Submitted by Leann M. Mikesh
The Lake Monticello Swim Team (LMST) Sharks took on the Hollymead Hammerheads in a July 10 away meet. Despite their loss to the Hammerheads, LMST had several swimmers place in the top three in many events.
The Sharks took at least one of the top three places in 10 out of the 12 backstroke events. LMST earned five first place ribbons in backstroke by swimmers Liam Poole (5), Anna Amato (12), Megan Farist (14), Hunter Strickland (16) and Allyson Lounsbury (16).
Six second place ribbons were won by LMST swimmers Elias Drake (6), Matthew Farist (9), Reese Yowell (10), Art Maqani (12), Cole Gustafson (13) and Nathaniel Smith (16). Rebecca Creamer (6), Sophie Pace (11) and Olivia Strickland (19) took third place in backstroke for LMST.
In addition to their strong showing in backstroke, half of the Sharks who placed in the top three also improved their best backstroke time. Poole dropped 12.34 seconds from his seed time to complete the boys’ 6 and under 25-meter backstroke event in 39.50 seconds. Drake had a significant time improvement in the same event, dropping 4.18 seconds for a final time of 42.94. Megan Farist dropped 2.34 seconds to complete the 13-14 girls’ 50-meter backstroke in 36.94 seconds. Other time improvements include Chloe Kennedy placing fifth, dropping 8.77 seconds, and Kara Denby dropping 6.61 seconds in the girls’ 8 and under 25-meter backstroke.
Although too numerous to mention all, other notable time improvements in their respective age bracket included Tyler Harris (15), placing fifth, dropping 2.81 seconds; Brogen Anderson (10) dropping 4.69 seconds; and Jayden Walding (12) dropping 7.8 seconds in the boys’ 50-meter freestyle. Cassidy Hall (5) dropped 26.07 seconds in the girls’ 25-meter freestyle. Landon Poole (10) placed fourth with a 3.75-second time improvement in the 9-10 boys’ 50-meter breaststroke. In the 50-meter butterfly event, Landon Kovarik (9) placed fourth, dropping 3.62 seconds; Reese Yowell (10) placed second, dropping 2.78 seconds; Kayleigh Herring (10) placed sixth, dropping 12.95 seconds; and Jordan Franco (17) dropped 2.08 seconds, placing sixth.
The swimmers of the week were Addison Kimble (10) and Nicholas Kalinosky (8). Addison is always looking for ways to improve by coming to see her coaches after every race at meets and asking questions during practice. She is frequently seen cheering on her teammates. Nick comes to practice with a lot of enthusiasm and is always ready to learn something new. Nick was taught breaststroke and was able to swim it in a meet within a week.
Coach Sito Arroyo expressed his excitement for his swimmers’ continued success by saying, “I am extremely proud of how much time our swimmers are dropping in the pool. Just this week we had to go request more time improvement ribbons.”
The Sharks hosted the Key West Killer Whales July 17. The Jefferson Swim League Championships take place July 26-27.
