PCST Swimmers Bring Home State Titles!

Tsunamis Earning Major Recognition For Performances at FHSAA State Championships!

Each year the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) hosts the Swimming & Diving State Championships in Orlando in mid November.  It is always special for me to travel down to this pool because it is the exact same place I got my start at the State Championships as a freshman, and it's where I ended it as a senior.  Sure, they have had States at other places, but the Orlando YMCA will always have a place in my heart...................but now.................that special place in my heart is not because of my own accomplishments as a high school swimmer back in the 90's (cough cough.....getting old!).  It's becoming more and more memorable because each year our Tsunami swimmers seem to accomplish even greater things than the year before!!  Thank you for so many amazing memories Tsunamis!

I sure hope we don't have a single swimmer or parent who takes for granted just how amazing and difficult it is for a high school team to get Runner Up at the State Championships for two years on a row!  Or how hard it is to walk away from this meet as a State Champion in three different events.  Or how hard it is to win a diving State Title, or to 3-peat as State Champs in a relay, or to final in multiple events, to break county & PCST records, or...............to become the FASTEST SWIMMER IN THE COUNTRY!  These are all things your Tsunamis are achieving and simply put.........I could not be prouder of you guys.  The high school season was one for the record books as we broke an unprecedented 9 out of 11 Bay County records on the boys side, plus another 2 records on the girls side, plus another 2 Okaloosa County records on the girls side, plus another 19 individual & relay school records between all schools.  Just............wow!  Congrats Tsunamis!  Here are some more amazing results!

Mosley Boys Earn Runner-Up Team Trophy For Second Straight Year!
Last year when our boys were making a run at the State Championship, I remember thinking "this is our one big shot".  The reason being that we had a major class of seniors that were graduating and numbers would have easily told you that getting back to second place and being in the running for the State Title would be a long shot in 2012.  Well, nobody told that to our boys!!!  They knocked it out of the park, moving up in the rankings in nearly every opportunity to hold off the defending state champions from Gainesville High School to earn a 2nd place team finish at the State Meet.  The previous champion from 2010, the rare 2A prep school, Belen Jesuit, somewhat ran away with the victory this year as expected.  So the battle was for 2nd place between Mosley, Gainesville, Barron Collier and Ft. Myers.

With Barron Collier and Ft. Myers close behind but just a little too far out of the race, Mosley and Gainesville in a heated battle and were only separated by 1 point going into the final 3 events with GHS leading.  The backstroke gave Gainesville a 17 point lead going into the 100 Breast, which was a strong point for our boys.  With Whitehead moving up from 8th to 6th, and Duderstadt winning the event to become #1 in the country, we positioned ourselves so that a 4th place finish in the 400 Free Relay would earn a team tie for 2nd at the worst.  Going into the final relay, Mosley needed to get 3rd or have Gainesville get beat in the relay in order to hold the Runner Up trophy all to themselves.  On the final leg of the race, we had Michael Duderstadt catching the 4th place team with Gainesville getting out run by Belen Jesuit in the final 100 yards to earn us 4th, GHS 2nd and Mosley a second straight team Runner-Up title!!  Congratulations boys!  It sure was exciting!

Overall Boys Team Scores
State Champion: Belen Jesuit Prep School (Miami) 221 points
State Runner Up: Mosley High School (Lynn Haven) 151 points
Third Place: Gainesville High School 145 points

Duderstadt Ranked #1 In Country and Wins 3 State Titles!
In Bay County history, we have only had three individual state champions in the past.  The first was Joey Darnell who won the 100 Back, the second was Paul Erben who won the 100 Breast, and the third being Beau Brothers who won the 50 Free back in 2006.  All three of those swimmers were PCST Swimmers too I might add.  :)  Well, now we have a fourth in our very own Michael Duderstadt, who just keeps adding to his accolades.  Earlier this season he became the first PCST swimmer to earn an Olympic Trials qualifying time, but he has not stopped there.  His 200 IM and 100 Breast victories last week made him the first swimmer from Bay County to win 2 individual state championships!  And to add to it, he was also an integral part of the 200 Medley Relay that won, giving him 3 Gold Medals in Orlando.

Yeah...........like I said...........not stopping there.  His time in the 100 Breast (55.08) has made him the #1 swimmer in the country in 2012 from the age of 17 & younger.  He will likely end the '12-'13 high school season as on of the top 4 fastest high school swimmers in the country.  Of course, many high school state meets are not until 3-6 months from now, and I have a gut feeling Duder's best time by then will be faster than all of those boys!  But let's face it, for the time being he is #1 in USA Swimming and #1 in high school, and the best in the country is phenomenal no matter how you twist it!  The greatest part is that the season is not over yet as Duder, along with Jonathan Ratliff, will be competing at the Winter Junior Nationals in Knoxville, TN in less than a month!  Like I said............not stopping there! :)

Michael Duderstadt State Titles
200 Medley Relay (24.98 Breast split) State Champions (1:36.05); All-America Consideration
200 IM (1:50.01) State Champion; All-American Automatic
100 Breast (55.08) State Champion; All-American Automatic (Currently Ranked #1 in Country for 2012)

Tsunami Boys Earn Mosley High Third Straight 200 Medley Relay Championship!
Throughout the season, our swimmers have been yelling out all sorts of great motivational and encouraging words to each other in the middle of difficult sets to get them through the tough times at practice.  These moments have lifted the spirits of our senior swimmers all season long and great swims have come as a result.  One of the most common phrases I heard was "Let's go boys.....State Champions........3-Peat!"  With Michael Duderstadt, Jonathan Ratliff and Casey Pridgen training side by side on a daily basis, it was easy to get each other pumped up to defend their State Title for a third straight year.

However, Gainesville and Belen Jesuit had other plans for that race.  In 2012, the Mosley boys won the 200 Medley Relay with a 1:38.30.  This year, going into finals, they sat with a 1:38.42 and were in a distant third place behind their rivals.  Everyone knew they were going to have to be on their game if they were to win again because we all knew Belen and Gainesville were going to go faster.  Enter.........our Tsunami heros!  Leading off the race was long time PCST swimmer Michael Whitehead with a terrific 50 Backstroke leg.  As fast as he was, it was a little off of his previous best time which meant our boys had to be perfect the rest of the way.  That's when Michael Duderstadt dove in to erase their deficit in a ridiculous 24.98 breaststroke split!!  That time was not only the fastest in the state, it was also a half second faster than the Bolles National Record Breaking Relay breast split!!  With a slight lead, Jonathan Ratliff popped in for a smoking fast 23.21 fly leg that was also one of the fastest in all three state classifications!! 

And then it was all down to Casey Pridgen...........who was probably most motivated all season long by those war chants in practice.  I can't tell you how many times I heard Duder yell across the lanes to Casey "Come on Casey!  State Champions Casey!!  Let's go boy!"  And Casey's face would light up only to drop some crazy fast time in practice.  So it all came down to this.  With Gainesville and Belen Jesuit having seasoned sprinters who we knew were going to be faster, Casey was just going to have to hold them off.  Like two sharks chasing after a meal, the rival teams came barreling after Casey.  But he was unphased and not only held them off but split a half second faster than he ever had in his life with a rocking 22.3 free split on the end!  And then the eruption in the crowd..............STATE CHAMPIONS!!!!!  And did I mention?...............this also earned them the first ever All-American Consideration time for a relay in Bay County History!

Ahhhh what a day.  If you want to see if live, go to the recorded meet at the following link and see all of these swims for yourself!

Recorded Video Of States Here at   http://www.playonsports.com/channels/swimming-and-diving

State Champion 200 Medley Relay (Third Year In A Row!)
Whitehead (Back), Duderstadt (Breast), Ratliff (Fly), Pridgen (Free)

Bay County Gets First Ever Diving State Champion!
While this is not a PCST swimmer, I would still like to congratulate Coach Carl Kupper and Rutherford Diver Chris Jackson, for bringing home the first ever State Champion in diving in Bay County history!!!  He held of a very good diver who is the son of a masters swimmer I know from my home town of Winter Haven, FL.  Even diving is a small world!  Congratulations on your amazing accomplishment Chris!!

Duderstadt, Ratliff, Myers, Krause & Whitehead Make State Champ Finals in Individual Events!
In addition to our incredible races and state titles, we had some spectacular swims from many other Tsunamis too!  Jonathan Ratliff earned a major goal of his to finish Top 8 in both of his swims.  Well, after a crazy fast 1:41 and 4:34 in his freestyle events, he has proven yet again that he is one of the premier freestylers in all of the state!  Even better, Jonathan earned his first ever All-American Consideration Time in that 500 Freestyle!!  Our second highest individual at the State Meet was Niceville's Caitlin Myers.  Not only did she win the consolation heat in the 50 free, she also put together a blistering 52.7 in the 100 Free to earn a 5th place finish in the event!

Now let's talk about Michael Whitehead.  haha!  For those of you who don't know him...........12 months ago his breaststroke was...........well...........let's just say his 4th best stroke.  :)  Never before had he finished top 8 at states until this, his senior year.  And boy did he do it in great fashion as he broke the 1 minute barrier in what else but the 100 BREASTSTROKE!  HAHA!  I have to laugh at that because he fought me on that stroke for so long and I always said he would be good at it.  Congrats Michael!  And also congrats to Kalanne Krause who overcame the freshman first time jitters in prelims to not only go a best time in finals in her 200 IM, but to blow it away by a full second!!  So proud of you KK!!

State Finals Individual
Michael Duderstadt 1st (200 IM), 1st (100 Breast)
Caitlin Myers 5th (100 Free), 9th (50 Free)
Jonathan Ratliff 6th (500 Free), 8th (200 Free)
Michael Whitehead 6th (100 Breast)
Kalanne Krause 11th (200 IM)

State Finals Relay
200 Medley Relay Mosley Boys 1st (Whitehead, Duderstadt, Ratliff, Pridgen)
400 Free Relay Mosley Boys 4th (Ratliff, Young, Whitehead, Duderstadt)
200 Free Relay Niceville Girls 4th (Krause, Tibaduiza, Parke, Myers)
200 Medley Relay Mosley Girls 11th (Wilder, Stock, Hallam, Gurganus)
200 Free Relay Mosley Boys 15th (Pridgen, Smith, Spencer, Young)

Other Great Individual Performances
Lindsey Gurganus 200 Free (18th), 100 Free (18th)
Jamie McDonald 200 Free (21st)

Four Different PCST Swimmers Break Team Records!
Look at how fast these records are getting!!  I love it!  Just wait until you see what they are after the Pensacola Gravy Bowl Meet as well as after Junior Nationals!

New PCST Team Records
Kalanne Krause 13-14 Girls 50 Free (25.07) breaks Kalanne Krause (25.34) from 2012
Kalanne Krause 13-14 Girls 200 IM (2:11.75) breaks Kalanne Krause (2:12.32) from 2012
Taylor Wilder 15-16 Girls 50 Back (29.27) breaks Victoria Hove (29.43) from 2010
Jonathan Ratliff 15-16 Boys 200 Free (1:41.99) breaks Jonathan Ratliff (1:42.96) from 2012
Jonathan Ratliff 15-16 Boys 500 Free (4:34.48) breaks Jonathan Ratliff (4:40.05) from 2011
Michael Duderstadt Senior Boys 50 Breast (26.03) breaks Cody Bronnenberg (26.30) from 2011
Michael Duderstadt Senior Boys 100 Breast (55.08) breaks Cody Bronnenberg (56.00) from 2011
Michael Duderstadt Senior Boys 200 IM (1:50.01) breaks Michael Duderstadt (1:52.69) from 2012

Seven County Records Fall For Bay & Okaloosa County!
This just blows my mind!  And guess what...........you should probably just sit tight because we have more county records coming in 2013!!!

New Bay County Records
Jonathan Ratliff 200 Free (1:41.99), 500 Free (4:34.48)
Michael Duderstadt 200 IM (1:50.01), 100 Breast (55.08)
Mosley Boys 200 Med Rel (1:36.05), 400 Fr Rel (3:13.87)

New Okaloosa County Records
Niceville Girls 200 Fr Rel (1:41.14)

Duderstadt Earns Third US National Qualifying Time and New US Open Time!
As many of you may remember from previous news articles, these times count for USA Swimming.  Well, here we are with even more amazing news!  Michael Duderstadt has officially earned his third Winter National qualifying time in the 200 IM, as well as a ridiculously fast time in the 100 Breast to get him a 2013 US Open cut!  To put that in perspective, the US Open cuts last year were the exact same as Olympic Trials cuts, but you could only achieve them in long course.  Well, this year they have opened it up to short course times that are equivalent to the long course cuts.  Yes.....for those of you following me, that means Duder swam a 100 Breast that is equivalent to an Olympic Trials time in long course!!!  That is so so fast Duder..........way to go!

New Qualifying Times
Michael Duderstadt 100 Breast (Summer Juniors & Summer US Open)
Michael Duderstadt 200 IM (Winter Juniors, Summer Juniors, Winter Nationals)
Jonathan Ratliff 200 Free (Winter Juniors Bonus)
Jonathan Ratliff 500 Free (Spring Juniors, Winter Juniors Bonus)

New All-Time Top 10 Swims For PCST Historical Rankings!
Once again............so fast.  Love it guys!  Keep up the amazing work and let's blow these times out of the water this weekend in Pensacola!

New Girls All-Time Top 10
50 Free: Kalanne Krause 3rd (25.07)
50 Back: Taylor Wilder 3rd (29.27)
200 IM: Kalanne Krause 4th (2:11.75)

New Boys All-Time Top 10
100 Free: Jonathan Ratliff 4th (48.36)
200 Free: Jonathan Ratliff 2nd (1:41.99)
500 Free: Jonathan Ratliff 1st (4:34.48)
50 Breast: Michael Duderstadt 1st (26.03)
100 Breast: Michael Duderstadt 1st (55.08)
200 IM: Michael Duderstadt 1st (1:50.01)

Next Up For PCST!
This Fri, Sat, Sun we will be defending our own team title at the GPAC hosted "Gravy Bowl" fall championship meet.  Let's get all Tsunamis on board for an incredible meet and use this as the starting point towards breaking all of the records I just mentioned above.  What do you think?  Who's up for the challenge Tsunamis???

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan