The Woodlands Swim Team continued to dominate the winter championship season in the final three meets attended in December.  Coach Tim and Coach Scott took twelve swimmers ranging in age from 13 to 18 to the 2009 Speedo Short Course Junior Nationals, held at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio from December 10th – 12th.  In addition to seeing some snow, the TWST swimmers saw some amazing times in themselves and each other.  Jonathan Debaugh, Jonathan Tybur and Ediz Yildirimer saw a 100% improvement in times in each individual swim.  Ediz set a new Jr. National record in his 1650 FR swim in finals on the last night, winning the event with a 15:11.46y – his best time by almost :40 seconds.  TWST finished 5th overall, one of our best team finishes.  The men’s team placed 3rd and the women’s team placed 27th.

Swimmers who finaled included Gray Umbach – 6th in the 400 IM, 2nd in the 200 FL and 7th in the 200 IM, Chad Sorensen – 21st in the 100 BR and 18th in the 200 BR, Ediz Yildirimer – 11th in the 500 FR in addition to his mile win, Tripp Cooper – 15th in the 100 FL, Gage Trotter – 28th in the 200 FL, Kelsey Leneave – 8th in the 100 FR, and 10th in the 400 IM, Erin Foster – 10th in the 200 FR.  

In relays, the men’s 800 Fr Relay placed 3rd with Yildirimer, Umbach, Debaugh and Cooper. The men’s 400 Fr Relay of Sorensen, Umbach, Meyers and Cooper placed 5th, as did the 200 Fr Relay with the same four swimmers. The men’s 200 and 400 Medley relays placed 3rd.  The 400 Medley included Umbach, Sorensen, Cooper and Kyle Meyers.  The 200 Medley included Gage Trotter, Sorensen, Cooper and Umbach.  The women’s 800 Fr Relay also placed 3rd with Foster, Leneave, Lizzie Justice and Erin Sosdian.

TWST swimmers competed in the Gulf Age Group Champs Meet from Dec. 11th – 13th at the Don Cook Natatorium in Sugar Land. Our team placed 3rd overall with 52 swimmers competing.  Several TWST swimmers had 100 % time improvements in their individual events.  Congratulations to Gordon Allan, Madeline Bliss, Alex Brosvik, Cotton Fields, Emily Henson, Rhory Legendre, Lucie Nordmann, Carly Pratt, Emily Reese, Michael Reutzel, Josh Sorensen, Ryan Sorensen, Anne Turney, Landen Walin and Natalie Whalen.  

Several TWST swimmers placed in the overall top 20 at this meet.  For the 10 & Under girls, Emily Reese took 2nd place, Lucie Nordmann finished 6th, Hannah Mayo was 15th, Caitlyn Pratt was 16th and Victoria Hunt placed 18th.  Barley Fields took 5th in the 10 & Under boys category, with Zach Hansen also scoring 17th place.  Austin Whalen represented TWST for the 11-12 boys, finishing in 19th place.  In the 13-14 girls, Ashley Boyles was 3rd, Tori Eberwein was 7th and Carly Pratt finished 17th.  Chad Lejeune and Scott Mayberry finished 11th and 15th respectively in the 13-14 boys age group.

Individual event winners included Lucie Nordmann in the 10 & Under 50 FL, double winner Ashley Boyles in the 13-14 500Fr and 1000Fr and Tori Eberwein in the 13-14 100 BR.  Top three relay finishes at this meet were the 1st place 10 & Under girls 200 Medley Relay: Emily Reese, Caitlyn Pratt, Victoria Hunt and Lucie Nordmann.  The 13-14 girls 400 FR Relay placed first with Madison Wisenbaker, Carly Pratt, Tori Eberwein and Ashley Boyles.  Their 400 Medley Relay – Pratt, Eberwein, Laura Ramirez and Boyles finished 2nd.  On the boy’s side, the 10 & Under 200 Fr Relay placed 3rd with Mason Machicek, Barley Fields, Phillip Gavino and Zachary Hansen.  The 13-14 boys 400 Medley Relay also placed 3rd with Austin Walin, Chad Lejeune, Austin Boyles and Scott Mayberry.

The winter championship season finished on a high note with a 1st place team showing at the 8 & Under Gulf Champs Meet, held at University of Houston on Dec. 13th.  TWST had 37 swimmers competing at this meet, including high point winners Malia Rausch for the 6 & Under girls and Cotton Fields for the 7 yr old boys.  Other TWST top twenty swimmers included Madison Renaldo – tied for 8th, Liliana Shaw  and Karalynn Salva tied for 15th among the 6 & Under girls.  Gavin Kolodziej – 5th, Hunter Kolodziej – 6th, and Christian Inman and Jack Young – tied for 7th, represented TWST for the 6 & Under boys.  Among the 7 yr old swimmers, Lillie Nordmann – 2nd, Lea Suszlyo – tied for 5th, Hiromi Gonzalez – 7th and Morgan Rehme – tied for 13th scored, as did Otto Gerstl – 4th.  Bella Brosvik – 3rd represented TWST for the 8 yr old swimmers, as well as Cooper Darnell – 2nd, Vidyal Pradeepkumar – 3rd and Jack Rausch 4th.

Swimmers with a 100 % time improvement in each individual swim were Cooper Darnell, Chloe Hunt, Ryleigh Hunt, Ashlyn Price, Mia Romero, Taylor Spexarth, Kyle Tucker and Rebecca Wright.  The 8 & Under boys Medley Relay placed 1st at this meet with Cotton Fields, Jack Rausch, Vidyal Pradeepkumar and Gavin Kolodziej swimming.