Wilson County Swimmers Shine at High School Region Meet

Wilson Five Place at Region Swim Meet

January 30, 2009….Five WilsonCounty residents placed in the Top 16 at the MTHSSA Region High School Championship Meet on Friday in Nashville. 52 high schools were represented from across the mid-state region, with 666 athletes competing.

There were 37 swimmers who live in Wilson County in the meet, representing 5 high schools, Friendship Christian, Lebanon, Mt Juliet, Pope John Paul II, and Wilson Central.

Placing in the Top 16 in their individual events were Luke Blackwell (FCS); Kelsey Copeland (MJHS); Christian Roberts (MJHS); Alek Nochowicz (JP2); and Ashley Powell (JP2).

Blackwell, who lives in Mt Juliet and is a sophomore at FCS, took home a 7^th place finish in the Boy’s 500 Yard Freestyle in a time of 5:03.43, and an 8^th place finish in the 100 Yard Backstroke (0:59.45).

Copeland, a MJHS senior who will be swimming at King College next Fall, took home a 13^th place finish in the Girl’s 100 Yard Backstroke (1:07.17).

Roberts, a junior at MJHS, placed 16^th in the Boy’s 100 Yard Freestyle (0:53.62), good enough for a High School State Championship Meet qualifying time.

Nochowicz, a junior at JP2 who lives in Mt Juilet, placed 12^th in the Boy’s 500 Yard Freestyle (5:18.25).

Powell, a JP2 senior who lives in Mt Juliet, placed 14^th in the Girl’s 100 Yard Breaststroke (1:16.51).

“Luke was not rested for this meet, and was coming off a heavy workout the night before,” FCS Coach Christy Blackwell stated. “He also trains year round with Excel Aquatics and Coach Barnes is going to taper him for the State meet in a few weeks. We were pleased with his performance and where he is at in his training plan.”

Copeland, Nochowicz and Powell all train with Excel Aquatics, and Coach Barnes reports that they were in a similar situation as Blackwell.

“Coach Blackwell is absolutely right. All Excel Aquatics swimmers who had previously qualified for the High School State Championships understand that Region is a warm-up for that meet,” Coach Barnes explained. “We will taper for State, they train hard with this as a goal, and too long of a taper can be counter-productive.”

“Some schools tapered for this meet, for many it was their championship meet, and they did great. From looking at the results of the county swimmers, many made strides towards State times, and with some hard work and a training plan this off-season, more from Wilson County should be making State next year.”

For more information on swimming in Wilson County, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

MJHS Cruises to Victory in County Swim Meet

MJHS Wins Wilson County Swimming Championships

January 24, 2009….The Jimmy Floyd Center in Lebanon was the site of Wilson County’s first County Championship Swim Meet. Participating schools were Friendship Christian School, Lebanon High School, Mt Juliet High School and Wilson Central High School.

Mt Juliet handily won the boy’s competition and combined competition, and just edged the girl’s team from up and coming Wilson Central.

5 swimmers were multiple individual event winners.

Mt Juliet senior Kelsey Copeland was coming off signing day with King College and won two individual events, and was on two winning relays. Copeland pulled away from the field in both the Girl’s 100 Yard Butterfly and 100 Yard Backstroke, as the MJHS fans screamed her on.

To date, Copeland leads all girl swimmers in the county with seven qualifying times for the State of Tennessee High School Swimming Championships to be held in Knoxville, February 13^th and 14^th. She is qualified to swim in the 50 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Freestyle, 500 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Butterfly and 200 Yard Individual Medley.

MJHS junior Christian Roberts, won the Boy’s 100 Yard Butterfly and 100 Yard Backstroke, events which he had already qualified for the State Meet in. Roberts was also on two winning relays for MJHS.

Zac Morgan, a senior at Lebanon High School, won his two events, handily winning the Boy’s 100 Yard Freestyle and just edging out MJHS junior Taylor Wallace in the 50 Yard Freestyle. Morgan’s victory in the 50 Yard Freestyle ignited the crowd as they realized it was also Morgan’s second State Meet qualifying time of the year. Morgan has the honor of being the only boy on this year’s LHS swim team with qualifying times for State.

Luke Blackwell, a sophomore at FCS, cruised to victories in the Boy’s 200 Yard Freestyle and 500 Yard Freestyle, winning by a total of 127 seconds between the two events. Blackwell has six qualifying times for the State swim meet in the 50 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Freestyle, 500 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Backstroke and 200 Yard Individual Medley.

