Tsunamis Crush Records at Southeastern Championships!

Well Rounded Team Performance In Nashville For The Tsunamis!

Led by our latest Southeastern Champion, Michael Duderstadt, your Tsunamis put together one of the most well-rounded performances in team history. Earning valuable team points in the 10 & Under Girls, 11-12 Girls, 11-12 Boys, 13-14 Girls, Senior Girls and Senior Boys, PCST showed that we are a deeper team than we have ever been. The trick about the Southeastern Championship meet is that depth is not rewarded except for at the highest level, making it diffficult to move up in the team rankings. It's hard to believe, but although this was the 3rd highest team finish in PCST history at the Short Course Championships, it was more than likely the strongest most well rounded team we have ever had.

We crushed a bunch of team records, posted swimmers in the Top 8 in every age group, re-wrote our All-Time Top 10 lists, and even added to our Sectional Team! But to top it all off, we ended the meet with our new 3 time Southeastern Champion, Michael Duderstadt, earning the team's FIRST EVER Southeastern Championship High Point Trophy! When you put all of that together, it's hard not to smile at the effort our Tsunamis put forth at the championship meet. You guys were awesome!

Tsunamis Finish 17th Overall at Southeastern Championships!
While it may not have been the highest team finish ever, it was certainly one of the better ones in team history. It's amazing that we can improve as much as we have as a team, but not jump forward in the team rankings. The reason for that is because the dynamics of the meet change from one year to the next. Some years only a handful of teams really take over all the points, while other years a bunch of teams have great swimmers earning points and they are more spread out than usual. This was one of those years because we scored a ton of points! :) So clearly, the future is super bright too because our points were spread out over all age groups and not just from one or two swimmers like many teams often have.

Overall Team Score
PCST finished 17th overall with 300 points (out of roughly 70 teams in Southeastern Swimming)

Boys Overall Finish: 13th Place
Girls Overall Finish: 18th Place

Duderstadt Becomes Three Time Southeastern Champion and Wins First Ever SES High Point Trophy!
Only twice before has PCST had a swimmer win 3 events at the same Southeastern Championship Meet. Both Cody Bronnenberg and Jonathan Ratliff have pulled off such a feat. However, no swimmer has ever done so in such a fashion that Mr. Michael Duderstadt did in Nashville recently. Knowing that he had the Junior National Championships just around the corner, Duder (as well as a couple other swimmers) did not  rest for Southeasterns. This means that he was "training through" the meet, swimming a little more tired than he normally would for a championship meet. It also means that he did not shave, which is something you save for your final championship meet in most cases.

What we can take from this is that Duder put together one of the greatest meet performances in PCST history by winning the overall High Point Trophy for the incredibly challenging Senior Boys division. By scoring in the Top 8 in all 7 events in which he competed, Duder accomplished proved that he is one of the elite swimmers in Southeastern Swimming and the country. However, he also WON three of those races (100 Breast, 200 Breast and 100 Free), including back to back victories to conclude the meet on Sunday evening! As if that wasn't tough enough, he did so with every single race being back to back, leaving him only 15 minutes or so in between events at finals. In fact, on Friday night, Duder competed in three races in a total of 35 minutes!  OUCH! When all was said and done, he has raced 16 times in three days!!  Duder showed that all of his training and work in practice does pay off because he was physically and mentally prepared for such a battle.  Congratulations on an amazing meet Duder.........you've earned it!

Michael Duderstadt SES Championship Swims!
100 Breast 1st (55.77)
200 Breast 1st (2:00.64)
100 Free 1st (45.34)

19 Team Records Fall in Nashville!
Take a look at all these records below!!! It seems like 2001 was a good year for PCST because many of those records stood until this year. But, all good things must come to an end and it appears as if our swimmers were determined to crush a ton of old records in Nashville! In particular, our girls smashed some relay records that have withstood the test of time that included many great Tsunamis who were previously unable to break the all time mark. Congrats to our 10 & Under and Senior Girls for taking control of the relay records and making them their own!

As you can see, we had a team record broken in every single age group at Southeasterns! If that's not a sign for a great future, I don't know what is! A special congratulations also goes out to Cole Tillman for breaking his first ever PCST record!! He, along with Taylor Wilder, dropped an incredible amount of time in their distance swims to go from barely seeing the record to crushing it! Congratulations to all of our Tsunamis below who showed up and rocked the record books at Southeasterns!

