Germantown Gators Swimming Towards End of Season
Beavercreek, OH (June 29, 2004) The Germantown Gators swim team has been moving right along in their season, finishing off their final regular season meet on Tuesday at Cardinal Hill and then will compete in the league championships July 10 at West Carrollton.
Coach Grace Keister is in her second year as head coach and has noticed a significant improvement in the swimmers.
"We have been doing pretty good. We have a lot of new swimmers this year and they have all worked really hard. Our brand new swimmers have been dropping minutes in their times," Keister said.
"They have all been doing so well. We have only been practicing and competing for four weeks," Keister added.
There are six different age groups that Keister and her sister Andrea coach. The age groups six and under, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12 are still learning the ropes and just enjoying coming out to the pool to compete.
"The older and younger kids are both competitive, but the younger ones have more fun with the competitions," Keister noted.
As for the older range of kids in the age groups 13-14 and 15-18, they have been competing through the YMCA and school system for some time and that pushes them harder.
"The older groups are more competitive. By the time they reach 13 and 14 years old they have been swimming with the same people and know them better. That creates more pressure which in turn creates a larger rivalry," stated Keister.
No matter what age the swimmers are they all have one important goal and that is to drop their time.
"Swimming is a sport that is competitive with other people, but it's also about competing against yourself and your own time. Mainly these kids are competing against themselves and beating their own personal best times," Keister said.
At the Germantown Invitational the Gators definitely made strides. In the 100 Medley, Samantha Combs, Danielle Johnson, Emmaline Desch and Sarah Landis took first, with Kei Thomas, Sydney Pearson, Corrinda Williams and Savannah Randolph coming in second for eight and under group.
The boys eight and under team (Tucker Parks, Daniel Day, Kyle Inloes and Noah Randolph) also took first. For the 9-10 the girls also took first (Abby Roberson, Shelby Inloes, Cody Fox, and Taylor Weidle) and second (Madeline Parks, Chrissy Allen, Mallory Wright, and Debbie Inman).
On the boy's side, Clayton Williams, Stephen Waite, Connor Staiger, and Jonathan Pohl touched the wall for first as well. In the 11-12 division both the girls (Tessa Parks, Nicole Wells, Cali Thomas and Kylee Dickey) and boys (Andy Allen, Ross Swartz, Joe Cook and Patryk Cook) teams nabbed the first spot.
The 200 Medley was also a successful event as they claimed first (Sally Wright, Jessy Hess, Rori Thomas, and Polly Enochs) and second place (Rebecca Neitman, Skylar Arstingstall, Kathy Prince, and Kristen Rust) finishes in the 13-14 age group.
For the 100 free Samantha Combs (1st) and Sydney Pearson (2nd) to the first two spots in the eight and under division while Taylor Weidle (1st) and Mallory Wright (2nd) mirrored the other girls results but in the 9-10 division.
The 11-12 year olds were successful in the 100 free relay as Parks, Dickey, Wells and Thomas finished in first place and the boys, Ben Thaeler, Logan Eshbaugh, Benjamin Riegel, and Patryk Cook also took first; Joe Cook, Cody Borton, Kevin Fox and Ross Swartz followed them to the wall for second place.
The women's 13-14 took first (Sally Wright, Rori Thomas, Polly Enochs, and Rebecca Neitman) and second (Christina Garner, Skylar Arstingstall, Amanda Harting, and Erica White) in the 200 free relay, while Stephanie Staiger, Kassandra Garner, Amanda Angel, Allison Mikesell took first in the 15-18 group.
And that was just the relay teams!
Individually, in the 100 IM, Connor Staiger (age 10), Nicole Wells (11), Sally Wright (13), Stephanie Staiger (18) and Karl Staiger (15) took first place while Kylee Dickey (12) came in the second spot.
In the 25 free, Morgan Cockerman (6), Ben Holbrook (4), Danielle Day (7), Taylor Weidle (10, Jonathan Pohl (10), Tessa Parks (12) and Benjamin Riegel (11) finished first and were followed up by second place finishers Noah Randolph (6), Danielle Johnson (7), Kyle Inloes (7), Mallory Wright (10), Clayton Williams (10), and Cali Thomas (12). Carl Staiger also took first in the 50 free while his sister Stephanie Staiger and Kathy Prince finished second.
There were three, first place finishers (David Swartz (14), Kassandra Garner (15) and Karl Staiger) in the 50 breast, before a pack of swimmers took first and second place in the 50 back event.
First place finishers were Emily Holbrook (6), Ben Holbrook, Emmaline Desch (8), Tucker Parks (7), Taylor Weidle, Clayton Williams, Tessa Parks and Kevin Fox (12); and the second place finishers included Noah Randolph, Danielle Johnson, Cody Fox (10), Jonathan Pohl, Cali Thomas and Logan Eshbaugh (11).
Rori Thomas (14) and Corbin Philhower (14) each took the silver ribbon during the 50 back while Taylor Weidle, Jonathan Pohl, Tessa Parks and Kevin Fox took first in the 50 free. Second place finishers were Cody Fox, Clayton Williams, Cali Thomas and Andy Allen (12).
Rori Thomas took first in the 100 free while Sally Wright (13) and David Swartz took second.
First place finishers in the 25 fly were Connor Staiger, Kylee Dickey, Ben Thaeler (12) and Danielle Johnson , while Emmaline Desch, and Benjamin Riegel came in second. Stephanie Staiger and Polly Enochs (13) each claimed the title of the 50 fly.
Coaching is something that Keister has always wanted to do and will continue to do long after she graduates from Wright State University with her Health and Physical Education degree.
For now, Keister's goal for her almost 80 athletes is to just get them to that level, their personal best in all four events.
"I think we have done pretty well, win or lose. I'm not sure of all the results, because I won't get them all until the end of the season, but all the kids are working extremely hard," commented Keister.
"Our team has gotten a lot better in all four strokes. The returning swimmers have dropped so much time," added Keister.
Along with the swimmers times, the amount of swimmers who came out has also dropped. This season there was a $100fee to help provide officials and other working positions during meets.
"We implemented a $100 work parent fee. The parents who worked at the meet received payment and that caused the numbers to drop," Keister stated.
"Next year hopefully we'll have a better turnout because maybe the parents will realize that they get that money back," Keister added.
The Southern Ohio Swim League Championships will be held on July 10 and Keister is looking to see improvement from last years third place finish from the 15 and up division and fourth place finishes from every other division.
