Salesianum won its fourth straight swimming and diving title, with AI finishing second, 14 points ahead of Charter. Seems to me that was one of the faster overall state meets in my memory, definitely in the last 4 years. Results to come soon, along with final all state predictions.
Just got the results...they are located here. Team Scores are here. More discussion on the results to come tomorrow, but for tonight, I need sleep. Congratulations to everyone involved with the State Meet, from the swimmers to the coaches to the officials, this meet was truly a job well done all around.
Charter girls are champions for the second straight year. Team scores are here. Individual results are here. Two new records were set, the Charter girls Medley Relay and Nicole Vernon of Tatnall in the 500 Free. Congratulations to all on a great meet, the boys will compete tonight with some guaranteed close races and maybe at least one new record. Preliminary All-State selections are as follows (keep in mind these are NOT official):
Girls
Barring anything too unusual, the top few teams for the girls' meet tomorrow look pretty predictable, but one mistake anywhere could make for an interesting team points race. As for individual races, it looks like we will see plenty of excitement. All three relays should be close, with the top two teams in each being within a second or a little more. As for individual races, the 200 IM may be close, certainly closer than was expected based on the prelims seeds. The 50 Free should be a thriller, with all of the top 8 swimmers within half of a second, and 9th through 16th all within three quarters of a second. The start, turn, and finish will probably make all the difference. The 100 Fly should be close, with Nicole Osman taking the first seed, but not by much. The 100 Free, much like the 50, should be closely contested, with the top 8 all within a second and a half. While most of the other races don't look quite as close as far as the top few seeds go, there certainly will be close races throughout the top 16 swimmers, and maybe some unexpected close races. A few records have a chance to go down, the best chances are in the 500 Free and the 100 Breast, with an outside chance at the 200 Medley or 200 Free Relay records being broken.
Boys
As for the boys, Sallies is the favorite by a large margin, but second place is definitely up in the air, and 4th and 5th places still could change pretty easily. All three relays again look to be exciting, with the Medley having 5 teams within slightly more than a second. McKee looks to be ahead by a moderately large margin in the 200 Free, but I don't doubt that there will be a closer race than the prelims times. The boys' 50 Free should be an exciting race as usual, again with the top 8 within about a second of each other. The 100 Fly will almost definitely be close, especially if Tanner is feeling better than he was yesterday. The 100 Free features 4 swimmers under a 48, and will definitely be a race to the finish. My guess is the 500 Free will not be as close as it is seeded - Minderlein has gone a 4:37 in USA swimming. The 100 Breast will probably be exciting, with the top 4 possibly capable of breaking the 1:00 barrier. The 200 Free Relay record has a legitimate chance of being broken, with St. Andrew's only .03 away from the record at prelims, and the next few teams within a few tenths of the record. Otherwise, there are outside chances at record-breaking swims in the 200 Medley Relay, 100 Fly, and 100 Breast, but I wouldn't count on seeing any of those go down.
Both meets should be exciting tomorrow, and plan on a full house, tickets sold out quite some time ago.
After the preliminaries, boys results can be found here. Here are the point spreads if the results stay the same:
School
Points
Salesianum School
394
A.I. duPont
299
Charter Sch of Wilm
297
Archmere Acad
175
St. Andrews School
164.5
Newark HS
150
Delaware Military Acad
139.5
Tatnall School
127
Brandywine HS
124
Mt. Pleasant HS
121
Middletown HS
99.5
St. Mark's HS
83
Seaford HS
46
Wilmington Frien
40
Sanford
40
Caesar Rodney
37
Dover HS
35
Milford
24
William Penn HS
18.5
Concord HS
16
Cape Henlopen HS
10
Appoquinimink
7
Lake Forest HS
6
Glasgow
4
McKean
2
The original website that I had posted for the girls' results is not functioning, but thankfully Bruce was able to make it work. Just got All-State Predictions:
1st Team All State
Name
School
Class
Event #1
Points #1
Event #2
Points #2
Total
Samson Crawford
Newark
SR
50 Free
133
100 Breast
143
276
Tyler Gehrs
St. Andrews
SR
50 Free
139
100 Free
131
270
Curtis Ramsey
Charter
SR
50 Free
136
100 Free
133
269
Clifton Gordon
Salesianum
SO
100 Fly
132
100 Back
133
265
Ricky Agresta
Archmere
JR
50 Free
134
100 Free
127
261
Ryan MacLeish
Caesar Rodney
SR
50 Free
131
100 Free
130
261
Tanner Kurz
Del Mil Acad
FR
100 Fly
127
100 Breast
132
259
Eric Materniak
Tatnall
JR
200 IM
132
100 Breast
126
258
Tommy McKee
Brandywine
SO
200 Free
128
500 Free
125
253
Luke Minka
A.I. duPont
SO
200 IM
121
100 Breast
128
249
Sean Minderlein
Salesianum
JR
200 Free
121
500 Free
128
249
Brad Brooks
Charter
FR
200 Free
119
500 Free
122
241
Jack Reardon
A.I. duPont
SO
50 Free
127
100 Fly
113
240
Wills Cooper
St. Andrews
SR
50 Free
120
100 Free
120
240
Greg Miraglia
Wilmington Frien
JR
1st place diver
No Second Event
N/A
2nd Team All State
Name
School
Class
Event #1
Points #1
Event #2
Points #2
Total
Wayde Marsh
Salesianum
SR
100 Free
120
100 Back
118
238
Michael Moore
Mt. Pleasant
SR
100 Fly
117
100 Back
120
237
Dylan Coggin
Archmere
SR
200 Free
118
100 Free
117
235
Jeong Shin
A.I. duPont
SR
50 Free
119
100 Free
113
232
Mike Marando
Middletown
SR
200 Free
110
100 Breast
115
225
Zack Pryor
Salesianum
JR
200 IM
110
100 Fly
113
223
Joseph Creekmore
Archmere
SO
200 Free
113
500 Free
109
222
Bryan Brown
Dover
JR
100 Fly
104
100 Back
116
220
Alan Panaccione
St. Mark's
SO
200 IM
100
100 Back
118
218
Alex Hampel
Salesianum
SO
200 IM
108
500 Free
108
216
Jordan Lingo
Milford
SO
200 Free
105
500 Free
101
206
Jeffery Brooks
Charter
SR
200 IM
100
500 Free
101
201
Adam Stilwell
A.I. duPont
SR
100 Back
114
No Second Event
114
Jon Champagne
Tatnall
SR
100 Fly
111
No Second Event
111
Daniel Callaghan
Salesianum
JR
2nd place diver
No Second Event
N/A
3rd Team All State
Name
School
Class
Event #1
Points #1
Total
Benjamin Hitchcock
Newark
SR
100 Back
110
110
Seth Klair
A.I. duPont
FR
100 Breast
109
109
Robert Pagan
Charter
JR
100 Fly
109
109
Matt Jennings
A.I. duPont
JR
100 Breast
108
108
Lee Whitney
St. Andrews
SR
100 Breast
108
108
Tim Stradley
A.I. duPont
JR
200 Free
105
105
Adam Keup
Del Mil Acad
SO
200 IM
101
101
Nicholas Perkucin
Mt. Pleasant
SO
500 Free
100
100
Kyle Fagan
Newark
SR
200 IM
98
98
Eric Wegner
Brandywine
SO
100 Back
96
96
John Gravatt
Salesianum
SO
3rd place diver
N/A
Looks like we are in for a great day of fast swimming on Saturday, with excitement in both the boys' and girls' meets.
Boys' Prelims are tonight, look for an update here with the same stats as for the girls from last night. It should be sometime around the same time as last night, or whenever I get the results. Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to discuss some of the results, and give some sort of preview to Saturday's Finals.
Unofficial team result prediction after the girls prelims (results found here):
Team Rankings
School
Points
Charter Sch of Wilm
296
Tatnall School
259
Padua Academy
226
Brandywine HS
192
A.I. duPont
179
St. Mark's HS
154
Ursuline Acad
131
Archmere Acad
115.5
St. Andrews School
113
Milford HS
110.5
Sanford
107
Cape Henlopen
106
Newark HS
101
Tower Hill School
88
Concord HS
82
Sussex Tech HS
46
Caesar Rodney
37
Middletown
35
Glasgow
26
Mt. Pleasant HS
25
Dover HS
7
Seaford HS
5
Del Mil Acad
1
Thanks to Bruce Deakyne, who graduated from Charter last year, for creating the program that scored this out Also, he has a program to calculate power points and predict All-State teams, here are the unofficial predictions based off of Girls' Prelims:
1st Team All State
Name
School
Event #1
Points #1
Event #2
Points #2
Total
Nicole Vernon
Tatnall
200 Free
132
500 Free
142
274
Katherine Rechsteiner
Charter
200 IM
119
100 Breast
147
266
Kaitlyn Jones
Tatnall
200 IM
128
100 Back
133
261
Nicole Osman
Newark
200 IM
128
100 Fly
130
258
Brittany Rehrig
Charter
50 Free
113
100 Breast
126
239
Calli Marando
Middletown
100 Free
118
100 Breast
121
239
Megan Northshield
Tatnall
100 Fly
125
500 Free
113
238
Molly Willingham
St. Andrews
200 IM
112
100 Fly
123
235
Katie Steeves
St. Mark's
200 IM
120
100 Free
114
234
Annie Carter
Ursuline
50 Free
115
100 Free
118
233
Kendall Towe
Sanford
200 Free
113
500 Free
119
232
Alexis Coon
Milford
100 Fly
119
100 Breast
112
231
Laura Askin
Caesar Rodney
200 Free
113
100 Free
118
231
Nicole Haag
Cape Henlopen
50 Free
119
100 Back
106
225
Christina Freibott
Tower Hill
1st place diver
No Second Event
N/A
2nd Team All State
Name
School
Class
Event #1
Points #1
Event #2
Points #2
Total
Shannon Foreman
Charter
FR
50 Free
119
100 Free
111
230
Kelly McKinley
Brandywine
JR
100 Fly
115
100 Breast
115
230
Meghan Lam
Tower Hill
JR
200 IM
109
100 Back
119
228
Alyssa Sanders
Milford
FR
50 Free
116
100 Back
111
227
Samantha Shelley
Padua
JR
200 Free
107
100 Breast
120
227
Haley Arasim
Brandywine
JR
200 IM
109
100 Back
113
222
Haley Novak
St. Mark's
FR
100 Fly
110
100 Breast
112
222
Corinne Capodanno
Padua
FR
50 Free
113
100 Free
107
220
Aly Paxton
A.I. duPont
SR
200 Free
110
500 Free
108
218
Meghan Holliday
Charter
JR
200 Free
105
500 Free
104
209
Caitlin Towe
Sanford
JR
100 Fly
105
500 Free
97
202
Bridget Sauer
Archmere
SR
100 Back
112
No Second Event
112
Megan Blazovic
Padua
JR
50 Free
112
No Second Event
112
Rebecca Murray
Archmere
SR
100 Breast
112
No Second Event
112
Katie Lounsbury
Tatnall
SO
2nd place diver
No Second Event
N/A
3rd Team All State
Name
School
Class
Event #1
Points #1
Total
Clare Thomas
Sussex Tech
SO
50 Free
111
111
Cecily Gordon
Padua
FR
100 Fly
110
110
Colleen Cannatelli
Cape Henlopen
SR
200 Free
108
108
Claire Mesko
A.I. duPont
FR
100 Free
108
108
Angelina Corrado
Brandywine
SO
100 Free
108
108
Leslie Linn
Tatnall
SR
100 Back
108
108
Mary Caitlin Samuels
Ursuline
SO
200 Free
103
103
Taylor Shelley
Padua
FR
100 Back
102
102
Beth McKee
Brandywine
SR
200 IM
102
102
Alicia Howard
Charter
SO
500 Free
94
94
Kristen Holliday
St. Mark's
FR
500 Free
84
84
Mikaela Gekas-Robinson
Ursuline
8
3rd place diver
N/A
Keep in mind that these can change drastically after finals. Also, this works under the assumption that getting first place in an event guarantees a First Team selection (which explains why Haag at 225 points is ahead of Foreman and McKinley with 230 points). Good luck to all of the boys tomorrow and to everyone on Saturday, it looks like this is going to be a fast year in Delaware High School Swimming!
More news today regarding the situation with Tanner. First, I heard that the officials had all been contacted and asked if an exception would be made, without naming any individual or event. They were all in agreement not to make an exception, end of story. But, the drama continued, and later I got word that DMA was able to provide documentation that in fact the error was on the DIAA, not on DMA, so supposedly he is swimming again now. Honestly, at this point, I don't know who or what to believe, I am sure more rumors will circulate over the next few days, but I think we will all just have to wait until Thursday to find out. On a different note, Girls' Prelims are only two days away, and I thought I'd give a few notes about the facility. First of all, as I am sure most of you will know, parking will not be easy to find any of the days, and there are a few options: 1) Park in the Carpenter Sports Building Lot, however you do risk getting ticketed for being parked illegally, if you don't have a permit, by the University of Delaware. 2) Across North College Avenue, there is a parking lot at the Studio Arts Building, which the University doesn't typically ticket there, but I will not guarantee that they will not. 3) You can pay for parking across Main Street in the lot behind the Galleria, or other various lots along Main Street. Secondly, the pool has gone under some renovations since last year for anyone who hasn't been there. Mainly, it is brighter than it used to be, there is a new ventilation system, and a huge new scoreboard. I don't believe any lights were added, but the light bulbs at least were replaced, making it appear so much brighter. The scoreboard is maybe the most exciting part. This year, it is a large video-capable full color scoreboard. It will (hopefully) have the names of every swimmer in their heat and lane, with columns for total time and split times for each lane. I have worked with the new scoreboard earlier in the year, and assuming that it is working properly, the scoreboard is very helpful and useful during the meet. Hopefully everyone is ready for their meets Wednesday and Thursday, and we'll see some fast times.
***Update***This is the latest I have heard regarding the state meet, again, no word on whether or not it is official, but it seems to be the most concrete I have heard to this point: Tanner was trying to get into the 100 Fly, but the entry was not saved properly by the coach, and the error was not noticed until after the Psych Sheets were released. The other coaches voted down a request to get it fixed at that point.
I have recently heard a rumor that Tanner Kurz has been entered into the 100 Fly, no word yet on whether it is official, but we'll probably know more in the coming days. Also, the girls team scores, close as they are, might not end up quite so close, if all follows the psych sheets. It appears as though Tatnall's relays are entered at their best times with the top 4 swimmers in the relays, which will not be possible - they will most likely only have the depth to swim 2 strong relays, which gives Charter a slightly larger edge than previously predicted. I was going to post preliminary All State lists, but have decided against it until after prelims, when we know who is in the top 8, and we'll have a better idea about times. And I have updated the top 10 boys and girls teams today, after rechecking the scoring, and now the boys meet has Charter in 2nd, with AI 2 points behind. St. Mark's girls fell to 7th, but I wouldn't be surprised if they jumped up to a 5th or 6th place finish. A final thought on All State selections until prelims, should all swimmers 1-16 in the events be considered for All State Power Point Rankings? Since they can score points for the team, should they be allowed to score points for All State. This also gives an advantage to a swimmer who makes top 8 in one event, and top 16 in the other over a swimmer who only makes top 8...your thoughts?
Updated 2/22/09 I found a few errors within the results I calculated, and the new scores reflect these corrections.
Here is my update for the Girl's State Meet, with the team scores of who I see as the top 10, again, any noticeable errors, please don't hesitate to comment on them, I was relatively tired going through these results, so I won't try to claim perfection. 1. Charter-261 2. Tatnall-260 3. Padua-226 4. Brandywine-184 5. A.I. DuPont-156 6. Cape Henlopen-146 7. St. Mark's-137 8. St. Andrew's-127 9. Archmere-119 10. Concord-118 So again, it looks like this meet should be exciting, and I don't doubt that between the Boys and Girls Meets, some of these team point races will come down to the 400 Free Relay at the very end. Throughout the next week, I will occasionally post thoughts, comments, or anything else that seems important to talk about between now and the State Meet.
A few notes... 1. Just as a reminder: Prelims follow "Pyramid Seeding" meaning that the first place qualifier swims in the last heat lane 4, second place in the second to last heat, lane 4, third in the heat before that lane 4, fourth in the last heat, lane 5, and so on. 2. Point scoring for the State Meet breaks down as follows: 1-20 2-17 3-16 4-15 5-14 6-13 7-12 8-11 9-9 10-7 11-6 12-5 13-4 14-3 15-2 16-1 (Relays score double those point totals) 3. All State Teams are chosen (I believe) based off of only swims within the 'A-Final' Heat (Top 8), and are decided by Power Points for boys and girls but more on All State to come later in the week.
This is now reflective of updated calculations (the Psych Sheets did not change, I just added correctly now). Definitely should be a close meet.
For anyone who hasn't heard or seen, the Psych Sheets for the State Meet are available. Girls Boys (Thanks to Newark's website for the links). As for what the Psych Sheets tell us, first of all, and probably most notably, Tanner Kurz is only entered in one individual event. Not sure whether that is for good or if it will change in the coming days. Secondly, we can take a look at scoring out the meet as if everyone swam their seed times, and for boys the top 10 would look like this (assuming I didn't miss anyone - if you notice an error, let me know) 1. Salesianum 334 2. Charter 272 3. AI DuPont 270 4. St. Andrew's 206 5. Archmere 184 6. Tatnall 152 7. Brandywine 136 8. Mt. Pleasant 127 9. Newark 120 10. DMA 113 I don't think I missed any teams, and hopefully not any athletes on teams either, I tried to do this quickly earlier today. I have just started with the girls, and hopefully will have the point spreads up tomorrow, but from what I have heard that other people have calculated, Tatnall was up 1 over Charter.
After the Henlopen Conference Meet, a little more became clear regarding downstate schools, so I will do my best to say what I am comfortable saying about them (it is hard to compare times from their Conference Meet as well as many other meets, because of the use of 25 Meter Pools). Now, the level of competition is not nearly as high downstate as it is upstate, the times aren't necessarily as fast, but it doesn't mean things are any less exciting. With a dearth of year round swimming clubs south of the canal, it makes things tougher on swimmers to be able to train for the few months during the high school season and make it to the state level. Looking through the top 3 results from the Conference Meet, there certainly were close races, making it I'm sure an exciting meet. And the girls' meet had some close team matchups, with Cape taking first by 8 over Seaford and Dover taking 3rd by 3 over Milford. Ryan MacLeish and Bryan Brown of Caesar Rodney and Dover respectively look to play a factor in the state meet in 2 weeks, each winning 2 events and MacLeish setting 2 meet records in the process. On the girls' side, Laura Askin from Caesar Rodney set a new meet record in the 100 Free, and won the 200 Free. NicoleHaag from Cape Henlopen took first in the 50 Free with a meet record, as well as the 100 Back. Alexis Coon from Milford won the 200 IM and the 100 Fly. While realistically, these teams do not have a shot at a top 2 finish at the state meet, they certainly have some swimmers who will get into top heats and add to the competition. Next update will be on the Delaware Independent Schools Conference (DISC) Meet, and then I will focus primarily on the state meet, which is coming up in only 2 weeks!
As I was beginning to look through results from southern teams for swimming, and start to formulate a post about them, I noticed a great article on DelawareOnline about Cape Henlopen and the team's three swimmers with Autism. It truly is a great story, and I wish that more of our news articles were so positive. I have friends who have family members diagnosed with Autism, and the challenges they face because of it are huge, so to hear of three boys working against Autism and the challenge of swimming on a team is really heartwarming. Kudos to Coach Geppert, the three swimmers, and the entire team for being so supportive.
