Wilson County TN Swimming Press Releases

7 Place at Regions

2010-01-30T22:43:00.000-06:00

7 Wilson County Swimmers Place at High School Region Swim Meet

January 30, 2010….Seven Wilson County residents placed in the Top 16 at the MTHSSA Region High School Championship Meet on Friday in Nashville.

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

Placing in the Top 16 in their individual events were:
• Taylor Charles, FR, Home School, 7th in the Boy’s 100 Yard Backstroke.
• Tommy Bailey, SR, MJHS, 8th in the Boy’s 50 Yard Freestyle.
• Christian Roberts, SR, MJHS, 9th in the Boy’s 100 Yard Butterfly.
• Spencer Bracey, SO, MJHS, 12th in the Boy’s 100 Yard Breaststroke and 16th in the Boy’s 100 Yard Freestyle.
• Rachel Sandoval, SR, FCS, 12th in the Girl’s 100 Yard Freestyle, and 13th in the Girl’s 200 Yard Freestyle.
• Blake Parsons, SO, WCHS, 14th in the Boy’s 50 Yard Freestyle.
• Alek Nochowicz, SR, JP2HS, 15th in the Boy’s 500 Yard Freestyle.

The Mount Juliet Boy’s Swim Team, led by Bailey, Roberts and Bracey led the Golden Bears to a 10th Place Finish in the Meet. Charle’s Home School Boy’s team finished 2nd, while Nochowicz’s JP2 Boy’s team finished 15th.

The State of Tennessee High School Swimming and Diving Championships will be held February 12th and 13th in Nashville.

Full results of the Region meet may be found at www.ExcelAquatics.com. For more information on swimming in Wilson County, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

4 New State Cuts!

2010-01-17T22:43:00.000-06:00

Barnes, Bailey, Bracey, and Curtis qualify for High School State Swim Meet

January 16, 2010….Wilson County resident swimmers, representing Mt Juliet HS and Pope John Paul II HS participated in Excel Aquatics’ High School Invitational.

Four boys, three from Mt Juliet HS, and one from Pope JP2 HS, posted High School State Qualifying Times during the meet.

Spencer Bracey, Tommy Bailey, and Nathan Curtis attained State cuts for Mt Juliet HS.

Bailey, a senior, placed 11th in the Boy’s 50 Yard Freestyle, turning a best time of 0:23.57. Bracey, a Sophomore, placed 19th in the Boy’s 50 Yard Free in a best time of 0:24.14, and 11th in the 100 Yard Freestyle with a time of 0:52.94. Nathan Curtis, a Freshman, placed 11th in the Boy’s 200 Yard Freestyle with a time of 2:00.43; and 20th in the 100 Yard Freestyle, turning a 0:53.89.

Barnes, a senior at JP2, attained a State qualifying time in the Boy’s 500 Yard Freestyle, turning a 5:40.85, good enough for a 10th Place finish in the event. For Barnes it was his first State qualifying time in his High School career, and was the result of a total of 24 seconds dropped from his best time in the event as a junior.

“Austin swam his heart out, he had set qualifying for State as his goal for this year, and to see him accomplish that goal was great,” JP2 Coach Sheree Zobl noted. “As a freshman, Austin was over two minutes away from a State time in the event; each year he progressed, and each year he moved closer to State. He trains daily with Bradley Gillilan (Lebanon resident and Michigan State signee) and success breeds success. There is no substitute for hard work in swimming.”

Barnes will join fellow JP2 senior and Mt Juliet resident Alek Nochowicz at State. Nochowicz has previously qualified in 7 different events and missed the meet this weekend due to a college visit to the Coast Guard Academy.

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

Gillilan Signs with Michigan State!!!

2009-11-17T22:35:00.000-06:00

November 16, 2009....

Bradley Gillilan, a senior at Lebanon High School and a year-round swimmer with Excel Aquatics, signed a National Letter of Intent on November 11th to continue his swimming career at Michigan State University next Fall.

Gillilan, the most prolific distance specialist from Wilson County in recent history, weighed several offers from different schools before finally choosing Michigan State. Michigan State was one of the first teams to contact Bradley when recruiting opened up in July, and was the last place he visited in the process. Gillilan also visited Western Kentucky and the University of Alabama.

Excel Aquatics has been the one and only home for Bradley, training with the coaching staff in Gallatin for the past 12 years, and progressing through the different squad levels. Coach Mike Ballard trained Bradley for his first six years with Excel, taking a raw elementary school child and teaching Bradley the stroke basics which would make him one of the top distance swimmers in the nation. In Middle School, Bradley swam for Excel's Andreea Ianoli-Mitrofan, a former Romanian National Champion, who further refined Bradley into the Excel record holder in the 800 Meter and 1500 Meter Freestyles in the 11&12 age group category. At the start of High School Bradley moved up into Coach John Barnes' training squad.

While in Barnes' squad, Bradley has attained multiple qualifying times for the Southeastern Swimming Championships, Senior Sectional Championships, NCSA Junior National Championships, USA-Swimming Junior National Championships, and USA-Swimming Senior National Championships.

"Many schools were drawn to Gillilan because of the breakthrough swims he had as a Junior, as well as the 1,650 time he posted this Fall", Coach Barnes explained. "As of November 1st, Gillilan was ranked first in the nation among boys 15 to 18 years of age in the 1,650 Freestyle event for the 2009-2010 Short Course Season. His personal best time is 15:41.26, a pace of 57.04 seconds per 100 yards swam."

"Bradley wanted to make his decision in the early signing period this Fall, and get the process completed so he could focus on the upcoming Senior National Championships in Seattle WA next month. He limited his visits to just 3 of the allotted 5, and chose Michigan State in the end. State is an outstanding academic school, and their swim team is a force in the Big 10."

"I was really attracted by the opportunity to swim for the Spartans against Michigan and Indiana on a yearly basis", Gillian said. "The Big 10 Conference top to bottom has the best distance swimmers in terms of depth, and I look forward to being able to go to the next level of training and swim against the best of the best on a regular basis. My goal is to win a Big 10 Conference title before I graduate."

Gillilan will swim in the Fall of 2010 for Spartan's Head Coach Matt Gianiodis and Assistant Coach Tim Loeffer who is in charge of Distance training.

For more information on swimming opportunities, visit SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Victory at SES!

2009-07-23T15:59:00.000-05:00

Gillilan Wins Southeastern 800 Meter Freestyle

July 23, 2009…. The Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship started Thursday at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville. Southeastern Swimming consists of club swimmers from all of Tennessee and Alabama, and the Panhandle region of Florida.

Bradley Gillilan, a senior at LHS, won the Senior Men’s 800 Meter Freestyle in convincing fashion in a time of eight minutes, twenty-nine seconds and sixty-six hundredths of a second (8:29.66). He finished ahead of the second place finisher by nearly eight seconds.

The time was a 3.44 seconds from Gillilan’s best time in the event achieved last week at the Senior Sectional meet at UT-Knoxville, and qualified in the event for the USA-Swimming Short Course Senior National Championships in December.

This was Gillilan’s second Short Course Senior National cut, having achieved a cut in the 1,500 Meter Freestyle just four days earlier at Senior Sectionals.

“It’s hard to swim in back-to-back championship level meets just four days apart,” Excel Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted. “Bradley had such a great meet last week with some emotional swims, and he really stepped it up this in the 800 Meters tonight.”

“His goal coming in the meet was to win the event and score points for Excel Aquatics, and he accomplished both on the first night. Nabbing a Senior National qualifying time in the process was just gravy on the mash potatoes.”

Gillilan continues to swim in six more events, two each day through Sunday. To follow results of the top distance swimmer in Wilson County swimming history, visit www.ExcelAquatics.org/age_group and click on “Real Time Results”.

Sectional Meet Wrap Up

2009-07-19T15:57:00.002-05:00

Gillilan Qualifies for Senior National Swim Meet

July 19, 2009…. Lebanon High School’s Bradley Gillilan saved his best swim for last at the Summer Senior Sectional Championship Meet this past weekend at the University of Tennessee.

On Sunday, in the 1,500 Meter Freestyle, Gillilan moved up from being seeded 11^th to finish 4^th overall, in a time of 16:15.94, a drop of over 17 seconds.

The personal best time in the “Mile” as the 1500 is referred by, was a Short Course Senior National Qualifying Time Standard for Gillilan, the first Wilson County resident to qualify for Senior Nationals since former Mt Juliet resident Andrew Davidson did so. Davidson attended and swam for the University of Texas.

The 2009 Short Course Senior National Championships will be held in early December in Federal Way, Washington.

“The majority of swimmers who Bradley finished amongst in the 1500 Free at this meet were college swimmers. He was seeded next to a UNC swimmer, and left him after about 400 meters,” Coach John Barnes explained. “Bradley proceeded to chase the eventual event winner, a boy from the University of Louisville; and a boy from the University of Cincinnati.”

Gillilan finished third in his heat and fourth overall in the event.

“The time Bradley posted in the 1500 was also an Excel Aquatics team record at any age level. The record he beat was set by Shaun Phillips in 2001, Phillips eventually went on to swim at Stanford University, 2003-2007.”

On Saturday, Gillilan participated in the 400 Meter Freestyle. He entered the meet with an entry time of 4:18.56 and seeded 42^nd. During the Prelims swims, he turned a time of 4:12.54, good enough for 23^rd place going into the Finals. In the Finals that evening, he won the “C” Finals with a time of 4:07.79, and finished 17^th overall in the event.

“Bradley is set up great going into the Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Championships this coming weekend. The SES Meet is not as prestigious as the Sectional meet; however Bradley will step up and work to score points for his team.”

For more information on competitive swimming, visit www.ExcelAquatics.com/age_group.

