PCST Finishes 3rd to Start off 2010!

Tsunamis Finish GPAC Meet as the 3rd Place Visiting Team!

That's not a bad way to start off the 2010 year!  We had 31 swimmers compete this weekend (last year we had 22), so that was a good start already.  Then, to finish in the top 3 for visiting teams, I must say that I'm very pleased with our Tsunamis!  We had lots of terrific swims this weekend, so I hope you enjoy reading about them!

Team Scores
PCST finished as the 3rd place visiting team this weekend out of 12 teams.  The Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club completely dominated the meet (which often happens for a home team) by amassing 2,258 points!).  But how about those Tsunamis??!!

Top 5 Visiting Teams out of 12 Total
1) Southern Waters Aquatic Team (1,024 points)
2) Emerald Coast Swimming (928 points)
3) Panama City Swim Team (454.5 points)
4) Pelican Athletic Club (334.5 points)
5) Bluewater Barracudas (267 points)

Nearly Every PCST Swimmer Either Scores Points or Has Great Time Drops!
This means that a large majority of our swimmers in the meet were scoring points for the team!  And out of those who were unable to, they were still swimming faster than they have ever swum before.  You can't ask for much more than that! :)

PCST Swimmers With Top 8 Swimmers and Their Highest Finish
Marisa Ashley (7th 100 Fr), Eliana Benevento (8th 50 Ba), Cody Bronnenberg (1st 100/200 Br, 200 IM), Denver Dangerfield (6th 50 Fr), Shannon Doyle (5th 50 Br), Tyler Fay (7th 100 Br), Cameron Fitzgerald (7th 1650 Fr), Nicole Gazia (2nd 1650 Fr), Katie Hapgood (6th (50 Fl), Kalanne Krause (2nd 50 Fl), Taylor L. (3rd 50 Ba), Carlee McDonald (3rd 50 Fl), Jamie McDonald (3rd 200 Fl, 200 IM, 1650 Fr), Michael Perdomo (3rd 100 IM), Alex Phlegar (6th (100 Br), Hannah Retherford (2nd 50 Fr), Heidi Retherford (2nd 100 Fr, 25 Fl), Phoenix Rine (8th 200 Br), Allison Troia (1st 50 Br, 1650 Fr), Kari T. (2nd 50/100 Br), Max White (8th 200 Fl)

Additional Swimmers Had Great Time Drops!
Chrissy Williams, Jared Williams, Ethan Rine, Jeremiah Loyd, Wesley Krist, Alexis Hall, Dakota Dangerfield, Michaela Ashley

Cody Bronnenberg Leads New Qualifiers With Sectional Time In 1650 Free!
While we are having more and more Sectional and Junior National qualifying times these days, I don't get to announce new big cuts all that often.  Congratulations to Cody Bronneberg for qualifying for the Spring Sectional championships with his terrific 17:02.11 in the 1650 Free this weekend.  This is Cody's 1st sectional cut in a freestyle event.  Also, congrats to Allison Troia for her HUGE 1650 this weekend.  She got her first ever Southeastern Qualifying Time in and event other than breaststroke by beating the 1650 Fr cut by over 1 minute!  And way to go Jamie McDonald for getting her first short course 15-16 girls SES time in the 200 Butterfly!

Bronnenberg Also Breaks 2 Team Records in 1 Swim!
It appears that the 100 x 100's and Indy 500 type workouts have been paying off because Cody dropped over 30 seconds in his 1650 Free over the weekend to break 2 Senior Boys records in one swim.  His 1000 Fr split was also a record!

Cody Bronnenberg, Senior Boys 1000 Free (10:19.29)
previously Beau Brothers (10:29.13) from 2007

Cody Bronnenberg, Senior Boys 1650 Free (17:02.11)
previously Paul Erben (17:40.78) from 2001

5 Swimmers Continue to Break Into the Vastly Improved All-Time Top 10 List
Like I said before, we trained hard this winter!  Those swimmers who had great attendance were able to see that pay off earlier in the season than we're used to from the past.  Allison Troia dropped nearly 1.5 minutes in the 1650 Fr, while Nicole Gazia and Jamie McDonald dropped something like 40 seconds or so.  Plus, Max White made huge jumps in a short period of time too!  It sure is interesting that the top swimmers in the attendance category lately had great swims this weekend.  Hmmmmm. :)

New All-Time Top 10 Swims
Allison Troia 500 Free (8th 5:30.39), 1650 Free (5th 18:53.05)
Nicole Gazia 1650 Free (7th 19:30.58)
Jamie McDonald 200 Fly (8th 2:25.61)
Cody Bronnenberg 50 Free (10th 23.53), 500 Free (3rd 4:55.23), 1000 Free (1st 10:19.29), 1650 Freee (1st 17:02.11)
Max White 50 Back (27.76), 200 Back (10th 2:09.34)

Over 1/3rd of the Team Finishes in the Age Group All-Time Top 10 This Weekend!
 I love the fact that when we send a team to a meet, in many respects, we are sending a team full of swimmers that are some of the best in the history of the team.  Hopefully soon we'll have over half of the team at a meet with times that are fast enough to get into the Top 10 All-Time for their age group.  If you want to find these rankings, go to the front page of our website and look under the tab "Team Rankings".

8 & Under Girls: Heidi Retherford 100 Fr (8th), 25 Ba (7th), 25 Br (9th), 25 Fl (5th), 100 IM (8th)
10 & Under Girls: Kari Troia 50 Fr (4th), 500 Fr (2nd)
15-16 Girls: Allison Troia 500 Fr (5th), 1650 Fr (3rd), 200 Br (6th), 100 IM (6th); Nicole Gazia 1650 Fr (5th), 50 Fl (3rd), 100 IM (3rd); Jamie McDonald 1650 Fr (9th), 200 Fl (5th)
Senior Girls: Taylor Loyd 50 Ba (4th), 50 Br (8th), 50 Fl (10th), 100 IM (7th)
13-14 Boys: Cameron Fitzgerald 1650 Fr (10th)
15-16 Boys: Max White 50 Fr (7th), 1650 Fr (10th), 50 Ba (4th), 200 Ba (5th), 200 Fl (7th), 400 IM (10th); Phoenix Rine 200 Br (9th), 100 IM (9th); Troy vonBlankenburg 200 Fl (9th)
Senior Boys: Cody Bronnenberg 50 Fr (8th), 100 Fr (9th), 500 Fr (3rd), 1000 Fr (1st), 1650 Fr (1st)

New Tsunami Award Updates!
Congratulations to the following swimmers who jumped up to new higher levels on the Tsunami Awards list!  We are very proud of our swimmers for reaching new levels this short course season!

New Level 2: Wesley Krist (50 Fr, 50 Ba)
New Level 3: Jeremiah Loyd (50 Br)
New Level 4: Ethan Rine (50 Ba; also Level 3 in 100 Ba, 50 Br!)
New Level 5: Taylor Loyd (50 Fr)
New Level 6: Jamie McDonald (200 Fl)
New Level 7: Nicole Gazia (1650 Fr)

Swimmers Make Huge Jumps in Tsunami Award Point Totals!
If you want to see the top 5 rankings by age group for Tsunami Awards as well as the highest level your swimmer has achieved, it is posted above the water fountain at Frank Brown Park and on the bulletin board at GCCC.

Points Added to Tsunami Award Totals at GPAC Meet
Max White (38), Cody Bronnenberg (35), Taylor Loyd (19), Phoenix Rine (19), Troy vonBlankenburg (18), Michael Perdomo (17), Allison Troia (17), Jamie McDonald (15), Denver Dangerfield (14), Heidi Retherford (9), Brandon Templeton (9), Ethan Rine (8), Nicole Gazia (7), Michaela Ashley (6), Marisa Ashley (5), Shannon Doyle (4), Chrissy Williams (3), Eliana Benevento (2), Tyler Fay (2), Cameron Fitzgerald (2), Alexis Hall (2), Katie Hapgood (2), Jeremiah Loyd (2), Alex Phlegar (2), Kari Troia (2)

Great meet this weekend Tsunamis!  Let's go into the ATAC and ECS meets in Tallahassee and Ft. Walton Beach ready to do even better!  Our goal is to come home with the 1st place visiting team trophy from ATAC and to come home with A TON of best times from the ECS Meet!!  Can't wait!

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan