by Dana Anderson
staff reporter
Now that everything in the high school swimming world is said and done for this year,
Salesianum and St. Mark's have well deserved bragging rights. The Salesianum boys set two
new records in the 200 Free Relay, and in the 400 Free Relay, as well as winning overall.
The Lady Spartans also set new records in the 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay.
In the boys diving competition, Adam Tazelaar was the winner,
accumulating 393.5 points. Tazelaar mentioned that this was an important win for him
because he had been practicing for so many years. He also said that "clearing your
mind is the best thing to do when preparing to dive." The champion diver said that he
was really trying to nail his last dive, which he did. Tazelaar added
"Everybody did well this year; Congratulations to everyone."
You might think that 20 laps of the pool, free style, is a lot, but for
Dan Fallon from St. Mark's, its "just racing the guys". Its Fallon's favorite
race, and is a good distance for him. While racing he thinks about the number of laps he
has completed, and focuses on not being tired. His pacing set the way for him to finish
first in the 500 Free.
Sallies is a powerhouse in many sports, and that cannot be denied for
swimming as well. The 200 Free Relay team, composed of: Dan Klee, Kevin Kotowski, Carl
Bakomenko, and Ryan McAnelly, knew that they had a shot of breaking the record, and just
"went fast". In order to prepare for the meet, these guys also shave their legs,
and do "Buddy Calf Raises", as well as all the hard swimming and training. Above
all, they are really excited about their win.
In the boys competition, behind Salesianum, were #2-Archmere,
#3-McKean, #4-Mount Pleasant #5-St. Mark's, Newark #7-Caesar Rodney, #8-St. Andrew's,
#9-Concord and #10-Dover.
Kaitlyn Brady is definitely a name to remember in girls swimming. This
freshman at Mount Pleasant has made a big splash this year, breaking 2 records that she
previously broke in preliminaries. Kaitlyn set new records in the 50 Free, and in the 100
Free. One can only expect more great things from this promising young Green Knight.
St. Mark's girls also set several new records. The 200 Medley Relay
team, made up of Katie Kuczmarski, Kelly Shinton, Lisa Morelli, and Lindsey Spry set a new
record. The 200 Free Relay team made up of Sara Stephens, Lisa Morelli, Katie McGillan,
and Lindsey Spry also set a new record. St. Marks swimmers took first place in 4 events
out of 12, more than any other school this year.
William Penn's Erin Mulshenock won first place in the 100 Back, as well
as in the 200 IM. Mulshenock was also part of the 200 Medley Relay, which placed 5th
overall, and the 200 Free Relay which placed 5th as well.
The swimming and diving championships are a culmination of talent. Many
records were broken this year, due to the hard work and dedication of so many athletes. No
other sport has quite as much sportsmanship as well; seen at any given race's finish was
one person hugging or high-fiving another. Congratulations to all athletes that
participated in Saturdays events! |
by Marshal Manlove
editor There were a number
of efforts, both team and individual, that helped make the 2000 Swimming and Diving
Championships exciting this year.
Held again at Harry Rawstrom pool at the University of Delaware, the St Marks
girls and Salesianum boys teams easily won state championships again. For the Spartans it
marked the seventh year in a row, and for the Sals it was two, and two team points records
in a row as well.
Normally relying on the depth of their large and talented team, a number of Sals
had won individual titles outright; Kevin Kotowski won the 50 meter free, Daniel Klee won
the 100 free, and Carl Bakomenko won the 100 butterfly. But it was their 200 and 400 relay
teams that stole the show in the boys meet breaking state records in both events. The 400
relay team record was a bit of a surprise since they only had qualified third overall.
David Litchfield from Archmere was a double winner taking the 200 freestyle and the
100 Breaststroke. His time of 58.34 was only .11 seconds off the mark set by Mt Pleasants
Seth Van Neerden back in 1996. A collective sigh whisked over the crowd at the sight of
the time, but Litchfields efforts did help propel his team into second place overall in a
slight upset of the McKean Highlanders.
Lake Forests Adam Tazelaar jumped from second into first with three successful and
difficult dives to overcome Derek Schiller from Salesianum in the finals. Tazelaar becomes
the first downstate diver to win a state championship.
The Spartan girls swimming dynasty continued to roll on into the new century. They,
too, broke two state relay records; one in the 200 medley and the other in the 200 free.
The new medley record set by Katie Kuczmarski, Kelly Shinton, Lisa Morelli, and Lindsey
Spry was by .01 of a second besting a 1997 St Marks record that featured Morellis older
sister Lauren.
Another new name in the record books is that of Mt Pleasant's Kaitlyn Brady a
freshman freestyler. During the qualifying heats, she broke both the 50 and 100 meter
records handily, and then broke them again in the finals. The 50 free record was 14 years
old, and Brady shattered it by a half a second. Her flawless starts were the key for her.
In the 100 meter, she beat the former record holder in the event,Cassie Connell from
Newark, by 1.4 seconds and a body and a half length.
Connell, now a sophomore, was suffering with a cold, and still managed to win
her second 200 meter freestyle championship although off her own state record pace from
last year. The next two years should be interesting to watch with Connell and Brady
battling again and again.
William Penn's Erin Mulshenock was a double winner again taking the 200 individual
medley and the 100 breaststroke without competition. Mulshenock's presence helped to
elevate her Colonials to the seventh best score in the meet overall. She also should be
named the girls swimmer of the year, an award that is arrived at by comparing her times in
her seasons events to her peers from around the country.
David Litchfield is projected to be named the Delaware boys swimmer of the year
based on the same formulas that the girls winners are.
The lone three-time winner this year was Spartan Lisa Morelli. Added to her
two relay wins, was the 100 butterfly where she narrowly defeated her teammate Sara
Stephens by .11.
St Andrews girls team stole the second place trophy away from the pre-meet
favorite Bulldogs of Brandywine. St Andrews qualified all three of their relay teams for
point scoring final races, and with relay teams racking up double the points for their
teams, that proved to be the difference. |