Gillilan 4th at Sectional Meet

2009-07-16T15:52:00.001-05:00

Gillilan Fourth at Senior Sectional Swim Meet

July 16, 2009…. Lebanon High School’s Bradley Gillilan placed 4^th in the 800 Meter Freestyle at the Speedo Senior Sectional Swimming Championships at the University of Tennessee on Thursday. The Senior Sectional meet requires qualifying times to participate, and is a stepping stone in the progression pathway of swimming. Swimmers range from high school age swimmers to those in college.

Gillilan, a rising senior at LHS, and a member of Excel Aquatics, entered the meet seeded 12^th with an entry time of 8:43.42. After the race was over, Gillilan had moved up 8 spots to finish 4^th, with a final time of 8:33.59. The time is the fastest time posted by a High School aged swimmer in Middle Tennessee this summer.

Gillilan already had a Short Course Junior National Meet qualifying time in the event, and this new time today qualified him for the Long Course Junior National Meet to be held in Seattle in August. Junior National level meets are limited to those who are 18 years old and younger, and are just one level below US Nationals.

“Just a week ago a NCAA Division I coach visited Excel’s training site in Gallatin to watch Bradley train and to speak with Bradley about the university,” Excel Coach John Barnes commented. “The coach told Bradley that he would be watching the results of this meet this weekend, and it looks like Bradley has stepped up.”

Gillilan continues the meet on Saturday, competing in the 400 Meter Freestyle; and then concludes the meet with the 1,500 Meter Freestyle on Sunday.

For more information on competitive swimming, visit www.ExcelAquatics.com/age_group.

Wilson County Swimmers Travel to Ft Lauderdale

2009-07-01T15:48:00.001-05:00

Swimmers Compete in International Meet in Ft Lauderdale

July 1, 2009…. Two Wilson County swimmers traveled to Ft Lauderdale for the International Age Group International Swim Meet, June 25-29. Bradley Gillilan, a rising senior at Lebanon High School and Alek Nochowicz, a Mt Juliet resident and rising senior at Pope John Paul II High School represented Excel Aquatics and Wilson County in the meet.

Gillilan placed in the 15&16 Boy’s Top 10 in 1,500 Meter Freestyle (5^th Place); 200 Meter Breaststroke (6^th Place); 400 Meter Freestyle (6^th Place); 200 Meter Individual Medley (8^th Place); and the 100 Meter Breaststroke (7^th Place).

He turned Personal Best Times in the 200 Meter Breaststroke with a 6 second drop; in the 200 Meter Individual Medley with a 3.16 second drop; 100 Meter Breaststroke with a 1.43 second drop; 200 Meter Backstroke with a 1.84 second drop; and the 200 Fly with a 1.35 second drop.

Nochowicz swam in 9 events, and had personal best times in 8 of the events. Best times came in the 1,500 Meter Freestyle with a 7.58 second drop 200 Meter Freestyle with a 2.75 second drop; 100 Meter Backstroke with a 1.54 second drop; 200 Meter Breaststroke with a 3.74 second drop; 200 Meter Individual Medley with a 1.63 second drop; 100 Meter Breaststroke with a 2.23 second drop; 400 Meter Freestyle with a 7.46 second drop; and 100 Meter Freestyle with a 1.54 second drop.

“Both boys did very well.” Coach John Barnes noted. “This was a large meet with 60 teams, of which 10 teams were from foreign nations, as far away as South Africa. There was just shy of 900 swimmers in the meet, and it was a fast, competitive meet. The boys traveled to the meet as part of our team, and despite the numerous distractions that a city like Ft Lauderdale presents to teenage boys; they stepped up, remembered why they were there, and performed well.

The next meet for Excel Aquatics is the Senior Sectional Championships in Knoxville TN, July 16-19; followed the next week by the Southeastern Swimming Championships in Nashville.

For more information on competitive swimming, visit www.ExcelAquatics.com/age_group.

Swimming Academic All-American

2009-05-26T20:37:00.004-05:00

Powell named as Swimming Academic All-American

May 26, 2009….Ashley Powell, a Mt Juliet resident and graduating senior from the Pope John Paul II High School Swim Team, has been selected by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association as an Academic All-American for the 2008-2009 school year.

To be eligible for the award, swimmers must be graduating seniors having maintained an unweighted GPA of 3.75 through the first semester of their senior year. Additionally they must have also lettered in swimming for three years, including their senior year.

“Pope John Paul II High School has a strong tradition of academic excellence, and the swim team is proud of Ashley having attained this national recognition for her academic success”, Pope John Paul II Swim Coach John Barnes commented. “Ashley did a great job of balancing academics, athletics, and her leadership roles within Pope John Paul II; she is a fine example of the accomplished student-athlete which the high school produces each year.”

For more information on Pope John Paul II High School Swim Team, visit www.jp2hs.org

Spring Fling Meet produces Wilson County winner

2009-04-26T20:39:00.001-05:00

Lebanon Swimmer wins 4 events at Spring Fling Meet

April 26, 2009….It was the first Long Course swim meet of the year; it was the Excel Aquatics Spring Fling Invitational in Brentwood TN. Long Course meets are held in 50 Meter pools, as compared to Short Course meets which are held in 25 Yard pools. The Olympics and most international meets are held in the Long Course format.

Lebanon High’s Bradley Gillilan, participating for Excel Aquatics, swam to victories in the Senior Boy’s 400 Meter Individual Medley (IM), 400 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Breaststroke and 800 Meter Freestyle.

The 400 Meter IM consists of 100 Meters each of Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle, in that order. Due to the distance, it allows those who may be weak in one stroke to be able to make up for the deficiency in other strokes.

In the IM, Gillilan was in 4^th place after the Butterfly leg, and moved up into 2^nd after the Backstroke, trailing by only 40-hundreths of a second. During the pullout phase at the beginning of the Breaststroke leg Gillilan looked left and made eye contact with the teammate he was trailing, who also happened to be looking over to see where Gillilan was. Gillilan at that point knew the race was his to win. Gillilan blasted out to a lead of 7.69 seconds after the Breaststroke and cruised home in four minutes 58 seconds and 91-hundreths (4:58.91), winning by over 5 seconds. The time was a personal best time for Gillilan, besting his old mark by 6.76 seconds.

“Bradley is one of the top distance freestylers in Tennessee, and as such has the confidence he can wear down the competition in the 400 Meter IM”, Excel Coach John Barnes explained. “He swam the race smart, and we knew that if he was close after the backstroke, then he had an excellent chance to win.”

“It’s all about strategy and then executing that strategy.”

In the 400 Meter Freestyle, Gillilan was seeded second going into the event, and was ahead at the first turn (50 Meter split) by 9-hundreths of a second, the closest anyone would be to him. After that he took over the race and never looked back. Gillilan had a full body length lead and a 1.92 second lead after the 200 Meter split. Gillilan won in a time of 4:19.18, a 3.27 second margin of victory.

“The 400 Meter time was about a half-second over his best time”, Barnes commented. “That is not a problem; he is exactly where we expect him to be at this point in training. He will improve as the summer progresses.”

The 100 Meter Breaststroke was a surprise victory, touching out the competition by less than a second. Gillilan turned a personal best time in the event, finishing with a 1:17.29, good enough for a Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship Meet qualifying time.

“With the performance in the 100 Breaststroke, Bradley now has 9 qualifying times for the SES LC Championships, to go along with his 3 cuts for the Summer Senior Sectionals, 3 cuts for the NCSA Junior Nationals, and 2 cuts for the USA-Swimming Junior Nationals.”

The final event of the meet was the 800 Meter Freestyle, and Gillilan was in firm control of the event the entire distance, winning by over 7 seconds and finishing in a time of 8:52.07.

“The second seeded swimmer in the 800 is a talented kid and a fantastic competitor, and we have seen him make a charge in the back half of distances races before, and Bradley went into the swim aware of that. As a result Bradley conserved energy on the first half of the race for a second-half charge that never materialized by the other swimmer, thus his time was a little off his best.”

Gillilan also placed in the Senior Boy’s 200 Meter IM (2^nd Place); 200 Meter Freestyle (4^th Place); 200 Meter Breaststroke (4^th Place); 100 Meter Butterfly (5^th Place); and the 100 Meter Freestyle (8^th Place).

The next Long Course meet is May 29-31 in Brentwood TN at the Williamson County Indoor Sports Complex.

For more information on swimming options for Wilson County residents, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Gillilan 30th at Junior Nationals!

2009-03-22T21:23:00.001-05:00

Gillilan 30^th in Mile at Junior National Swimming Championships in Orlando

March 22, 2009….He followed his older brother Travis in the water to train, and has seemingly never left. Lebanon High School junior, Bradley Gillilan appears to be more at home in the water than he is on land, and as a Junior at Lebanon High School, he has probably swam more yardage than his classmates have combined.

A payoff to Gillilan’s hard work and intense drive occurred this past week at the NCSA Junior National Swimming Championships. Over 1,500 swimmers from across the nation attended the highly competitive meet. Gillilan is the first swimmer from Lebanon to attend the annual meet.

In his final event in the meet, the 1,500 Meter Freestyle, Gillilan was seeded 56^th out of 64 swimmers entered in the event. Gillilan turned three best times in the single event, on his way to moving up 26 spots and finishing in 30^th Place.

Best times were achieved in the 400 Meter Freestyle, where he turned a legal split time of 4:18.56. At the 800 Meter split, he set a best time of 8:43.32. Hitting the wall at the finish with a time of 16:33.55, Gillilan knocked 27.83 seconds off his previous best time.

The time in the 1,500 Meter Free was a qualifying time standard for the 1,650 Yard Freestyle at the USA-Swimming Short Course Junior National Meet to be held in December at Ohio State University.

“Bradley qualified for the USA-S Junior National Meet in the 1,000 Yard Freestyle earlier in the week, and this is his second cut”, Coach John Barnes stated. “He is close to a cut in the 500 Yard Freestyle, and we expect him to get that mark by the time the meet comes around in December.”

Gillilan time trialed the 500 Yard Free two days before the 1,500 Meter Free, and turned a 4:41.49, a drop of 4.23 seconds from his time at the Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championships three weeks earlier.

“Bradley chose to taper for Jr Nationals, and even though he had a good Southeasterns meet, he was not fully rested then. He was tapered for this meet, and had some great swims. He gets back in the water this week, and will focus on the coming summer competitions. What is done is done; now we move towards the future.”

In the Fall of 2009, as a senior at Lebanon High School, Gillilan is scheduled to compete at the Grand Prix Meet in November at the University of Minneapolis, followed four weeks later by participating in the Junior National Meet at Ohio State University.

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

Gillilan Swims at Junior Nationals!

2009-03-18T21:24:00.000-05:00

Gillilan Moves Up at Junior National Swim Meet

3/18/09 Orlando FL.....More than 1,500 swimmers from across the nation are participating in the National Coaches Swimming Association (NCSA) Junior National Swimming Championships. Lebanon High School junior Bradley Gillilan qualified for the meet, and is representing Excel Aquatics.

Gillilan's first event was on Tuesday the 17th, and it was the 1,000 Yard Freestyle. Gillilan entered the meet seeded 81st for the event.

Gillilan took out the swim strong in the first half, turning a 1:50.20 in the first 200 yard split, and hitting 4:42.32 at the 500 yard split.

"That 4:42 was a legal best split time for Bradley, and it beat his previous best time in the 500 by over three seconds", Excel Aquatics coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted. "When a swimmer does a best time in a split like that, we know something good is going to happen in the rest of the race."

Gillilan's second 500 of the race came in at 4:53.24, for a final time in the 1,000 of 9:35.56. It was a best time for Gillilan, a 12.00 second drop in the event; and good enough for a 58th place finish.

"Bradley moved up 23 spots between his seed placement and his final placing", Barnes commented. "It was a great swim, and it sets the stage for the rest of the week."

The time by Gillilan also was a USA-Swimming (USAS) Short Course Junior National qualifying time for the 1,000 Yard Freestyle. USAS Junior Nationals are the next step in the progression of swimmers after the NCSA Junior Nationals. The USAS Short Course Junior National Meet will be held December 10-12, 2009 in Columbus, Ohio.

"There is a tremendous upside in Bradley for any college team that pursues him. He is the top distance swimmer with Excel Aquatics, and the top 1,000 Yard Freestyle swimmer in Middle Tennessee. He has accomplished this without having touched weights, nor has he done two-a-days with his practices. We teach more strategy in our training compared to others, and Gillilan has understood and implemented the focus on each set in practice."

Gillilan will swim in the 1,500 Meter Freestyle on Saturday, the 21st.

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

State High School Swimmers from Wilson County

2009-02-15T21:17:00.001-06:00

Eight Swim at State

February 15, 2009….8 WilsonCounty residents participated in the Tennessee High School Swimming Championships in Knoxville over the weekend. The meet was held in the new Alan Jones Aquatic CenterUniversity of Tennessee on the campus.

Representing Wilson County and their respective schools: Kelsey Copeland and Spencer Bracey from Mt Juliet High School; Luke Blackwell and Rachel Sandoval from Friendship Christian; Zac Morgan from Lebanon High School; and Conrad Claycomb, Alek Nochowicz, and Ashley Powell from Pope John Paul II High School.

Copeland, a senior in her last meet for the bears, finished with best times in both of her events. In the Girl’s 50 Yard Freestyle, Copeland dropped 8-hundreths of a second, and finished 63^rd in a time of 0:27.17. In the 100 Yard Backstroke, Copeland dropped 1.09 seconds and finished 39^th in the meet with a time of 1:05.84.

Copeland will continue her training with Excel Aquatics in order to be prepared for her swimming career with King College, which starts in the Fall.

Bracey, a freshman boy with MJHS swam in the 100 Yard Backstroke, dropping 2.40 seconds and finishing 75^th in a time of 1:03.16.

Blackwell, a sophomore at FCS, finished the highest among the Wilson County boys in final standings. In the 200 Yard Freestyle, Blackwell dropped 0.71 seconds to finish 22^nd with a time of 1:50.13. In the 100 Yard Backstroke, Blackwell finished 26^th overall.

Sandoval is a junior at FCS and qualified for the meet in the Girl’s 50 Yard Freestyle. Sandoval finished 66^th in the meet in the event.

Morgan, finishing up his swimming career at LHS, participated in the Boy’s 50 Yard Freestyle and the 100 Yard Freestyle. In the 100 Free event Morgan dropped 0.01 seconds and finished 60^th in the event in a time of 0:53.84. In the 50 Free event Morgan finished 64^th.

Claycomb, a senior at Pope JPII HS and a Lebanon resident, clocked in impressive drops in both of his events. In the 100 Yard Freestyle, he posted a time of 0:52.43, dropping 0.48 seconds and finishing in 41^st place. In the 100 Yard Backstroke, 2.67 seconds fell off his best time when he hit the wall in a time of 1:01.07 seconds, good enough for 50^th place.

Nochowicz, a junior at Pope JPII HS hailing from Mt Juliet, placed 33^rd in the 500 Yard Freestyle when he swam to a personal best time of 5:12.21, a 2.69 second drop. In the 200 Yard Freestyle, Nochowicz finished 56^th.

Powell, a Mt Juliet resident who is a senior at Pope JPII HS is better known as a cross country star in the region, qualified for two events for the State Swim Meet. There, Powell placed 41^st in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, clocking a time of 1:15.21, a 1.09 second drop off her personal best time.

Earlier in the year in a dual meet versus Riverdale HS, Powell swam the 500 Yard Freestyle for the first time in her career, and posted a State qualifying time. At State she swam it for only the second (and final) time and dropped 2.09 seconds finishing in 66^th place with a time of 6:08.20.

“Ashley is a tremendous athlete who steps up and is not afraid to compete,” Coach John Barnes noted. “She had the benefit of training this year with not only Claycomb and Nochowicz from Pope JPII HS, she also had Copeland and Blackwell in those lanes every day pushing her.”

“Three of those 4 also had qualifying times in the 500 Free, and we decided that after she got her annual cut in the 100 Breast, we would go after the 500 Free. She got great advice from those she trains with, and went out there and stunned the crowd when she got the cut in her first try.”

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

Wilson County Swimmers Shine at High School Region Meet

2009-01-30T21:10:00.002-06:00

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

2009-01-24T23:44:00.002-06:00

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

2009-01-20T23:42:00.001-06:00

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

2009-01-10T23:39:00.001-06:00

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^th^th 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.

Gillilan going to Jr Nats!

2008-11-16T23:36:00.002-06:00

Gillilan Qualifies For Junior National Swim Meet

November 16, 2008….Minneapolis, MN.

The long-term goal for Bradley Gillilan is to sign a scholarship to swim at a Division 1 University, and the latest stop in that quest was the USA-Swimming Grand Prix Series Swim Meet held at the University of Minnesota this past weekend. Gillilan’s short-term goal was to achieve a Junior National Qualifying Time Standard in the 1,650 Yard Freestyle, and he met that goal this weekend.

Gillilan, swimming for Excel Aquatics and a Junior at Lebanon High School, is the first swimmer from Lebanon to participate in a Grand Prix level meet.

Inspired by getting to watch first-hand Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Lochte swim during the meet, Gillilan stepped up and had an outstanding meet. Gillilan added to his résumé with dynamic swims in the 1,000 Yard Freestyle, the 500 Yard Freestyle, and the 1,650 Yard Freestyle.

Sunday was the final day of competition and Gillilan took part in the longest race in pool-based swimming, the 1,650 Yard Freestyle, also called “The Mile”.

Bradley won his heat with a time drop of 16.20 seconds, turning a 16:12.75. The swim was good enough for an overall ranking of 10th in the event, and good for a NCSA Junior National Meet qualifying time standard.
The NCSA Junior National Meet will be held in Orlando, FL in March 2009.

“Bradley’s goal was to swim gain a Junior National Cut in the Meet in the 1,650 and he accomplished that,” Excel Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted. “He also beat several Division 1 college swimmers who were at the meet, and that always makes the college coaches sit up and notice when a high school aged swimmer does that.”

On Saturday afternoon, Gillilan dropped 3.25 seconds in the 500 Free while posting a personal best time of 4:46.59. Gillilan moved up from being seeded 54^t going into the meet in the 500, to a 29^tplace finish.

Gillilan finished 13^th in the 1,000 Yard Freestyle with a personal best time of 9:47.56, a drop of 10.81 seconds, on Friday afternoon. His time in the event was a NCSA Junior National “Bonus” Qualifying Time Standard. Since he now has a standard cut in the Mile, the Bonus cut allows him to swim in the 1,000 at the meet as well.

Also on Friday Gillilan was a member of Excel’s 14^th Place Relay in the 800 Yard Freestyle Relay, helping Excel score an additional 6 points.

“Bradley will be back in the pool on Monday night, preparing for his next meet in 3 weeks”, Barnes explained. “We will do some long distance moderately paced swims as a way to wind down from this meet, and then on Tuesday we will start to focus on the events our squad will be swimming at the Excel Aquatics Meet of Champions the first weekend of December.”

For more information on swimming opportunities visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Wilson County Swimmer Scores at Grand Prix Meet

2008-11-14T19:50:00.004-06:00

Gillilan Places 13th in 1,000 Free at Grand Prix Swim Meet

November 14, 2008….Minneapolis, MN.

Lebanon’s Bradley Gillilan, competing for Excel Aquatics, placed 13th in the 1,000 Yard Freestyle at the USA Swimming Grand Prix Meet at the University of Minnesota. The 1,000 was swum on the first day of competition on Friday. The meet runs through Sunday.

Gillilan, a Junior at Lebanon High School was seeded 32^nd going into the event.

Gillilan turned a time of 4:51 in the first 500 of the 1,000 yard race, splitting just 2 seconds above his best 500 time, and returned in a 4:56 in the last 500, for a final time of 9:47.56

“Bradley dropped 11 seconds from his best time in the event”, Excel’s Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “His seasonal goal is to turn a 9:39 and get a Junior National time cut, and he just took a large step towards achieving that goal.”

“When Bradley is aggressive in the first half of his swims he usually has great times, his training with Excel has given him the conditioning to be able to finish races if he gets out after it on the first half.”

Gillilan will swim the 500 Yard Freestyle on Saturday, and the 1,650 Yard Freestyle on Sunday.

For a link to the results from the Grand Prix Meet, visit www.ExcelAquatics.com.

Gillilan Going North

2008-11-09T17:17:00.003-06:00

Gillilan to Compete at Grand Prix Swim Meet in Minnesota

November 9, 2008….Excel Aquatics’ Bradley Gillilan is heading north to Minneapolis, Minnesota this coming weekend for USA Swimming’s Grand Prix Meet.

This prestigious meet is only open to those who have achieved qualifying time cuts, and will be held Nov 14-16^th at the University of Minnesota’s Aquatics Center.

Gillilan, a Junior at Lebanon High School, achieved qualifying times in the 500 Yard Freestyle, 1000 Yard Freestyle, and 1650 Yard Freestyle. Gillilan will be the first swimmer from Lebanon to compete at the Grand Prix level in swimming.

“This meet is a step above USA Swimming’s Senior Sectional meets”, Excel Aquatics Assistant Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes explained. “We have had some intense training for this meet, skipping another meet on our schedule in order to prepare for this one. If Bradley remains focused on his reason for being there, he will have a good meet.”

“This will be some great exposure for Bradley to college level coaches who will have some of their swimmers there. Olympic and National team members will be competing. As a result the exposure will work both ways. College coaches will be exposed to Bradley, and conversely, Bradley will be exposed to some of the top swimmers in the United States. He will see how they prepare for their swims, and witness the strategy they execute in their swims.”

“Training is only half the equation in swimming, if the coach is not teaching race strategy and the swimmer is not implementing that strategy, then the swimmer will not reach their potential. That combination of proper training and teaching of strategy is what makes Excel Aquatics so successful.”

Friendship Christian sophomore and Mount Juliet resident Luke Blackwell, also a member of Excel Aquatics, achieved qualifying times in the 1000 Freestyle and 1650 Freestyle for the Grand Prix Meet. Blackwell was unable to make the trip due to other obligations.

For more information about swimming, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com

Wilson County's Youth Movement in Swimming

2008-10-21T17:20:00.002-05:00

Cook and McCullough Excel at October Open Swim Meet

October 20, 2008….The youth movement in Wilson County swimming was evident this past weekend at the October Open Swim Meet in Nashville. While High School swimmers such as Luke Blackwell, Alek Nochowicz, and Bradley Gillilan typically grab headlines with their record setting swims, this weekend was headlined by two elementary age swimmers, Lucy Cook and Grace McCullough, both representing Excel Aquatics.

Of all 10 Wilson County swimmers representing Excel Aquatics, Lucy Cook of Lebanon had the biggest time drop of the weekend with her 16.24 second drop in the 10 & Under Girl’s 100 Yard Breaststroke. Cook turned a 1:37.50 (one minute, thirty seven seconds and 50 one-hundredths).

“It was a great race by Lucy, she was seeded into Lane 8, an outside lane,” Coach John Barnes noted. “Lucy grabbed the lead by the 50 and held on through the end of the race. She kept her glide long and her stroke movements quick, just as she is being taught to do.”

Cook also dropped time in the 50 Yard Breaststroke (0:45.90); and the 50 Yard Backstroke (0:47.62). Cook also swam the 200 Yard Individual Medley for the first time.

Grace McCullough, also of Lebanon, dropped times in everyone of her events in the 8 & Under Girl’s Category. Time drops occurred in the 100 Yard Freestyle (1:57.89); 25 Yard Backstroke (0:27.77); 50 Yard Freestyle (0:52.91); and the 25 yard Freestyle (0:24.02). McCullough also swam the 25 Yard Breaststroke, 50 Yard Breaststroke, and the 50 Yard Backstroke for the first time.

“Grace did great as well, she is coming to a lot of her scheduled practices and has been doing great. It’s been a joy to watch her progress in swimming.”

Also swimming in the meet were Mt Juliet residents Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, Kelsey Copeland and Nochowicz. From Lebanon were Andrew Barnes, Austin Barnes, and Gillilan.

Other first time swims of note were Austin Barnes swimming the 1,000 Yard Freestyle, turning a time of 12:46.06, with a split of 6:21.82 in the first 500 of that event.

Excel Aquatics is a USA-Swimming Silver Medal Team of Excellence for 2003-2008, and has a Level Four designation in the Club Recognition Program (CRP) by USA-S, one of only 13 teams nationwide to achieve the highest ranking in the CRP. For more information about Excel Aquatics, visit www.ExcelAquatics.org.

Fall Fest Swim Meet - Amazing!

2008-09-22T07:09:00.002-05:00

Swimmers Start Short Course Season at Fall Fest Meet

September 21, 2008….Twelve of Wilson County’s youth swimmers took to the water this weekend to participate in Excel Aquatics’ Fall Fest Swim Meet. It was the first Short Course (25 Yard Format) meet of the year in the Middle Tennessee region.

From Mt Juliet were Luke Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Anna Zikovich, Kelsey Copeland and Alek Nochowicz. From Lebanon were Lucy Cook, Grace McCullough, Austin Barnes, Andrew Barnes, Lucas Williams, and Bradley Gillilan.

Zikovich, a 4^th Grader at Mount Juliet Elementary, took to the water in the 10&Under Girl’s 50 Yard Freestyle and 50 Yard Butterfly. “This was the first Excel meet for Anna, she came to us from the Willoughby Waves summer league team in Mt Juliet”, Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes stated.

Williams swam in the 10&Under Boy’s 100 Yard Free and 200 Yard Free. “Lucas is a student at Southside Elementary and this is his first year with us as well. I can already sense that Lucas is going to do well at the distance events as he gets older.”

Cook, a 5^th Grader at Sumner Academy, recently graduated to the Silver 1 training squad, and is now under the guidance of former Romanian National Champion Andreea Ianoli-Mitrofan. Cook swam in the 11&12 Girl’s 100 Free, 100 Individual Medley, 50 Backstroke, 50 Breaststroke, 200 Free, 50 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke, 50 Free. “Lucy is doing very well adjusting to the changes of moving up in training squads. Changes are being made to her stroke, and she is responding very well.”

Grace McCullough, a 2^nd Grader at Sumner Academy, participated in the 8&Under Girl’s 100 Individual Medley, 50 Free, 25 Backstroke, 100 Free, 50 Backstroke. “Grace is great, I’ve seen a tremendous improvement in her stroke techniques these past few years, and she is fun to be around.”

Samuel Blackwell, a 4^th Grader at Friendship Christian School completed the 100 Individual Medley, 50 Backstroke, 500 Free, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 50 Free, and 200 Individual Medley. Samuel placed 3^rd in the 10&Under Boy’s category in the 500 Yard Free.

Copeland, a Senior at Mt Juliet High School swam the 200 Free, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 500 Free, 200 Individual Medley, 100 Free, 100 Butterfly, and 200 Backstroke. Copeland is looking good heading into her last High School season, already having 6 High School State Qualifying time cuts.

Luke Blackwell, a Sophomore at Friendship Christian School was in the 50 Free, 1,650 Free, 200 Free, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 500 Free, 200 Individual Medley, 100 Free, 200 Breaststroke, 100 Butterfly. Luke placed in the Top 8 in the Senior Boy’s category in the 1,650 Free (2^nd Place), and 500 Free (5^th Place).

Austin Barnes, a Junior at Pope John Paul II High School, warmed-up for High School season with the 200 Free, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, and 500 Free. Austin dropped 12 seconds in the 200 Free, and 14 seconds in the 500 Free from his previous best times.

Madison Blackwell, an 8^th Grader at Friendship Christian School has aged up to the 13&14 Year old category, and as a result moved up to the Gold training squad with Coach Barnes. “This change in squads has meant some big changes to her training regimen to prepare her for more distance events related to the older age groups. Gone for her are the 50’s, except for the Free stroke. She has a naturally easy stroke with a great feel for the water, and will be successful at the 200 Yards and longer events as she becomes use to the change in regimens”, Coach Barnes commented.

Madison arguably swam the most difficult program of her Wilson County colleagues, completing the 50 Free, 1,650 Free, 200 Free, 100 Breaststroke, 200 Butterfly, 500 Free, 200 Individual Medley, 100 Free, 200 Breaststroke, 100 Butterfly, and 200 Backstroke. In the 13&14 Girl’s category, Madison placed 8^th in the 1,650 Free and 8^th in the 200 Backstroke.

Nochowicz, a Junior at Pope John Paul II High School, sprinted through the 50 Free, 400 Individual Medley, 200 Free, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, and 500 Free. Nochowicz achieved High School State Qualifying Times in the 100 Backstroke and 500 Free.

Andrew Barnes, a 7^th Grader at Sumner Academy dove in the water for the 100 Free, 50 Backstroke, and 50 Breaststroke. Andrew dropped 12 seconds in the 100 Free, and 5 seconds in the 50 Backstroke.

Gillilan, a Junior at Lebanon High School won the 1,650 Yard Free in a blistering 16:28.95, averaging under one minute per 100 yards for the swimming mile. Gillilan is the first boy from Lebanon ever to achieve that feat, and he now has the 5^th fastest time in the event in Excel Aquatics’ 26 year history. Gillilan also swam in the 50 Free, 200 Free, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 500 Free, 200 Individual Medley, 100 Free, 200 Breaststroke, 100 Butterfly, and 200 Backstroke. In addition to winning the 1,650 Free, Gillilan also won the 500 Free in the Senior Boy’s category.

“Gillilan had drops in 10 of his 11 events, and his legal split at the 1000 yard point of the 1,650 was also a best time.”

Gillilan also competed in the swimming portion of a relay at the Music City Triathlon on Sept 14^th. He was the first out of the water, and had the fastest time when they cancelled the swimming portion due to wind remnants of Hurricane Ike that morning. Swimmers were being pulled out by rescue boats due to the rough waves. Gillilan was not affected by the rough water, and completed the 1500 meter swim just ahead of National Open Water Team Member, Ashley Whitney.

“We are proud of our Excel swimmers throughout Wilson County, and how well they did”, Barnes proclaimed. “They have been working hard these past 5 weeks preparing for Short Course season, are making changes to their strokes, and learning that they are capable of doing what the coach is expecting of them.”

“Swimming is both a physically and mentally challenging, sport. Michael Phelps makes it looks easy, the great ones always do. It’s not easy, these kids we train are a special breed, their mental toughness is just as important as their physical toughness.”

2008 Hall of Fame Honorees from Wilson County

2008-08-31T22:06:00.000-05:00

Wilson County Trio to be Honored at
Southeastern Swimming Hall of Fame Weekend

August 31, 2008….Southeastern Swimming (SES), a Local Swimming Committee of USA Swimming, will hold their Hall of Fame Weekend October 4-5, 2008 in Gulf Shores, AL.

The SES Hall of Fame ceremonies are a biennial event, meaning they take place every two years. The 2008 Hall of Fame will honor swimmers from Tennessee, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle who have reached defined achievements in performance at Southeastern Swimming Championship Meets over a two year period from September 2006 through August 2008.

Three swimmers from Wilson County have qualified for the 2008 Hall of Fame: Bradley Gillilan, a Junior at Lebanon High School; Luke Blackwell, a Sophomore at Friendship Christian School; and Madison Blackwell, an 8^th Grader at FCS.

All three swimmers train with Excel Aquatics, and are the only swimmers from Wilson County that have qualified for the Hall of Fame recognition these past two years.

“All three are consistently SES Championship Meet qualifiers, and all three have met the standards set by the SES club coaches and team delegates to be honored”, Excel Assistant Coach, and Lebanon resident, John Barnes explained.

Gillilan is a member of the Class of 2008 HOF by being ranked in the 2008 Top 5 in the 15&16 Boy’s 800 Meter Freestyle (5^th).

“Bradley is also a USA Swimming Senior Sectional qualifier for both the Spring and Summer meets, and as a High School Junior is now being contacted by quite a few colleges interested in his abilities. His goals this year included qualifying for Junior Nationals in the Spring, and in the Summer attending the Open Water Nationals in both the 5k and 25k distances.”

Luke Blackwell had the highest ranking of the Wilson County swimmers, being the 2008 SES Champion in the 13&14 Boys Short Course 1,000 Yard Freestyle, and the 13&14 Boy’s Long Course 1,500 Meter Freestyle. Luke also had 2008 Top 5 time rankings in the 13&14 Boy’s categories in the 800 Meter Freestyle (2^nd), 200 Yard Backstroke (3^rd), 400 Meter Freestyle (3^rd), 1,650 Yard Free (4^th), 200 Meter Backstroke (4^th), 500 Yard Free (5^th), 200 Meter Individual Medley (5^th), and 400 Meter Individual Medley (5^th).

“In addition to his success at the SES Championship meet level, Luke also qualified for the USA-S Senior Sectionals Meet in both the Spring and Summer. At the 2008 Spring Senior Sectionals he was one of the youngest males at the meet. Like Gillilan, Luke is looking forward to attaining Junior National qualifying times, and swimming in Open Water Nationals next summer.”

Madison Blackwell achieved the Hall of Fame honor by ranking 5^th in the 2008 Short Course 11&12 Girl’s 200 Yard Butterfly, and 5^th in the 2008 Long Course 11&12 Girl’s 200 Meter Butterfly.

“Madison was a 2008 Age Group Sectional Meet qualifier in the 11&12 year old category. She has now aged up to the 13&14 Girl’s category, moved up in training groups, and we are starting to focus on some longer events so that she knows how to finish the shorter 100 and 200 Yard and Meter distances. Our immediate goals are to be ranked in the Top 10 swimmers within Excel Aquatics for some specific events, and then start moving up in the SES rankings as well. With over 400 competitive swimmers, being in the Top 10 within Excel often takes a faster time than being ranked first in a smaller club.”

“This 2008 Hall of Fame achievement is a significant accomplishment by our three local swimmers. They work hard in practice every day and have followed the development pathway that Excel Aquatics has for our swimmers. They know there are no shortcuts to the hard work it takes to succeed in swimming. Their parents are supportive and they make sacrifices on a daily basis to give the kids the opportunities they need to succeed. We should congratulate them and their families, celebrate their success, and encourage others to work towards these goals.”

Excel Swimmers Once Again Rule Wilson County

2008-07-21T06:36:00.002-05:00

Luke Blackwell Wins Gold in 1,500 Meter Freestyle at Southeastern Swimming Championships

July 21, 2008…. The Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Championships were held this past weekend, utilizing the long course pools in Brentwood and Nashville. 865 swimmers from 40 swim clubs in Tennessee, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle competed.

From Wilson County, Luke and Madison Blackwell of Mt Juliet, and Bradley Gillilan of Lebanon, participated in the meet, all three swimming for Excel Aquatics. Qualifying times are required to participate in the meet.

Luke Blackwell, competing in his last meet in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s Category, went out in left his name in the history books of SES Champions. Blackwell won the 13&14 Boy’s 1,500 Meter Freestyle in 17:07.24 (seventeen minutes, seven seconds and 24 one-hundredths). The time was 31 seconds ahead of the 2^nd place finisher in the age category, and would have been good enough for 6^th place in the Senior Boy’s category.

“Luke’s 1,500 time was also a Summer Senior Sectional Time Qualifying Standard,” Excel coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted. “Earlier in the meet Luke achieved a Summer Sectional Time cut in the 800 Meter Freestyle, so this makes two qualifying times he has now for Summer Sectionals. That meet will be held next summer in Knoxville TN at the new UT Aquatics Complex.”

Blackwell also placed 2^nd in the 800 Meter Free, 3^rd in the 400 Meter Free, 5^th in both the 200 Meter and 400 Meter Individual Medley races, and 6^th in both the 100 Meter and 200 Meter Backstroke races.

“Out of seven events Luke entered in the meet, he placed in the Top 6 in all seven events, with one gold, one silver, and one bronze.”

Madison Blackwell, participating in the 11&12 Year Old Girl’s category, placed 6^th in the 50 Meter Freestyle, with the fastest time ever recorded 50 Fly for a girl of that age in the County. Madison had a time of 0:32.39 seconds in the event, moving up from an 8^th place seed after the prelim heats, to 6^th place in the Finals heat.

“Madison had a great meet, dropping times in 6 of her 7 events, and placing in the Top 8 in her two relays she was on”, Coach Barnes commented. “Starting on Monday she will be moving up to Excel’s Gold training squad to prepare for competing in the 13&14 Year Old category.”

“Based on some times in the 200 Meter events from the Baylor meet a few weeks ago, I expect to see her back in this SES Championship Meet next summer.”

Lebanon High’s Bradley Gillilan also participated in the Championship Meet. Gillilan dropped times in 6 of his 7 events as well.

”Bradley had just returned from the Summer Senior Sectional Meet at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and as such we held him out of the events he swam at Sectionals”, Coach Barnes explained. “Summer Sectionals is two steps higher than the SES meet in terms of quality and progression, and he swam the 800 Meter and 1500 Meter Freestyle there.”

“We held him out of those two events even though he would have been seeded in the Top 8 in both of them at the SES meet. Instead we put him in some of the shorter events to give his body a much needed break after this summer. He has traveled to a lot of meets since school let out in May, and has started training for Open Water Nationals with former Olympian Ashley Whitney.”

“Bradley will be entering 11^th Grade at LHS this August, and we are looking forward to seeing him dominate in dual meets again this year for LHS, while continuing to train with Excel Aquatics.”

For more information on Excel Aquatics and other swimming information, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Blackwells Take Baylor by Storm

2008-06-30T06:35:00.003-05:00

Blackwell Siblings Qualify For Championship Level Swim Meets

June 30, 2008…. The Blackwell siblings of Mount Juliet represented Excel Aquatics this past weekend at the Bullfrog Long Course Invitational Swim Meet at the Baylor School campus in Chattanooga

Rising 10^th Grader Luke Blackwell, who will be attending Friendship Christian School in the Fall, participated in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s Category, and placed First in six of his 12 events. In the other 6 events he had Top 8 finishes, scoring 207 points in the meet.

Luke won the 200 Meter Free, 400 Meter Free, 1500 Meter Free, 200 Meter Backstroke, 200 Meter Individual Medley (IM), and the 400 Meter IM. He qualified for the Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship Meet in the 200 Fly, which means he is now eligible to swim in all 14 events. Championship Meet rules limit him to 7 events, so decisions will have to be made as to which events to enter to maximize point scoring at the meet.