8 & Under Boys New Records
Alex Fulton 200 Free (2:43.55) breaks Chris Duncan (2:51.28) from 2001
Alex Fulton 200 IM (3:07.66) breaks Tristan Gandy (3:10.82) from 2011

10 & Under Girls New Records
Chloe Griskie 50 Fly (32.98) breaks Jessica Chandlee (33.07) from 2001
200 Free Relay (2:09.32) Chloe Griskie, Taylor Warren, Isa Gobel, Marisa Ashley breaks
(2:14.14) Jessica Chandlee, Kaci Hassler, Eve Schnell, Katherine Whitton from 2001
200 Medley Relay (2:21.75) Taylor Warren, Isa Gobel, Chloe Griskie, Marisa Ashley breaks
(2:32.04) Jessica Chandlee, Kaci Hassler, Katherine Whitton, Eve Schnell from 2001

11-12 Girls New Records
Amelia Talkington 100 Free (55.98) breaks Kalanne Krause (56.18) from 2010
Amelia Talkington 500 Free (5:33.93) breaks Kari Troia (5:36.69) from 2012

11-12 Boys New Records
Cole Tillman 1000 Free (11:38.68) breaks Greg Greer (11:48.12) from 2000

13-14 Girls New Records
Kyla Hallam 100 Breast (1:08.88) breaks Kyla Hallam (1:09.85) from 2012

15-16 Girls New Records
Kalanne Krause 100 Back (59.48) breaks Taylor Wilder (1:01.25) from 2013
Kalanne Krause 200 Back (2:09.37) breaks Taylor Wilder (2:09.97) from 2013
Hannah Retherford 50 Back (28.93) breaks Taylor Wilder (29.27) from 2012
Hannah Retherford 50 Back (28.76) breaks Hannah Retherford (28.93) from 2013
Taylor Wilder 1650 Free (18:17.48) breaks Mary McDermott (18:23.47) from 2008

Senior Girls New Records
Caitlin Myers 50 Free (24.80) breaks Caitlin Myers (24.93) from 2013
Caitlin Myers 100 Free (53.22) breaks Colleen Gordon (53.31) from 2011
400 Free Relay (3:37.15) Kalanne Krause, Jamie McDonald, Taylor Wilder, Caitlin Myers breaks
(3:37.53) Victoria Hove, Nicole Gazia, Jamie McDonald, Lindsey Gurganus from 2012
400 Medley Relay (3:59.78) Kalanne Krause, Alysiah Stock, Jamie McDonald, Caitlin Myers breaks
(4:04.10) Shanna Halsell, Marisa Sweetser, Jessica Hassler, Andrea Erben from 2001

Senior Boys New Records
Michael Duderstadt 100 Free (45.34) breaks Michael Duderstadt (45.41) from 2012

Kyla Hallam Joins PCST Sectional Team!
As many of you know, the Sectional Championships are the next level up past Southeasterns. It is the first step where there are no age groups, but simply all senior level swimmers competing together as one. Beyond that is where you get into the Junior National Championships, Nationals and Olympic Trials. Well, we have a terrific Sectional Championship Team heading to Nashville again soon, and we have a new member going! Congratulations to Kyla Hallam for her amazing team record and Sectional qualifying performance in the 100 Breast with a 1:08.88. Did I mention that Kyla only turned 14 a couple weeks before the meet? Amazing! Great job Kyla and Kalanne Krause on your new Sectional cuts!

New Sectional Cuts
Kyla Hallam: 100 Breast (Spring Sectionals) **First time qualifier!
Kalanne Krause: 100 Back (Spring Sectionals and NCSA Junior National Bonus Cut); 200 Back (Summer Sectionals)

Duderstadt, Hallam, Talkington & Tillman Join 10 & Under Girls Relay for Top 8 Swims!
You've already heard me talk about how amazing it was for Duder to finish in the Top 8 in every swim, so now it's time for me to brag on Kyla, Amelia, Cole and our 10 & Under Girls! Kyla Hallam had one heck of a morning swim in her 100 Breast. She got the team record, her first ever Sectional cut, and also made the championship final race! In addition, Cole Tillman has gone from a VERY good 11-12 year old boy to one of the best in all of Southeastern Swimming! His 3 finals performances are second only beyond Duder on the team! However, not to be outdone, Amelia Talkington also put together 3 amazing Top 8 performances of her own to show that PCST 11-12 year olds are a force to be reckoned with! Finally, our 10 & Under girls came together for an amazing performance in the 200 Medley Relay. Not only did they crush the team record, but they put themselves in the history books with an incredible Top 8 swim!

Top 8 Championship Swims at SES!
Michael Duderstadt (Senior Boys): 100 Free (1st), 100 Breast (1st), 200 Breast (1st), 200 IM (3rd), 50 Free (5th), 100 Back (5th), 200 Free (7th)
Amelia Talkington (11-12 Girls): 200 Free (6th), 100 Free (7th), 1000 Free (7th)
Cole Tillman (11-12 Girls): 100 Free (6th), 50 Free (8th), 50 Fly (8th)
Kyla Hallam (13-14 Girls) 100 Breast (8th)
10 & Under Girls 200 Medley Relay (Warren, Gobel, Griskie, Ashley): 8th overall

Other Great Swims in the 9th-16th Place Range!
As you heard me mention before, the Southeastern Championships do not reward depth as much as other championship meets do. In some cases, the 9th-16th swimmers earn points for their teams to help them move up in the rankings. In Southeastern Swimming, we only do so for the Senior age group since there are so many swimmers in those events. However, I can tell you that if they did score 9-16............we almost certainly would have moved up in the team rankings because this was where our depth showed up. Check out just how many Tsunamis were barely outside of the scoring range this year! We were the kings and queens of 9th, 10th, 11th place, haha!! But in most cases we were going best times and that's as much as you can ask for. I'm so  very proud of every single Tsunami listed below for your great swims at the meet!

9th-16th Swims
Marisa Ashley (10 & Under Girls): 200 Free (13th), 500 Free (14th), 200 IM (14th), 50 Breast (15th)
Taylor Warren (10 & Under Grils): 50 Breast (11th), 100 Back (12th), 100 Breast (16th)
Chloe Griskie (10 & Under Girls): 100 Fly (9th), 200 IM (9th), 50 Fly (11th), 100 IM (11th)
200 Free Relay (10 & Under Girls): 9th overall
Amelia Talkington (11-12 Girls): 50 Free (9th), 500 Free (10th)
Nico Gobel (11-12 Boys): 100 Fly (13th), 200 IM (14th), 50 Free (15th), 100 IM (15th), 50 Fly (16th)
Cole Tillman (11-12 Boys): 1000 Free (10th), 100 IM (14th)
Kari Troia (13-14 Girls): 1650 Free (11th)
Kyla Hallam (13-14 Girls): 200 Breast (9th)
Chad McGuire (13-14 Boys): 1650 Free (10th), 200 Breast (11th), 100 Breast (15th)
Alex Phlegar (13-14 Boys): 200 Back (15th), 100 Breast (16th)
Cailtin Myers (Senior Girls): 100 Free (10th), 200 Free (14th)
400 Free Relay (Senior Girls): 10th overall
400 Medley Relay (Senior Girls "A"): 10th overall
400 Medley Relay (Senior Girls "B"): 16th overall (**First ever girls "B" relay to score points at SES!)
Jonathan Ratliff (Senior Boys) 1000 Free (10th), 200 Free (14th), 400 IM (15th)
Michael Whitehead (Senior Boys) 200 Breast (10th)
400 Free Relay (Senior Boys): 13th overall
400 Medley Relay (Senior Boys): 11th overall

14 & Under Swimmers Post An Astonishing 76.5% Best Time Rate!!!
I put together this statistic for the sole reason of wanting to brag on the job Coach Brian and Coach Phillip have done for our Tsunamis! When you go to a championship meet, it's easy to get caught up in whether or not you were the best at the meet. Too many times (and I was just as guilty of this as anyone else throughout my swimming career), swimmers only look at the athletes who are beating them without ever appreciating just how many swimmers that are now behind them! It's okay to be eager to want to move forward, but it's also okay to enjoy your success when you improve yourself. And that's just what we did at Southeasterns. Three out of every four races for our 14 & younger swimmers was a best time! Do you realize how hard that is to do???

Coach Brian and Coach Phillip have worked their tails off to prepare our swimmers both at Frank Brown Park and at GCSC, and they have done a great job. They have set us up for a potential explosion in improvement over the next couple of years, so if you get a chance, be sure to thank them for a job well done. :) We had 8 swimmers in the meet who finished with 100% best times, and 7 of them were from their groups. Congrats guys!

Swimmers With 100% Best Times
Nico Gobel, Chloe Griskie, Jamie McDonald, Chad McGuire, Kathryn-Annette McKinney, Amelia Talkington, Cole Tillman, Taylor Warren

7 Different Swimmers Post New All-Time Top 10 Swims!
Check out the new All-Time Top 10 swims from Nashville! To paraphrase Alecia Keys............."THESE GIRLS WERE ON FIIIIRRRREEE!" Yeah, I went there. :)

