Spartans Swimmers Stopped At Districts
Oxford, OH (February 21, 2004)— The Lady Spartan swimmers traveled to Miami University last weekend in hope to proceed to the state tournament. All the girls had great times, but State is something they'll have to focus on next year.
"We swam very well. Everyone cut time and that's the third weekend in a row that everyone has dropped times. I can't be completely disappointed because they swam well. I can't really explain it. I'm disappointed because of State, but I'm happy with everyone's effort and times," coach J.P. Oehrtman said.
The relay was an amazing event for the girls, but by chance the other teams were also swimming amazing. "In the relay we cut five seconds, but didn't advance. There's only so much you can do, because you can't control how everyone else swims. You can only control how your team swims," Oehrtman added.
All the girls swam well and they were close to making it to State in all the events, but Jessica Markus was just inches away from traveling to this year's state swimming tournament.
Her time in the 100-breast was actually lower than two of the girls attending state, but because of the 13 automated spots Markus was not listed to attend.
"Markus was actually faster than a girl in breast, but they have 13 automated spots and only 11 at large times. One of the automated spots was actually slower than Jess." Markus's time in the 100 breaststroke was 1:11.87.
"Jess swam great and finished in the top ten (10th). That's really good considering she's a freshman and swimming in an event which is dominated by upperclassmen. She's the second highest freshman, which is good for the years ahead. It's nice being able to look forward to that kind of stuff," Oehrtman said.
Markus also competed in the 200-free where she placed 14th with a time of 2:07.36.
"Markus dropped four seconds on her time and swam really well," Oehrtman said.
Samantha Staiger also made waves, as she dropped five seconds in the 500 free and took 13th with a time of 6:06.24.
"Sam swam her lifetime best in the 500. It has been a while since she has swam like that. Last week was the best she had swam it since her freshman year and it's just amazing for her to get her best time in her last meet. She was ecstatic," commented Oehrtman.
Staiger's time continued to drop through the 500 and Oehrtman was amazed.
"Her 50 splits just kept going up and in the last 200 it just clicked and out of no where she dropped five seconds. She really went out with a bang and she was just ecstatic," Oehrtman said. Staiger also competed in the 200 free and finished in the 24th spot with a time of 2:17.47.
"Sam didn't drop any time, but she really didn't gain much either. She added .5 of second. I think she was concentrating on the 500 free," Oehrtman added.
Andrea Keister was disappointed with her time in the 100 free where she finished in the 17th spot with a time of 58.38.
"Andrea hoped she would've swam faster, but I told her to keep her head up because we needed her in the relay. It wasn't a bad swim, but I think she thought she would do better. She wanted to do better," noted Oehrtman. Keister also took the 13th spot in the 200 free with a time of 2:07.36, just in front of fellow Lady Spartan Markus.
"Both Andrea and Jess swam really well. Jess dropped four second and Andrea dropped two or three seconds. Andrea was a second off from automatically qualifying," Oehrtman said.
Stephanie Reid finished 15th in the 100 breast with a time of 1:14.99, but her true concern was the relay and with her time in the relay you could tell.
"Stephanie started to look really pale before the breast and she said she didn't feel well. She cut a little time, but she didn't do as well has I had hoped. I think she was concentrating on the relay," Oehrtman stated. Reid also swam in the 100 fly where she finished 14th with a time of 1:05.99.
"She had an unbelievable 1:05 swim. I don't know where that came from. I was really excited to see how she'll do next year and I really like the fly. The fly is so fluid I think it's the prettiest stroke," Oehrtman noted. Stephanie Staiger competed in the 100 fly and finished 18th with a time of 1:08.99.
"Steph cut time. She go down to 1:08 and I was really happy with that. She swam well," added Oehrtman. Staiger also swam in the 200 IM and finished 21st with a time of 2:33.61. In the 200 medley relay Reid, Markus, Stephanie Staiger and Keister finished ninth with a time of 2:01.55.
"I was happy that they cut time again, but I had hoped they would break two minutes. That's the standard for the medley relay. They set the school record though. They got ninth place and had a good two minute time, but they didn't break it," Oehrtman said.
The real spark of the meet was in the 400 free relay. In the 400 relay Markus, Keister and the Staiger Sisters dropped six seconds from their time (3:56.97), finishing sixth.
"It was such a great relay to watch and the girls were right in it the whole time. I knew it was going to be a battle going in and I knew it was going to be close. We just didn't make it," Oehrtman stated.
The top 24 teams go to State and Valley View was only three teams away from makling the cut. "We're like 27th or 28th in state and only the top 24 teams go, so we missed it by three teams. It's still saying something that we're 27th or 28th in state and that's out of over 500 schools," Oehrtman said.
The relay made unbelievable drops and Oehrtman was amazed with all the girls.
"I was happy their time was amazing. They cut five seconds from last weekend and blew our school record out of the water. They all broke a minute except for Sam who had double zero. Once you break that minute it seems to be easy for them to continue doing it and breaking a minute is awesome. It was a good swim," Oehrtman commented.
The relay team was awarded because of their sixth place spot and each girl received a metal for their achievement. "They got to stand on the podium and they all got metals. They're all real happy and overall it was an exciting season," Oehrtman said.
Oehrtman is sad to see this season end, but he's excited about the potential he has for next year. "We've got some potential for next year. Jess and Steph (Staiger) are going to be hard to build around, but we have a good freshman coming up and Michelle Nixon has really improved. I have confidence in Michelle and I'm confident she'll have a good year," Oehrtman noted.
Oehrtman is pleased with how this season went and he's excited about next year.
"I have a good feeling about next year. We need some more guys, but I think we'll have a good chance. I can't know for sure until I see who I have, but I definitely have a good feeling. I guess you just take it one year at a time," Oehrtman noted.
