Excel Aquatics Fall Fest Meet Results

September 28, 2009…. 23 swimmers from Excel Aquatics/Sumner County, who train in Gallatin, took to the water this past weekend in the Excel Aquatics Fall Fest Swim Meet in Brentwood TN, Sept 25-27.

Two swimmers won three total events between them. Bradley Gillilan won the Senior Boy’s 1,650 Yard Freestyle, coming in at 15:41.26, a drop of 31.49 seconds from his previous best time. Gillilan also won the 500 Yard Freestyle in a time of 4:39.12, another personal best time. Gillilan’s time of 2:01.01 in the 200 Yard Fly was good enough for a 2^nd place finish and a Senior Sectional qualifying time.

Brittany Zobl, a Sophomore at Pope John Paul II High School, won the Senior Girl’s 50 Yard Freestyle in a time of 0:25.70, just a fraction off a personal best time.

Four swimmers who attend High School in Sumner County attained an astounding 24 High School State Qualifying times between them. High School State times have to be re-attained each year.

Zobl attained cuts in the 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Fly, 100 Breast, and 200 Individual Medley (IM). Zobl also attained Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championship Times in the 200 Free and 200 IM.

Kathryn George, a senior at Pope John Paul II High School, attained cuts in the 100 Free, 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Fly, 100 Breast, and 200 IM. George also attained Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championship Times in the 200 IM.

Alek Nochowicz, also a Senior at Pope John Paul II High School, attained cuts in the 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free, 100 Back, and 200 IM.

Bryce Anderson, a Sophomore at Merroll-Hyde Magnet School, made his State cuts in the 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free, 100 Back, 100 Fly, and 200 IM. Anderson also attained Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championship Times in the 200 Free, 200 Fly, and 1,000 Free.

Top 8 Finishes:

Bryce Anderson - Senior Boy's - 3rd 1650 Free, 4th 500 Free, 8th 200 Fly

Mary Grace Anderson - 8&U Girl's - 6th 100 Free, 7th 100 IM

Austin Beech - 8&U Boy's - 3rd 50 Back, 5th 25 Free, 5th 50 Free, 8th 25 Back

Schuyler Daniel - 11&12 Girl's - 5th* 50 Fly (*or 3rd?)

Ben Ellis - 8&U Boy's - 7th 50 Back

Kathryn George - Senior Girl's - 3rd 100 Back, 3rd 100 Fly, 5th 100 Free, 5th 200 Fly, 5th 200 IM, 8th 100 Breast, 8th 200 Breast

Bradley Gillilan - Senior Boy's - 1st 500 Free, 1st 1650 Free, 2nd 200 Fly, 6th 200 Breast

Emily Harris - 8&U Girl's - 8th 25 Back

Erica Harris - 8&U Girl's - 3rd 100 Free, 5th 100 IM, 5th 50 Free, 5th 50 Back, 5th 25 Free, 6th 50 Back

Madison Kolbe - 13&14 Girl's - 4th 200 Breast, 5th 50 Free, 5th 400 IM, 5th 1000 Free

John Mainland - Senior Boy's - 8th 1000 Free

Makensie Moses – 10&U Girl’s – 2^nd 500 Free

Taylor Moses - 13&14 Boy's - 4th 1650 Free

Alek Nochowicz - Senior Boy's - 5th 1650 Free, 5th 1000 Free

Allison Riley - 11&12 Girl's - 7th 500 Free

Paige Scheriger - 13&14 Girl's - 2nd 100 Breast, 2nd 200 Breast, 3rd 200 IM, 3rd 400 IM, 4th 50 Free, 4th 200 Back, 6th 500 Free, 7th 200 Fly

Brittany Zobl - Senior Girl's - 1st 50 Free, 2nd 100 Free, 3rd 200 Back, 4th 100 Back, 6th 200 Free, 6th 200 IM, 8th 400 IM, 8th 100 Fly

Also participating in the meet: Caroline Allen, Maggie Coley, Riley Gaines, Jacob McCrory, Michael Treesh, and Anna Zikovich.

“Our 8&Under swimmers have done great, many placed in the Top 8 in their events, and our 10&Unders were real close in a lot of events,” Coach Barnes pointed out. “We are proud of how hard they work and their excitement in swimming.”

“At Excel Aquatics/Sumner County we work with swimmers at all levels of training, and we focus on leaving no one behind. Coaches have told me that if you had watched Gillilan as a new 6 year old swimmer, you wouldn’t think he would eventually be competing at the Senior National level, and yet through technique and dedication, he is now the top Long Distance swimmer in Middle Tennessee and is being recruited by major colleges across the nation. We did not leave Gillilan behind all those years ago, and now he is inspiring the current young swimmers who train with us to strive to compete with him one day.”

For more information about swimming, visit www.ExcelAquatics.org

Swimming Academic All-American

Powell and Ross are Swimming Academic All-Americans

May 26, 2009….Two graduating seniors from the Pope John Paul II High School Swim Team have been selected by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association as Academic All-Americans for the 2008-2009 school year.

To be eligible for the award, swimmers must be graduating seniors having maintained an unweighted GPA of 3.75 through the first semester of their senior year. Additionally they must have also lettered in swimming for three years, including their senior year.

“Pope John Paul II High School has a tradition of academic excellence, and the swim team is proud of Ashley and Margaret having attained this national recognition for their academic success”, Pope John Paul II Swim Coach John Barnes commented. “They did a great job of balancing academics, athletics, and their leadership roles within Pope John Paul II; they are a fine example of the accomplished student-athletes which the high school produces each year.”

For more information on Pope John Paul II High School Swim Team, visit www.jp2hs.org

Excel Swimmers Shine at Spring Fling

Swimmers excel at Spring Fling Meet

April 26, 2009….It was the first Long Course swim meet of the year, and it was the Excel Aquatics Spring Fling Invitational in Brentwood TN. Long Course meets are held in 50 Meter pools, as compared to Short Course meets which are held in 25 Yard pools. The Olympics and most international meets are held in the Long Course format.

Swimmers from Excel Aquatics who train in Sumner County joined over 120 of their Excel teammates from two other training sites to swim in the Spring Fling versus teams from across the region.

Leading the way in terms of effort and personal best times for the Excel/Sumner County squad was 11 year old Allison Riley from Hendersonville and Indian Lake Elementary.

Riley dropped time in all 9 of her events, with a substantial 40 second drop occurring in the 11&12 Year Old Girl’s 400 Meter Freestyle and over 25 seconds in the 200 Meter Individual Medley (IM).The IM event consists of all four strokes: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle in that order.

“Allie has had a great short course season, and it looks like it will continue into the long course season as well”, Excel Coach John Barnes commented. “She is a hard worker at practice, and is very coachable.”

Riley attained Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Championship Meet qualifying time standards in the 50 Meter Breaststroke and 100 Meter Breaststroke.

Madison Kolbe and Paige Scheriger of Ellis Middle School recently aged up to the 13&14 Year Old Girl’s category; however that did not stop them from some Top 8 placements in the meet.

Kolbe placed in the 200 Meter Breaststroke (4th), 100 Meter Breaststroke (5th), 100 Meter Backstroke (6th), and 50 Meter Free (7th). Kolbe qualified for the Long Course Championship Meet in the 100 and 200 Meter Breaststroke events.

Scheriger placed in the 800 Meter Free (3rd), 200 Meter Breaststroke (2nd), 100 Meter Breaststroke (4th), 200 Meter Butterfly (6th), 200 Meter Backstroke (7th), and 200 Meter IM (7th). Scheriger qualified for the Long Course Championship Meet in the 100 and 200 Meter Breaststroke events.

“Aging up to the 13&14 year old category means that swimmers no longer will be swimming 50’s and 100’s in meets. Now their focus turns to 100’s, 200’s and longer distances in meets. As such training for those aging up needs to change accordingly if they are to keep pace with their peers in the state, and Excel Aquatics has a strong history in Sumner County of developing numerous teenagers into highly competitive swimmers over the past 15 years we have trained here.”

“Both Madison and Paige have been putting in more yards, doing some different things with their strokes, and are working hard in practice since they aged up. As the long course season progresses and they adapt to the change in training, we expect them to continue their improvements.”

Other Sumner County resident swimmers in the meet: Trevor Curtis, Kathryn George, Matthew Kastan, Gabby Salamone, Kelsey Wiese and Brittany Zobl.

For more information on swimming for Sumner County residents, stop by the Gallatin Civic Center and speak with an Excel coach in the early evening hours.

Brittany Zobl nabs 3 Sectional Cuts

Zobl attains Sectional Time Cuts at Swim Meet

March 6, 2009….Brittany Zobl, a Freshman at Pope John Paul II High School, and a member of Excel Aquatics, joined over 80 of her Excel teammates at the recent Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championship Meet in Nashville, Feb 26-March 1.

Zobl had qualified for the meet in 4 events, the Senior Girl’s 50 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Backstroke, and 200 Yard Backstroke.

It was in the Backstroke events where Zobl shined.

In the 100 Yard Backstroke, Zobl dropped 0.81 seconds, turning a 1:00.43 (one minute, zero seconds and 43 hundredths of a second). The time was good enough for a USA Swimming Senior Summer Sectional Meet qualifying time. Zobl had already achieved a Spring Sectional Meet time cut in the event.

In the 200 Yard Backstroke, Zobl dropped 7.47 seconds, turning a 2:11.20, good enough for a 15th Place finish in the event. The time was a new time standard met for Zobl in both the Spring and Summer Sectional Meets.

“Brittany qualified for the first time in events for the Summer Sectional Meet, and added to her Spring Sectional total,” Excel Aquatics’ John Barnes noted. “She has been working on some technique issues with her backstroke, and they started to pay off in this meet.”

“Her Freestyle events were right on best times, and we expect things to really pop there as we move into Long Course season.”

The USA Swimming Senior Summer Sectional Meet will be held July 16-19, 2009 in Knoxville TN at the new Alan Jones Aquatics Center, and will be conducted in the Long Course 50 Meter format.

For more information on competitive swimming choices in Sumner County, visit www.ExcelAquatics.com, or visit the Gallatin Civic Center and speak with a coach.