New Girls All-Time Top 10 Swims
50 Free: Jamie McDonald 10th (25.69)
100 Free: Kalanne Krause 6th (54.05), Jamie McDonald 9th (55.21), Kyla Hallam 10th (55.85)
200 Free: Caitlin Myers 4th (1:54.54), Kalanne Krause 5th (1:57.26), Jamie McDonald 7th (1:57.48)
1000 Free: Taylor Wilder 6th (11:07.76)
1650 Free: Taylor Wilder 5th (18:17.48), Kari Troia 9th (18:55.05)
50 Back: Kalanne Krause 3rd (28.97)
100 Back: Kalanne Krause 2nd (59.48)
200 Back: Kalanne Krause 2nd (2:09.37), Kari Troia 9th (2:17.20)
50 Breast: Kyla Hallam 8th (32.80)
100 Breast: Kyla Hallam 6th (1:08.88)
200 Breast: Kyla Hallam 7th (2:31.98)
50 Fly: Jamie McDonald 9th (28.42)
100 Fly: Jamie McDonald 5th (1:00.63), Kyla Hallam 10th (1:02.52)
200 IM: Kari Troia 7th (2:17.06)

New Boys All-Time Top 10 Swims
50 Free: Michael Duderstadt 2nd (20.90)
100 Free: Michael Duderstadt 1st (45.34)

New Age Group All-Time Top 10 Swims
Want further proof that we are more well rounded than ever? Since I came here in 2006, we have been crushing the All-Time Top 10 list for each age group every single year. These Top 10 lists are NOT easy in the least bit!  And yet our swimmers are still crushing them. You guys are getting so so so so good!

New 8 & Under Boys Top 10
Alex Fulton: 200 Free (1st), 200 IM (1st)

New 9-10 Girls Top 10
Chloe Griskie: 50 Free (10th), 10) Free (7th), 200 Free (7th), 50 Fly (1st), 100 Fly (4th), 100 IM (5th), 200 IM (5th)
Marisa Ashley: 500 Free (4th), 50 Breast (6th), 200 IM (6th)
Taylor Warren: 50 Back (3rd), 100 Back (4th), 50 Breast (5th), 100 Breast (10th), 100 IM (9th), 200 IM (9th)
Isa Gobel: 50 Breast (10th)

New 11-12 Girls Top 10
Amelia Talkington: 50 Free (2nd), 100 Free (1st), 200 Free (2nd), 500 Free (1st), 1000 Free (2nd), 100 Back (6th)
Maddie Campbell: 50 Back (8th)
Peyton Baranowski: 50 Fly (7th)

New 11-12 Boys Top 10
Cole Tillman: 50 Free (2nd), 100 Free (3rd), 200 Free (6th), 500 Free (5th), 1000 Free (1st), 50 Fly (3rd), 100 IM (5th), 200 IM (7th)
Nico Gobel: 50 Free (5th), 100 Free (8th), 50 Back (6th), 50 Fly (5th), 100 Fly (3rd), 100 IM (6th), 200 IM (6th)

New 13-14 Girls Top 10
Kyla Hallam: 100 Free (2nd), 50 Breast (2nd), 100 Breast (1st), 200 Breast (2nd), 100 Fly (3rd)
Kari Troia: 500 Free (3rd), 1000 Free (4th), 1650 Free (2nd), 200 Back (4th), 50 Fly (9th)
Michaela Ashley: 200 Breast (8th)

New 13-14 Boys Top 10
Alex Phlegar: 50 Free (10th), 100 Back (7th), 200 Back (5th), 50 Breast (4th), 100 Breast (4th), 100 Fly (5th)
Chad McGuire: 1000 Free (8th), 1650 Free (8th), 100 Back (10th), 50 Breast (3rd), 100 Breast (3rd), 200 Breast (2nd), 200 IM (8th)

New 15-16 Girls Top 10
Kalanne Krause: 50 Free (3rd), 100 Free (2nd), 200 Free (2nd), 50 Back (2nd), 100 Back (1st), 200 Back (1st), 50 Fly (7th), 100 Fly (4th), 200 IM (3rd)
Hannah Retherford: 100 Free (7th), 50 Back (1st), 100 Back (2nd), 200 Back (4th), 50 Fly (4th), 100 Fly (3rd)
Taylor Wilder: 500 Free (6th), 1000 Free (3rd), 1650 Free (1st)

New Senior Girls Top 10
Caitlin Myers: 50 Free (1st), 100 Free (1st), 200 Free (4th), 50 Back (6th), 100 Back (5th), 50 Fly (8th), 100 Fly (7th), 200 IM (4th)
Jamie McDonald: 50 Free (8th), 100 Free (8th), 200 Free (6th), 50 Fly (7th), 100 Fly (5th)

New Senior Boys Top 10
Michael Duderstadt: 50 Free (2nd), 100 Free (1st)
Michael Whitehead: 50 Back (6th), 100 Fly (7th)

Next Up for PCST!
You'll be hearing more soon about the March 2nd home meet as well as the Auburn Championships. However, the big ones you'll hear the most about are the Junior National and Sectional Championships coming up here real soon! We have 6 swimmers going to Junior Nationals as well as another 5 going to Sectionals. It's going to be a big week! So be sure to follow along!

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan