troia 11-12 Girls 100 Breast (1:13.04) breaks Kari Troia (1:15.29) from 2010
Chad McGuire 11-12 Boys 100 Breast (1:14.92) breaks Aden Mackenzie (1:16.45) from 2009
Troia and Phlegar Dominate 11-12 Age Group With 1st Place Overall Finishes!
While Alex Phlegar has been moving his way up the 11-12 Boys age group ladder over the past year, Kari Troi has just been getting warmed up in the same age group for the girls. Over the weekend in Destin, all swimmers at the meet learned very quickly that both swimmers are the ones to beat in the area as they finished 1st place overall in the age group. However, Marisa Ashley (8 & U), Nico Gobel (10 & U), Chad McGuire (11-12) and Hannah Retherford (13-14) also proved that they too are among the tops in the region in their respective age groups by finishing as the 2nd place overall high point winner. All in all, the Tsunamis had 10 swimmers come home with overall high point trophies by finishing in the top 6, providing valuable points towards our team victory.
1st Place Overall: Kari Troia (11-12 Girls), Alex Phlegar (11-12 Boys)
2nd Place Overall: Marisa Ashley (8 & U Girls), Nico Goble (10 & U Boys), Chad McGuire (11-12 Boys), Hannah Retherford (13-14 Girls)
5th Place Overall: Martin Giacobbi (8 & U Boys)
6th Place Overall: Isa Gobel (8 & U Girls), Heidi Retherford (10 & U Girls), Shannon Doyle (13-14 Girls)
3 Relays and 6 Individuals Win Events In Destin!
The weekend was gorgeous, the weather was very nice (and hot), and yet the swims kept getting hotter and hotter! Coach Brian and Coach Jessica said the weekend was full of amazing swims and LOADS of best times. Needless to say, having this short course meet in the middle of the long course season is a lot of fun. But having as many Tsunamis win events as we did, well that is WAY more fun! Congratulations to the following swimmers who were tops in their age group by winning their events.
Marisa Ashley (8 & U Girls): 25 Free, 50 Free, 25 Breast, 50 Breast
Nico Gobel (10 & U Boys): 50 Breast, 100 Breast, 100 IM
Kari Troia (11-12 Girls): 100 Free, 200 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 IM
Alex Phlegar (11-12 Boys): 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 50 Back, 100 Back, 50 Fly, 100 IM
Chad McGuire (11-12 Boys): 50 Breast, 100 Breast
Hannah Retherford (13-14 Girls): 100 Fly
11-12 Boys 200 Free Relay: Luke Ligas, Cole Tillman, Chad McGuire, Alex Phlegar
11-12 Boys 200 Medley Relay: Alex Phlegar, Brian Giacobbi, Chad McGuire, Luke Ligas
13-14 Girls 200 Medley Relay: Alexis Hall, Shannon Doyle, Hannah Retherford, Tyler Miles
For having a meet with a “split squad” for three straight weekends, I could not be prouder that our Tsunamis were able to come home with visiting team hardware from each of the weekends. We nearly pulled off the “trifecta” for winning all three meets, but fell just short at the GPAC Spring Fling. To start the trio of meets, PCST won the CMSA visiting team trophy, then came second to SWAT at the GPAC meet and then finished off by winning the ECS meet in Destin. Even better though, we had a record number of Tsunamis compete at each of the meets and that, combined with the hard work and good attendance of many of our swimmers, is the reason why we are winning. So keep working hard, coming to practice and signing up for those meets!
CATCH THE WAVE!
Coach Jonathan
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