“Luke had a great meet, of his 12 events, he had best times in 11 of them”, Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “In the 1500 Meter Freestyle he won not only his age group, he also beet everyone in the Senior Boy’s category, with the second place finisher being over 27 seconds behind Luke.”

“His 1500 Meter time was also a Spring Senior Sectional Meet qualifying time, joining Lebanon’s Bradley Gillilan in qualifying for that prestigious meet. Both boys train with me and have put in over a million yards in their training program since late August 2007.”

Madison Blackwell, while only 12 years old, participated in the Senior Girl’s category so that she could get some experience in the longer distance events not normally open to 11&12 Year Old Girls.

“Madison swam for the first time in the 200 Meter Backstroke, 200 Meter Breaststroke, the 200 Meter Butterfly, and the 800 Meter Freestyle. Despite her grueling race schedule for a 12 year old, she achieved best times in all 10 of her events.”

In the process of swimming her events, Madison added 5 events to her Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship Meet qualification total. Her new time standards were achieved in the 50 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Freestyle, 200 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Breaststroke, and 200 Meter Individual Medley. Madison now has 11 time standards for the meet, one short of a full slate of 12 for her age group category. Like her brother Luke, Madison will have to narrow down the list to 7 events she is limited in swimming in at the championship meet.

“Madison had a great meet, she went into the meet with a positive attitude, listened to the coaches directions, implemented those directions, and had some large time drops. Plus, she stepped up and competed and beat girls over three years older than her in the Senior Category.”

“I was especially proud of her 200 Meter Fly and 200 Meter Back swims. Those are events she will be competing regularly in when she ages up to the 13&14 Girls Category, and she is only seconds away from 13&14 Year Old Southeaster Swimming Long Course qualifying times for those events, and this was the first time she has swam them.”

“She will step up to the older training squad in a few months, and her yardage and intensity will increase, all while still working to refine her stroke techniques.”

The next two meets for Wilson County swimmers will be the USA Swimming Summer Senior Sectional Championship Meet in Atlanta GA, July 10-13, where Bradley Gillilan will be participating in the 800 Meter Freestyle and the 1500 Meter Freestyle; and then the Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship Meet in Brentwood and Nashville, July 17-20, where Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Taylor Wallace and Bradley Gillilan will be participating in various events. All four swimmers will represent Excel Aquatics at the meet.

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

International Age Group Invitational Meet

2008-06-24T06:31:00.000-05:00

Wilson County Trio Compete in Ft Lauderdale Swim Meet

June 23, 2008…. Three boys from Wilson County participated in the Ft Lauderdale Aquatics International Age Group Invitational Swim Meet this past weekend in Florida. Lebanon’s Bradley Gillilan joined Mt Juliet’s Alek Nochowicz and Taylor Wallace at the meet, representing Excel Aquatics.

Teams from Latin America joined teams from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Louisiana, and South Carolina at the meet which was held at the International Swimming Hall of Fame pool complex.

Wallace, a rising Junior at Mt Juliet High School, swam the 400 Meter Individual Medley (IM), 200 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Butterfly, 50 Meter Breaststroke, 100 Meter Breaststroke, 50 Meter Butterfly, 100 Meter Backstroke, 100 Meter Freestyle, and 200 Meter IM.

Nochowicz, a rising Junior at Pope John Paul II High School, competed in the 1500 Meter Freestyle, 200 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Freestyle, 50 Meter Freestyle, 50 Meter Backstroke, 100 Meter Backstroke, 200 Meter Backstroke, and the 200 Meter IM.

Gillilan is a rising Junior at Lebanon High School, and he made an impact in the 1500 Meter Freestyle, placing 2^nd in the 15&16 Year Old Boys category; and 6^th in the 400 Meter Freestyle, placing 6^th. Gillilan also swam in the 200 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Backstroke, 200 Meter Breaststroke, 200 Meter IM, 100 Meter Breaststroke, 200 Meter Backstroke, and 200 Meter Butterfly.

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

Wilson County Swimmers Score Victories in Swim Meet

2008-05-26T09:31:00.002-05:00

Blackwell and Gillilan Score Wins at Stars and Stripes Meet

May 25, 2008…. At a time when many schools are winding down for the year and families are celebrating a long weekend, eight swimmers from Wilson County spent their weekend at the Annual Memorial Day Weekend Stars and Stripes Long Course Meet in Brentwood TN.

Leading the way with victories in their age categories were Bradley Gillilan, and Luke Blackwell.

Gillilan, swimming in the Senior Boy’s category, scored a first place victory in the 800 Meter Freestyle, dropping 3.92 seconds to finish in eight minutes, fifty one seconds and thirty seven one-hundredths of a second (8:51.37). Gillilan also finished second in the 400 Meter Freestyle (4:21.32) and the 1500 Meter Freestyle (17:06.99). His performances in the 200 Meter Butterfly and 200 Meter Backstroke qualified him for the Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Championships in those events in July.

“Bradley has now qualified for 10 events at the SES meet, however he can only swim in seven of them by meet rules,” Excel Coach John Barnes explained. “Bradley’s time in the 1500 Meter Free was a Summer Senior Sectional Qualifying Cut. The summer cuts for Sectionals are much harder than the spring Sectional cuts, and he has been working hard to get these cuts for this next step in his long range goals. The 1500 is his second Summer Sectional cut, the first one was in the 800 Free a few months ago.”

The Summer Senior Sectional meet will be held in Atlanta in early July, at the same pool that the 1996 Olympics were held in.

Luke Blackwell scored first place finishes in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s category in the 100 Meter and 200 Meter Breaststroke events. Luke also scored second place finishes in the 400 Meter Individual Medley (IM), 200 Meter IM, 100 Meter Backstroke, 200 Meter Freestyle, 200 Meter Backstroke and 1500 Meter Backstroke in his age category.

“Luke is getting even stronger in his non-Free events, and that is showing up in his Individual Medley events which consist of all four strokes swum in the sequence of Fly, Back, Breast and Free.”

“His 400 Meter Individual Medley was perhaps his best swum event of the meet in my analysis, the splitting was good, and we identified some areas of improvement which he will be working on in the coming months.”

Also competing in the meet were Madison Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, Austin Barnes, Andrew Barnes, Alek Nochowicz, and Taylor Wallace.

“Nochowicz swam in his first Long Course meet ever, in prior years he has only trained with his summer league team, the Willoughby Waves, however this year he is committed to training long course and swimming in those meets along with his separate summer league meets.”

“Wallace dropped some nice times in the Individual Medley events, the 200 and 400 IM’s. Taylor has some talent in those events, transitioning from one stroke to another.”

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

Excel Awards - 2 From Wilson County!

2008-05-04T17:28:00.001-05:00

Excel Awards goes to two from Wilson County

May 4, 2008……Samuel Blackwell and Alek Nochowicz, both of Mount Juliet, were awarded the prestigious “Excel Award” during the Excel Aquatics Annual Banquet, for their achievements this past Short Course Season.

The Award is given annually at the Excel Spring Banquet to a select few recipients in each training squad, and is based on Good Sportsmanship, Dedication, Positive Attitude, and Leadership within the squads. Out of 418 swimmers over three training locations, only 17 swimmers received the honor of the Award this year.

Blackwell, a current Home School 3^rd Grader won his first Excel Award, due to his young leadership within the Silver 2 Training Group. “Samuel has been a joy to coach and work with this past year in particular”, Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “He is always in the water on time, listens to direction well, and has worked a lot on both his technique and conditioning lately.”

“At meets he is scoring in the Top 8 in the 8&Under Year Old Boy’s category. Samuel has been a great example for our younger swimmers in Excel as well as within our county.”

Nochowicz is a 10^th Grader at Pope John Paul II High School. He swims year round with Excel Aquatics, in the High School season for Pope, and during the summer for the Willoughby Station Waves summer league team. “Alek has been with Excel Aquatics for 6 years now, and recently attained his first Southeastern Swimming Championship Meet qualifying time standard”, Coach Barnes commented. “He qualified in the 1,650 Yard Freestyle, a distance event that most swimmers stay away from.”

“Alek has really stepped up his training intensity this year, and has been rewarded for that effort with a SES Time Standard in the 1,650 Free, as well as High School State Meet qualifying times in the 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free, 100 Back, and 200 IM.”

“Our annual banquet is a time when we reflect on the success of the past year, and we recognize the achievements and accomplishments of the youth who Excel Aquatics serves. We have several goals at Excel, one is to create competitive swimmers in the water, another one (which is arguably more important) is to help create leaders who will excel is school and in their lives afterwards.”

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Spring Fling Fun for Wilson County Swimmers

2008-04-26T16:40:00.001-05:00

Wilson County Swimmers in Spring Fling Swim Meet

April 26, 2008…. The first meet of the Long Course Swim Season took place April 11-13, in Brentwood when Excel Aquatics hosted the Spring Fling Swim Meet. Long Course Meets are held in 50 Meter Pools, the same distance the the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will be swum.

Seven Wilson County swimmers representing the Excel Aquatics training location in Gallatin participated in the meet. From Lebanon were Andrew Barnes, Austin Barnes, Spencer Ford and Bradley Gillilan. From Mount Juliet were the Blackwell siblings: Luke, Madison, and Samuel.

Luke Blackwell, a Home School 9^th Grader, placed in the Top 8 in the 13&14 Boys Category in all 9 of his events, set 7 Personal Best Times, and won the 13&14 Boy’s 400 Meter Free. Luke had four 2^nd Place finishes in the 1500 Meter Freestyle, 200 Individual Medley, 200 Breaststroke, and 200 Meter Freestyle.

Samuel Blackwell, a Home School 3^rd Grader, placed in the Top 8 in all five of his events in the 8&Under Boys Category, setting all Personal Best Times in the process.

Madison Blackwell, swimming in the 11&12 Girls Category, had three Top 8 finishes, and dropped time in six of her eight events. Madison is a 7^th Grade Home Schooler.

Ford, a Sophomore at Lebanon High School, participated in six events in the Senior Boys Category. This was his first long course meet, and his highest placing was 9^th in the 1500 Meter Freestyle (the metric swimming mile).

Austin Barnes, a JPII HS Sophomore, swam in four events in the 13&14 Boys Category, with his highest placing coming in the 400 Meter Freestyle. Austin finished 14^th in the event after dropping over 44 seconds in the process of his previous best time.

Andrew Barnes, a 6^th Grader at Carroll-Oakland Elementary, swam in two events in the 11&12 Boys Category. He placed 23^rd in the 50 Meter Backstroke, and 29^th in the 100 Meter Freestyle.

Gillilan, who is a Sophomore at Lebanon High School, who with Luke Blackwell already had one Long Course Meet under his belt this year, the USA Swimming Senior Sectional Championship Meet held in Nashville this past March. Gillilan participates in the Senior Boys Category, and placed in the Top 8 five times in the meet. His highest placing was 4^th in the 400 Meter Freestyle. His largest time drop was in the 400 Meter Individual Medley, a total of 20.62 seconds off his prior best time.

“All of these swimmers did very well in this format of a meet. We train in a 25 yard pool, and having to compete in a 50 Meter pool is a large adjustment for them, and they did great”, Excel Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted.

“We don’t let our swimmers get psyched out by not being able to train in a 50 Meter pool, instead we teach them to take pride in the fact that they are highly competitive in this format versus those who have easy access to a 50 Meter pool.”

“For instance, the swimmers at our training location know that in the Long Course Distance events (400 Meter Free, 800 Meter Free, and 1500 Meter Free), our location has 2 of the Top 5 swimmers on Excel; which is an accomplishment considering we only have about 10% of the Excel swimmers at our site. Another example is that Gillilan and Luke Blackwell are the top two distance swimmers in the County (in either the Long Course or Short Course) format.”

“The fact that the most competitive swimmers in Wilson County train with Excel is not an accident, it is by design. These swimmers put in more quality time working on technique, and put in far more quality yards, than other local clubs. Luke Blackwell is closing in on 1,000,000 yards this academic year, while Gillilan has already passed that standard.”

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

Spring Sectionals - Two Top 20 Finishes

2008-03-09T23:46:00.003-05:00

Gillilan Places 20^th in Mile at Spring Senior Sectionals Swimming Championships

March 9, 2008…. Following up on his 800 Meter Freestyle on Thursday night, Excel Aquatics and Lebanon High’s Bradley Gillilan swam in the 400 Meter Freestyle on Saturday and the 1,500 Meter Freestyle at the Spring Senior Sectionals Swimming Championships in Nashville this past weekend.

In the 400 Meter Freestyle, Gillilan placed 45^th in the meet while dropping his personal best time by 8.18 seconds, finishing in a time of four minutes, twenty two seconds and five one-hundredths (4:22.05). “Bradley had a nice time drop, and we were expecting that after his 800 Free a few nights before,” Coach John Barnes commented. “Bradley had a great short course (yards) season, and considering that he has always swum better in the long course (meters) format, we felt he had a good chance to make some significant time drops.”

Gillilan’s 400 time was only 2.16 seconds away from a Summer Senior Sectional Championships to be held in July in Atlanta at the Georgia Tech pool where the 1996 Olympics were held. He is already qualified in the 800 Free for his next step in swimming progressions.

On the last day of Spring Sectionals, the last event Gillilan was in was the 1,500 Meter Freestyle. The “Mile” proved to be another fast swim for Gillilan, turning a 17:16.94, a 28.76 second time drop. Gillilan is only 3.45 seconds away from the Summer Sectional time in the Mile.

Gillilan placed 20^th in the Mile, his second Top 20 finish after his 17^th Place finish in the 800 Free on Thursday.

“Bradley and Luke (Blackwell) trained hard all throughout Short Course Season with their eyes on this meet. Both did great in the 800, and Bradley swam lights out in his other events. They train in a short course pool in Gallatin, yet they consistently out swim boys on teams that have easy access to long course pools. Their focus on technique and conditioning show why they are the top distance and middle distance swimmers in the county right now even though they are 15 and 14 years old respectively.”

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

Gillilan swims to Summer Sectional Time Cut

2008-03-06T22:44:00.003-06:00

Wilson County Swimmers Make a Splash at Spring Senior Sectional Swim Meet in Nashville

March 6, 2008…. The USA Swimming Spring Senior Sectional Swim Meet is underway and the meet features some of the top swimming talent in the South. Traditionally only the Top 10% of swimmers nationwide achieve Senior Sectional Qualifying Time Standards.

491 swimmers, representing 76 teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia and Kentucky took part in the meet this past weekend in Nashville TN, and hosted by Excel Aquatics.

“Senior Sectionals consists of swimmers as varied as collegiate swimmers using it as a last-chance meet to attain NCAA qualifying time standards, to swimmers who have already signed with colleges to swim next year, to swimmers who are no longer in college and are still training for the Olympic Trials, to swimmers who are starting to emerge as some of the top talent in the South.” Excel Assistant Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes explained. “This year we are swimming the meet in the Long Course format because many of the swimmers at the meet are in the midst of preparing for the Olympic Trials, and this is another meet in that progression of preparation for them.”

College coaches from numerous Division I schools are in attendance to watch and evaluate some of the younger talent that showed up.

Thursday evening kicked off the meet, with the first event being the 800 Meter Freestyle. Two Wilson County boys, Luke Blackwell of Mt Juliet, and Bradley Gillilan of Lebanon, representing Excel Aquatics, took to the water and dropped significant times off their personal best times.

Gillilan turned a 8:55.29 in the event, good enough for 17^th Place in the meet. Gillilan also became the first boy from Wilson County to go under 9:00 in the event after a review of swimming databases. “Bradley had a great swim, he went out in a 4:27 and came back with a second half time of 4:28. He dropped 31 seconds from his personal best, and qualified for the Summer Senior meet to be held at Georgia Tech in July.”

Blackwell dropped over 14 seconds and turned a 9:10.07, good enough for 42^nd Place. “Luke is one of the youngest males in the meet. Of 244 male swimmers, only seven are 14 years old or younger, and Luke is one of those seven. The rest are 15 and over, some are in their mid-20s.”

“Luke did great, at his age just making this meet was an accomplishment, and he stepped up and showed what a competitor he is.”

Both boys were on Excel Aquatics’ 800 Meter Freestyle Relay, helping the relay team to a 14^th Place finish. “Blackwell turned a best time in his lead off leg on the relay, turning a 2:09.44 in the 200 Meter Freestyle. Gillilan served as the anchor leg and turned a 2:06.99.”

“Gillilan has two more events coming up, the 400 Meter Freestyle on Saturday, and the 1500 Meter Freestyle on Sunday.”

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

Blackwell is Runner-Up High Point Winner at SES

2008-02-24T23:08:00.003-06:00

Blackwell places 2^nd Overall at Swimming Championships

February 24, 2008…. 5 Wilson County swimmers from Excel Aquatics participated in the Southeastern Swimming (SES) Short Course Championships this past weekend. Taylor Wallace, Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, and Alek Nochowicz of Mt Juliet joined Lebanon’s Bradley Gillilan in the meet.

The SES meet requires qualifying time cuts and consisted of 955 swimmers from 52 teams from Tennessee, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Swimmers are divided up by gender into 4 age group categories: 10&Under Age Group, 11&12 Age Group, 13&14 Age Group, and Senior level swimmers. Swimmers are also limited to a maximum of 7 individual events in the meet.

Luke Blackwell, led off the swims for Wilson County residents by placing 1^st in the 1,000 Yard Freestyle in the 13&14 Boy’s category on Thursday night. From there Luke placed 2^nd in the 200 Yard Backstroke, 2^nd in the 1,650 Yard Freestyle, 3^rd in the 500 Yard Freestyle, 5^th in the 200 Yard Freestyle, 6^th in the 200 Yard Individual Medley, and 6^th in the 100 Yard Backstroke.

In the process, Luke scored 110 individual points in the meet, good enough for a second place finish overall in total points scored by all 13&14 Year Old Boys. Luke also was part of a 3^rd Place 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, and a 1^st Place 400 Yard Medley Relay.

“Luke had a great meet, it was his last Short Course championship in the 13&14 Year Old category, and he has one Long Course season left before he ages up to the Senior category” Coach John Barnes noted. “He swam in a total of 14 events over the 4 day meet, and performed at a high level until the end.”

Luke achieved a USA Swimming Senior Sectional Meet qualifying time standard in the 1,000 Yard Freestyle in the meet, joining teammate Gillilan in the event in two weeks.

“The Senior Sectional cut was Luke’s first, and we’re proud of his achievements.”

Gillilan participated in the Senior Boy’s category and swam in the 200 Yard Free, 400 Yard Individual Medley, 200 Yard Butterfly, and 200 Yard Breaststroke.

“We held Bradley out of his best events by design since he will be swimming them at the Senior Sectional Meet, we did not want him to over-swim them before Sectionals,” Barnes explained. “Bradley has qualified for Senior Sectionals in the 500 Yard Freestyle, 1,000 Yard Freestyle, and the 1,650 Yard Freestyle.”

During the SES Meet, Madison Blackwell achieved Age Group Sectional (AGS) Qualifying Time Standards in the 11&12 Year Old Girl’s 100 Yard Backstroke, 50 Yard Backstroke, and the 100 Yard Butterfly. Madison was also part of a First Place 200 Yard Medley Relay for her Age Group. “Madison already had her AGS cuts in the 50 Butterfly and 200 Butterfly, and she had a really good SES meet, dropping times in all 6 of her events she participated in.”

Nochowicz swam in one event, the Senior Boy’s 1,650 Yard Freestyle having qualified the previous weekend under the 15&16 Year Old Time Standard. Nochowicz dropped 14 seconds in the event at SES. His final time of 18:21.86 was good enough for a SES Senior Boy’s qualifying time in the event.

Taylor Wallace dropped 0.44 seconds in the Senior Boy’s 100 Yard Butterfly, turning in a time of 0:56.92. “Taylor has gone from being primarily a Breaststroke swimmer to one of the top “Flyers” in the Southeast.”

“These swimmers represent what can happen when you train hard, work on improving the fundamentals of stroke techniques, and having fun in the process. The combination leads to championship caliber swimmers, a hallmark of Excel Aquatics training of Wilson County swimmers since the days of Andrew Davidson.”

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

Blackwell is SES Champion in 1,000 Free

2008-02-21T22:04:00.003-06:00

Luke Blackwell Wins 1,000 Yard Freestyle at Southeastern Swimming Championships

February 21, 2008…. During the first day of competition at the Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championships, Mount Juliet Resident Luke Blackwell won the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s 1,000 Yard Freestyle in a time of ten minutes, twelve seconds, and 26 hundredths (10:12.26). Blackwell pulled away from the field by going out in the first 500 in 5:00.66, and held on to win by over 12 seconds to the 2^nd place finisher.

“Luke likes to set the pace and wear down those who try to stay with him early on, ” Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes commented. “This was Luke’s first Senior Sectional Qualifying Time Cut, and he will be joining Lebanon’s Bradley Gillilan in the 1,000 at that meet in two weeks.”

955 swimmers from 52 clubs in Tennessee, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle are participating in the Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championships. Qualifying Times are necessary in order to participate in the meet. From Wilson County, Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Bradley Gillilan, Taylor Wallace, and Alek Nochowicz are swimming, all members of Excel Aquatics.

For more information about competitive swimming for Wilson County residents, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com

Nochowicz attains first SES Time Standard

2008-02-17T21:09:00.002-06:00

Nochowicz swims to a Southeastern Qualifying Time and a First Place finish in the Mile

February 17, 2008….Alek Nochowicz, a 16 year old Mt. Juliet resident, traveled to the Southeastern Swimming Western District Swim Meet this past weekend on the campus of The University of Memphis in a quest for his first Southeastern Short Course Championship Meet qualifying time.

Going into the meet, Nochowicz’s best shot at getting a qualifying time was the 1,650 Yard Freestyle. The “Mile” as the 1,650 is known in the swimming world was to be the last event of a two day meet. First Nochowicz had to swim 5 other events. Events designed to test his conditioning and prepare him mentally for the “Mile”.

Nochowicz, swimming in the Senior Boys category, led off Saturday with a 5^th Place finish in the 100 Yard Backstroke, finishing in a time of 1:04.29, a 2.71 second drop. The time is also a High School State qualifying time cut.

“Alek really attacked the Back, his stroke was smooth and long, and his turnover was improved. I don’t think he swam the 100 Back at all this past High School Dual Meet season for Pope John Paul II.” Excel Aquatics and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted. “His high school coach is going to have to have some good options as to what events Alek will participate in next year during dual meets.”

Next up was the 200 Yard Breaststroke, where Nochowicz again dropped time, finishing in 2:42.59, good enough for a 2^nd Place finish.

The last event on Saturday was the 500 Yard Freestyle, an event which Nochowicz had swam the previous weekend at the High School State Championships. Nochowicz continued his streak of dropping times, finishing in a 5:18.56, a 6.06 second drop, and placing him 2^nd in the event. The time under 5:20 means that Wilson County now has 4 boy swimmers under 5:20, all of whom train with Excel Aquatics.

“Alek trains daily with Bradley Gillilan and Luke Blackwell and is nipping on their heels,” Barnes explained. “We have implemented some new training techniques this year, in terms of pacing, stroke work, unique equipment usage, and of course yardage conditioning. Overall the response by the boys has been real strong. This is the first time that Wilson County has seen 4 boys (Nochowicz, Gillilan, Blackwell, and Taylor Wallace) under 5:20 in the 500 at the same time. Wallace of Mt. Juliet trains at a different training location than the trio who train together at our site.”

Coming back on Sunday morning, Nochowicz began with the shortest event, the 50 Yard Freestyle Sprint. Once again a new personal best time was achieved when Nochowicz hit the wall in 0:25.31, and finishing in 4^th Place.

The next event was the 200 Yard Butterfly, an event which Nochowicz had never attempted, and an event that is arguably one of the hardest in swimming. Nochowicz finished in 3^rd Place, with a respectable time of 2:29.28.

“Alek was a little hesitant about the 200 Fly, however he went out there and gave it his all” according to Barnes. “He then had time to cool down and rest before the 1650, and I knew from the way he was swimming this weekend that he had a good shot at getting his qualifying time cut.”

The last event of the weekend was the Mile. Nochowicz needed to average 1:08.36 per 100 yards throughout the race to get the qualifying time. The only other time Nochowicz had swam the event he turned in a 18:57.46 back in December, a mere 9.47 seconds away from the cut.

Nochowicz went out strong, averaging 1:07.36 through the first 500 yards, before settling into a pace of 1:07.91 to 1:08.70 through the next 1000 yards. With 150 yards to go, Nochowicz picked up his pace and finished strong, hitting the wall at 18:35.94. The time was a time drop of 21.52 seconds, and 12.05 seconds under the time needed for the SES qualifying time cut. Nochowicz also finished First in the event.

The Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championships will be held February 21^st through the 24^th in Nashville TN. Nochowicz will be swimming the 1,650 on Sunday the 24^th. Joining Nochowicz from Wilson County at the SES Championships will be Madison Blackwell, Luke Blackwell, Gillilan, and Wallace.

For more information about competitive swimming for Wilson County residents, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com

2008 High School State Results and Participation

2008-02-12T20:54:00.001-06:00

Caulkins Places at High School State Swim Meet; Gillilan attains another Senior Sectional Qualifying Cut

February 12, 2008….It is Ava Caulkins senior year at Mount Juliet High School, and her final State of Tennessee High School Championship Meet. Universities from Gardner-Webb to Ohio University have been recruiting Caulkins to come swim for them next year, and the State meet was another chance for Caulkins to showcase her skills she has been working on since she was 10 years old and joined a swim club.

Competing with over 900 swimmers from 106 High School from across Tennessee, Caulkins placed in the Top 16 in both of her individual events, the first time a Wilson County girl swimmer has placed in two events in one Championship meet.

On Friday, the first morning of competition, Caulkins qualified for the “B” Finals, and that evening finished 10^th Place overall in the 200 Yard Individual Medley. Caulkins returned on Saturday morning and again qualified for the “B” Finals in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, finishing in the evening again in 10^th Place overall.

Caulkins previous best showing at the State meet occurred in 2007 with a 16^th Place finish in the 100 Yard Butterfly.

In the Boy’s pool, Bradley Gillilan, a Sophomore at Lebanon High School, led all Wilson County boys with a 21^st Place showing in the 500 Yard Freestyle, with a time of 4:53.21 which qualified him to swim in the upcoming USA Swimming Senior Sectional Championship Meet. The 500 Yard Freestyle is Gillilan’s third Senior Sectional event he has qualified in. The 21^st Place showing was the highest finish ever by a boy from LHS at a State Meet. Gillilan also placed 34^th in the 200 Yard Freestyle.

Swimmers from Wilson County who participated in the State High School Championship Meet:

Tommy Bailey, SO, MJHS – 50 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Andy Barton, SR, MJHS – 50 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Brandon Bishop, SR, WCHS – 200 Yard Individual Medley

Luke Blackwell, FR, MTHEA – 200 Yard Freestyle, 500 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Rachel Calkins, SR, MJHS – 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Ava Caulkins, SR, MJHS – 200 Yard Individual Medley, 100 Yard Breaststroke, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Conrad Claycomb, JR, Pope JPII HS – 200 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Free Relay, 400 Yard Free Relay

Kelsey Copeland, JR, MJHS – 100 Yard Butterfly, 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Bradley Gillilan, SO, LHS – 200 Yard Freestyle, 500 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Paige Mason, SR, LHS – 100 Yard Butterfly, 100 Yard Freestyle

Zac Morgan, JR, LHS – 200 Yard Individual Medley, 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Alek Nochowicz, SO, Pope JPII HS – 200 Yard Individual Medley, 500 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Free Relay, 400 Yard Free Relay

Matt Norman, SR, LHS – 200 Yard Medley Relay

Johanna Otten, SR, MJHS – 200 Yard Individual Medley, 100 Yard Backstroke, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Ashley Powell, JR, Pope JPII HS – 100 Yard Breaststroke, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Phillip Price, SR, LHS – 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Andrew Puryear, SR, LHS – 100 Yard Butterfly, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Christian Roberts, SO, MJHS – 100 Yard Butterfly, 100 Yard Backstroke, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

Taylor Wallace, SO, MJHS – 200 Yard Individual Medley, 100 Yard Butterfly, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

44 Top 8 Finishes at Mardi Gras Meet

2008-02-03T17:27:00.000-06:00

44 Top 8 Placings by Wilson County Swimmers at Mardi Gras Meet

February 3, 2008….Ten swimmers from Wilson County took in a combined 44 Top Eight Finishes at the recent Excel Aquatics Mardi Gras Invitational Swim Meet in Brentwood TN this past weekend.

Swimming for Excel Aquatics from Lebanon were Spencer Ford, