Kirsten Samples WINS 2 District Swim Titles!
February 22, 2009 By Daniel Otten of Celina High School
Following a successful diving day for the Waterdogs on Thursday, at the Bowling Green Division II District Championship, which saw Todd Hertel and Luke Bonvillian qualify to the State Meet, the swimmers took to the pool on Saturday. Celina's swimmers hoped to follow the divers accomplishments with State Meet qualifying efforts. The Ladies needed a top 3 finish to automatically earn a state position, while the Men were looking for a top 4 result to guarantee a spot. If an automatic spot was not earned a swimmer could earn an at-large State birth with a fast enough performance. Secondary to individual event advancement to State was 'Team' status in the scoring. Celina faired well in the team results as the Ladies finishes 5th in the Team standings, with the Men taking 11th of the 31 school involved.
However, for a number of Waterdogs the meet was super successful. Senior Kirsten Samples leads a contingent of 5 Lady Dogs to the State Meet (to go with the 2 boy divers). Kirsten had a stellar day, establishing 'school records' every time she hit the water. She WON District titles in her specialties, the 50 and 100-yard freestyles, shattering her own school marks in each. She covered the 50 yards in 24.63 eclipsing the old mark of 25.33, and the 100 yards in 53.39 knocking 1.29 second off her old record. Kirsten was then joined by senior Courtney McKirnan, junior Paige Mertz, and sophomore Ashley Coon in WINNING the 200-yard free relay in a 'school record' 1:39.93 (former record 1:40.91), just missing the 'District Record'. The same foursome then swam 3:42.93 in crushing the school record (3:44.05) in the 400-yard free relay, placing 2nd and getting a State qualifying finish. Courtney, Paige, and Ashley were joined by LaRae Dorsten in the medley relay. The quartet finished 6th with a clocking of 1:57.44. Although the place was not an automatic qualifier, the time was fast enough to earn a spot at State.
Other 'Top Dog' efforts, unfortuately not State qualifiers, were produced by Paige (6th in the 50 free), Courtney (8th in the 100 breast), Ashley (5th in the 100 fly), Eric Muhlenkamp (5th in the 100 breast), and the Guys medley relay which took 8th.
THE WATERDOGS AT STATE:
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25: Todd and Luke - diving at 2:00 PM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27: Kirsten, Courtney, Paige, Ashley, and LaRae - swimming prelims at 9:00 AM
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28: swimming finals at 9:00 AM
WATERDOG DISTRICT SWIMMING RESULTS:
THE WOMEN
Kirsten Samples: 50 free - 1st - 24.63 - SCHOOL RECORD!, 100 free - 1st - 53.39 - SCHOOL RECORD!
Paige Mertz: 50 free - 6th - 25.33
LaRae Dorsten: 50 free - 28th - 27.31, 100 back - 15th - 1:08.59
Alex Parker: 100 free - 30th - 1:01.36
Courtney McKirnan: 100 breast - 8th - 1:12.45
Alicia Zacharias: 100 breast - 17th - 1:16.37
Ashley Coon: - 100 fly - 5th - 1:03.38
200 medley relay (Paige, Courtney, Ashley, LaRae): 6th - 1:57.44
200 free relay (Courtney, Ashley, Paige, Kirsten): 1st - 1:39.93 - SCHOOL RECORD!
400 free relay (Courtney, Ashley, Paige, Kirsten): 2nd - 3:42.93 - SCHOOL RECORD!
THE MEN
Eric Muhlenkamp: 100 free - 29th - 53.36, 100 breast - 5th - 1:03.68
Riley Smith: 200 free - 28th - 2:02.61, 100 breast - 18th - 1:08.05
Kabe Eichenauer: 500 free - 31st - 5:57.65
Jay McKirnan: 100 back - 16th - 1:00.71, 200 IM - 11th - 2:11.65
Kyle Menchhofer: 100 back - 29th - 1:06.76
Matt Feltz: 100 fly - 18th - 59:04, 200 IM - 22nd - 2:19.80
200 medley relay (Jay, Eric, Matt, Tom Burden): 8th - 1:46.28
200 free relay (Cary Miller, Riley, Kyle, Tom): DQ
400 free relay (Matt, Riley, Eric, Jay): 17th - 3:39.36
DISTRICT TEAM SCORES - TOP 5 PLUS CELINA
WOMEN: 1 Napoleon - 271, 2 Shawnee - 258, 3 Sandusky Perkins - 249, 4 Oak Harbor - 235, 5 CELINA 184
MEN: 1 Napoleon 325, 2 Sandusky Perkins - 315, 3 Lexington - 175, 4 Shawnee - 154.5, 5 Colonel Crawford - 130, 11 CELINA 79 |
NATIONAL
OHIO