FCS teammate Rachel Sandoval won the Girl’s 100 Yard Freestyle and 100 Yard Breaststroke. Sandoval is qualified for the State Meet in the 50 yard Freestyle.

The next meet for Wilson County swimmers is the MTHSSA Region Championship Meet in Nashville on January 30^th. Swimming at the Region Meet requires swimmers achieve a Region qualifying time standard, generally much easier than State Meet times. The Region meet is their last chance to qualify for State this year.

Event Winners:

Boys:

200 Yard Medley Relay – Mt Juliet HS (Spencer Bracey, Taylor Wallace, Christian Roberts, Tyler Marudas), 1:57.74.

200 Yard Freestyle – Luke Blackwell, FCS, 1:52.67.

200 Yard Individual Medley – Spencer Bracey, MJHS, 2:27.97.

50 Yard Freestyle – Zac Morgan, LHS, 0:24.20.

100 Yard Butterfly – Christian Roberts, MJHS, 1:00.22.

100 Yard Freestyle – Zac Morgan, LHS 0:54.55.

500 Yard Freestyle – Luke Blackwell, FCS, 5:06.41.

200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Mt Juliet HS (Christian Roberts, Tyler Marudas, Spencer Bracey, Taylor Wallace), 1:43.55

100 Yard Backstroke – Christian Roberts, MJHS, 1:08.35

100 Yard Breaststroke – Taylor Wallace, MJHS, 1:12.61.

400 Yard Freestyle Relay – Mt Juliet HS (Andrew Brown, Elijah Spencer, Philip Calkins, Gabe Edmondson), 4:58.79.

Girls:

200 Yard Medley Relay – Mt Juliet HS (Carly McMahon, Meredith Martin, Kelsey Copeland, Lauren Lavery), 2:18.74.

200 Yard Freestyle – Katie Atwood, WCHS, 2:32.30.

200 Yard Individual Medley – Caitlin Sexton, WCHS, 2:51.58.

50 Yard Freestyle – Rose Davis, WCHS, 0:29.35.

100 Yard Butterfly – Kelsey Copeland, MJHS 1:09.50.

100 Yard Freestyle – Rachel Sandoval, FCS, 1:01.05.

500 Yard Freestyle – Annie Horn, LHS, 6:43.07.

200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Mt Juliet HS (Kelsey Copeland, Meredith Martin, Abby Curtis, Lauren Lavery), 2:01.20.

100 Yard Backstroke – Kelsey Copeland, MJHS, 1:08.92.

100 Yard Breaststroke – Rachel Sandoval, FCS, 1:22.93.

400 Yard Freestyle Relay – Wilson Central HS (Tiffany Vanderpool, Andie Hailey, Samantha Major, Katie Atwood), 4:55.10.

Team Scores:

Boys: MJHS 79, LHS 35, WCHS 18, FCS 12

Girls: MJHS 66, WCHS 60, LHS 15, FCS 12

Combined: MJHS 145, WCHS 78, LHS 50, FCS 24

Frienship Christian School Swimmer Dominates Swim Meet

FCS Swimmer Dominates Swim Meet

January 20, 2009….Luke Blackwell, a Sophomore at Friendship Christian School traveled to Manchester TN for a MTHSSA Division I High School Swim Meet on Friday the 16^th. Also swimming for FCS at the Middle School level was Madison Blackwell, an 8^th Grader.

Luke participated in the 200 Yard Freestyle and 500 Yard Freestyle, winning both in convincing fashion.

In the 200 Yard Freestyle, Luke was leading by over two seconds after the first 50, and the lead grew to five seconds by the half-way point in the race. At the end, Luke turned a 1:53.39 (one minute, 53 seconds and 39 one-hundredths), winning by nearly a full length of the pool and just under 12 seconds in front of the second place finisher.

30 minutes later, Luke participated in the 500 Yard Freestyle, the longest event in High School swimming. By the end of the first 100 yards, Luke was in the lead by over 6 seconds, and by halfway that lead had grown to 17 seconds. Cruising home in 5:04.63, Luke lapped the competition and won by over 35 seconds.

“Luke backed off early in the race, knowing that he had the win secured. His all time best time is 11 seconds faster than what he did,” FCS Head Coach Christy Blackwell explained. “We left this meet and traveled to Knoxville for a USAS Meet on Saturday where he swam for Excel Aquatics, and we wanted him to still be fresh for that meet.”

Madison Blackwell, Luke’s younger sister, swam as “exhibition” in the meet since she is only in Middle School and cannot score in High School meets.

Madison competed in the 100 Yard Butterfly and 100 Yard Backstroke. In the Butterfly event she won the event with a time of 1:10.66, out touching the second place finisher by a mere 0.09 seconds.

In the 100 Yard Backstroke, the tables were turned on Madison as she placed second in the race, by 0.07 seconds, and finishing in 1:08.93.

“Even though Madison is not eligible to compete at State this year, she has accumulated 5 State Qualifying Times, second only to current MJHS Senior Kelsey Copeland in the number of State Cuts achieved,” Coach Blackwell noted. “So next year as a Freshman, we anticipate that she will have an immediate impact on swimming in Wilson County.”

“Our next meet is the Wilson County Championships (WCC) on the 23^rd, and Luke will be one of the early favorites in whatever events we decide to place him in.”

After the WCC, the Mid-State Region Meet will follow on January 30^th in Nashville, with the State Meet being held in Knoxville on February 13^th and 14^th.

After High School season ends the Blackwell siblings will turn their attention towards the Southeastern Swimming Championships in Nashville at the end of February, and the Senior Sectional Championships in North Carolina in March. When not swimming for FCS, the pair train year round for Excel Aquatics under the guidance of Lebanon’s John Barnes.

Excel Hosts High School Invitational

Wilson County Swimmers Excel in High School Invitational

January 10, 2009….Wilson County Swimmers representing Mt Juliet HS, Lebanon HS, Friendship Christian and Pope John Paul II HS participated in Excel Aquatics’ High School Invitational. 35 high school teams comprising 453 swimmers from the Mid-State area, Memphis, and Chattanooga competed in the highly competitive meet.

“Excel hosts this meet each year as a way to show our support for the local High School swimming community”, Excel Assistant Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes explained. “It is the largest and most competitive High School Invitational Swim Meet in Middle Tennessee, and as such gives the kids a great perspective as to what they can expect at the Region Championships at the end of the month.”

Wilson County saw 8 swimmers from all four schools break into the Top 16 scoring spots. Those who finished in the Top 16:

Alek Nochowicz (JPII HS) – 4^th Place 500 Yard Freestyle; 9^th Place 200 Yard Freestyle.

Luke Blackwell (FCS) – 4^th Place 100 Yard Freestyle; 12^th Place 100 Yard Breaststroke.

Zac Morgan (LHS) – 6^th Place 100 Yard Freestle; 13^th Place 50 Yard Freetsyle.

Christian Roberts (MJHS) – 13^th Place 100 Yard Backstroke; 14^th Place 50 Yard Freestyle.

Conrad Claycomb (JPII HS) – 10^th Place 100 Yard Freestyle.

Kelsey Copeland (MJHS) – 7^th Place 50 Yard Freestyle; 9^th Place 100 Yard Backstroke.

Rachel Sandoval (FCS) – 10^th Place 50 Yard Freestyle; 12^th Place 100 Yard Freestyle.

Ashley Powell (JPII HS) – 8^th Place 100 Yard Breaststroke.

Nochowicz was the top scoring boy for Wilson County in the meet with a 4^th and 9^th Place finishes; while Copeland was the top scoring girl out of Wilson County with a 7^th and 9^th Place finishes.

One Wilson County resident attained a new qualifying time standard for the State High School Swimming Championships in February. Zac Morgan of LHS achieved a cut in the 100 Yard Freestyle.

To date, Kelsey Copeland has 2009 State Qualifying Time Cuts in 7 events; Blackwell has cuts in 6 events; Nochowicz has cuts in 5 events; Taylor Wallace has cuts in 2 events; while Morgan, Powell, and Sandoval each have one event with a time cut.

Barnes noted that “Wilson County has some great swimmers that will swim at the next level in college. Copeland is a senior and will soon sign with a college, while juniors Nochowicz and Bradley Gillilan will draw interest as well as they head into next year. Luke Blackwell is a sophomore and will garner attention in due time as a result of his success.”

Swimming in the separate Excel Aquatics Middle School Invitational Meet on Saturday was FCS 8^th Grader Madison Blackwell. Madison placed 4^thth in the 100 Yard Butterfly. in the 100 Yard Backstroke, and 12 Andrew Barnes, a Lebanon resident who attends Sumner Academy participated in the 50 Yard Freestyle and 100 Yard Freestyle.

For more information on High School swimming in Wilson County, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.