Contributed by Amy Williams
The Lake Monticello Swim Team (LMST) kicked-off their Independence Day celebrations with a red, white and blue themed meet against the Forest Lakes Hurricanes, on July 3. The Hurricanes proved to be a formidable opponent, topping LMST 555.5 to 455.5.
The meet began with the medley relays, with LMST wins by: 8 and under boys, Kaleo Heath, Henry Ward, Brayden Arencibia, and Micahel Koerper; 13-14 boys, Zachary Allen, Matthew Blevins, Kaiden Myer, and Landon Kovarik; 15-18 boys, Aaron Fairbanks, James Johnson, Andrew Mikesh, and Jaxon Brooks, and 15-18 girls, Sierra Miller, Madelyn Grout, Sophie Pace, and Chyler Miller.
Individual freestyle races followed the relays. LMST’s youngest swimmers led both the boys and girls 6 and under 25m freestyles with wins by Theo Gehling, who dropped an impressive 5.16 seconds to finish in 35.41, and Henley Belew, who took first with her 32.03 finish. Eight year old Michael Koerper dominated his 25m freestyle with a 22.94 finish. Later in the evening, Michael would drop an astounding 6.91 seconds off his 50m freestyle, to win in just 50.15. 50m freestyles were led by 10-year-old Riley Kovarik (46.84), her 14-year-old brother, Landon Kovarik (30.39), and 16-year-old Sophie Pace (30.59).
Sophie had a stellar meet, finishing first in all of her events, including an unscored, exhibition 50m breaststroke (48.91), 50m butterfly (34.65), and 100m freestyle (1:13.66).
Despite Forest Lakes dominating much of the meet, LMST was able to secure additional wins for 8 and under boys in the 25m breaststroke by Brayden Arencibia (24.90) and 25m backstroke, by Henry Ward (26.21). In the 9-10 races, Perry Provencher bested the 50m butterfly (51.13) and 100m freestyle (1:40.16), with an impressive six second time improvement. LMST 11-12 swimmer Mickey Comer took first in the 50m backstroke (53.75), while Ariella Miller led the 50m butterfly (44.84).
Alessandra Elliott scored the win in her 100m freestyle (1:36.75), and was declared “Girl Swimmer of the Week,” by the coaches who describe her as “always positive, with a great attitude at practices, very attentive to improving her strokes, and always cheering on her teammates.”
“Boy Swimmer of the Week,” went to Gabriel Hernandez. Coach Maria Arroyo said, “Gabriel has been amazing at practice, and working really hard. He always asks good questions about his technique to help him improve his strokes.”
Undeterred by a tough meet, the LMST swimmers look forward to an away meet against Key West, on Wednesday, July 10 at 6 p.m.
