Tsunamis Finish Strong At Mac Crutchfield Invite in Tallahassee!
Gobel and Duderstadt Lead PCST To A Tight Team Finish!
Each year PCST heads to the Mac Crutchfield Invitational in Tallahassee to go up against the mighty Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club in their home meet. And since ATAC outnumbers the next team 3 to 1 in total swimmers, the battle for second place overall is typically the exciting one to keep an eye on. While PCST has won the "visiting team" 1st place trophy on multiple occassions, we had other goals in mind this time around in Tallahassee. Of course, with 50 swimmers competing in the meet (our personal team record), we figured we would have a good shot at that overall team award, but it was not the main team goal going into this meet.
Our top priority was creating opportunities for our Tsunami swimmers to have the best possible swims to help them develop as elite level swimmers. As you will soon read, that mission was accomplished on many fronts! This would often be a case of some of our athletes either not entering all the events possible, or in some cases swimming some of their "off" events in order to improve their overall ability as well-rounded swimmers. Either way, it was a great meet and I would not change a thing about it.
When all was said and done at the close of the competition late Sunday afternoon, your Tsunamis had fallen only 2.5 points short of winning that 1st place visiting team award. Instead, we finished 3rd overall (2nd place visiting) to ATAC and the other team enjoying the comforts of their own home in Tallahassee, the Maclay Northside Dolfins. And just to give you an idea of just how close that team battle was, the final scores were 3,086.5 to3,084!!! Isn't that crazy? I've never seen it come that close.
I am so proud of how great our Tsunamis swam in Tallahassee because of those incredible individual accomplishments in which you are about to read. We broke numerous team records, qualified new swimmers for Southeasterns, put a hurtin on the all-time top 10 lists, and even added a new swimmer to the illustrious Sectional Team! You guys were awesome!! I knew there was a great reason as to why I was so excited going into the meet. Terrific job..........now enjoy all of your great swims for a moment as you get ready to make a big push in training for Districts and Southeasterns this month!
"Duder" and "NIco" (Great names huh??) Bring Home High Point Awards!
In a meet that has elite level swimmers at every turn, coming home with an overall high point award is no easy task. A special congratulations goes out to Michael Duderstadt for proving once again that he is the best of the best for Senior Boys in the area, as well as Nico Gobel for showing that well-rounded swimming actually does make you one of the best around!! Great job boys!
High Point Awards
Michael Duderstadt (Senior Boys) 1st overall
Nico Gobel (11-12 Boys) 2nd overall
Luke Maggiore (8&U Boys) - 25 Back, 25 Breast, 50 Breast, 100 IM
Isa Gobel (10&U Girls) - 100 Fly
All season long our Senior swimmers have been motivated to not only compete well at the Southeastern Championships, but also to look a step beyond to the Sectional and Junior National Championships. For one 16 year old senior, it is now mission accomplished! Taylor Wilder broke the 2:10 barrier in the 200 Back, becoming only the 3rd Tsunami in team history to do so, and making herself the next Sectional level swimmer for PCST. Another special congratulations goes out to 14 year old Kalanne Krause, for added 2 more events to her list of Sectional swims coming up in March!
Taylor Wilder: 200 Back (Spring Sectionals)
Kalanne Krause: 100 Free (Spring Sectionals), 200 Back (Spring Sectionals)
Caitlin Myers: 200 Free (Spring Junior Nationals Bonus)
Michael Duderstadt: 200 Back (Spring Junior Nationals)
While we have broken a lot of boys records this short course season, the ATAC meet proved to be the meet one for our girls! But never fear boys, because our 11-12 relay SMASHED both of their previous records, proving yet again that we have the strongest 11-12 boys group ever! Congratulations to all of the following swimmers who broke team records, showing that they are as good as it gets when it comes to PCST swimming!
13-14 Girls
Kari Troia 200 Breast (2:30.60) breaks Kari Troia (2:31.46) from 2012
Kalanne Krause 100 Free (54.26) breaks Kalanne Krause (54.56) from 2012
Kalanne Krause 200 Free (2:02.05) breaks Mary McDermott (2:02.40) from 2007
Kalanne Krause 200 Free (1:58.03) breaks Kalanne Krause (2:02.05) from 2013
Kalanne Krause 400 IM (4:43.46) breaks Victoria Hove (4:49.06) from 2008
Taylor Wilder 100 Back (1:01.25) breaks Victoria Hove/Taylor Wilder (1:01.36) from 2009/2012
Taylor Wilder 200 Back (2:11.24) breaks Victoria Hove (2:11.46) from 2010
Taylor Wilder 200 Back (2:09.97) breaks Taylor Wilder (2:11.24) from 2013
Caitlin Myers 50 Free (24.93) breaks Lauren Delaney (25.02) from 2007
200 Free Relay (1:54.53) Nico Gobel, Ben Hicks, Matt Dean, Cole Tillman breaks
(1:58.18) Nico Gobel, Cole Tillman, Matt Dean, Ben Hicks from 2012
200 Medley Relay (2:11.26) Ben Hicks, Cole Tillman, Nico Gobel, Matt Dean breaks
(2:14.77) Ben Hicks, Nico Gobel, Cole Tillman, Matt Dean from 2012
Tsunamis Re-Write Tons of Age Group All-Time Top 10 Swims!
If you see your name below, be sure to go to our website and look under "Team Rankings" to find the AG Top 10 List because you have achieved a new time that makes you one of the fastest swimmers for your age group in PCST history! Some of you are getting on there for the first time ever, others are moving up the rankings, while some are simply improving your times to make it even tougher for future Tsunamis to get on there. Either way, you're doing a great job and you should be proud of that accomplishment. So be sure to check out what your new Top 10 swim was!
New Age Group Top 10 Swims
8 & Under Girls: Gretchen Freisthler
10 & Under Girls: Chloe Griskie, Taylor Warren, Isa Gobel
11-12 Girls: Amelia Talkington, Maddie Campbell
13-14 Girls: Kari Troia, Kalanne Krause
15-16 Girls: Taylor Wilder, Hannah Retherford, Alexis Hall, Fallon Gelsleichter
Senior Girls: Caitlin Myers
8 & Under Boys: Luke Maggiore
11-12 Boys: Cole Tillman, Nico Gobel
13-14 Boys: Chad McGuire
15-16 Boys: Casey Pridgen, Liam Alexander, Jonathan Ratliff
Senior Boys: Michael Whitehead, Michael Duderstadt
7 Tsunamis Improve Their Top 10 All Time Rankings For All Ages!
Considering how elite the age group top 10 rankings are quickly becoming, you can imagine how tough it is to be one of the 10 fastest swimmers ever in PCST history for all ages combined! And although we are in the middle of the season and still have our championship meets coming our way, we are STILL putting up new times on that list! It's amazing, and so are you guys!
New All-Time Top 10 Swims
Caitlin Myers 200 Free 4th (1:55.06), 400 IM 10th (4:54.17)
Kalanne Krause 100 Free 6th (54.26), 200 Free 7th (1:58.03), 200 Back 4th (2:10.81), 400 IM 5th (4:43.46)
Taylor Wilder 1650 Free 8th (18:50.70), 100 Back 4th (1:01.25), 200 Back 3rd (2:09.97)
Alexis Hall 200 Back 9th (2:17.20)
Kari Troia 200 Breast 6th (2:30.60), 200 IM 7th (2:17.06), 400 IM 7th (4:52.36)
Fallon Gelsleichter 200 Fly 9th (2:21.51)
Michael Duderstadt 200 Back 3rd (1:54.49)
Next Up for PCST!
Last year we had a team record number of swimmers compete at the District Championships in Pensacola. This year, we don't want to simply break that number, we want to SMASH IT! On February 16-17 at the University of West Florida pool, we will be striving to have over 60 Tsunami swimmers in the meet. The deadline to sign up is Monday, Feb 4th! So make sure you get signed up so you can achieve your goals!
CATCH THE WAVE!
Coach Jonathan
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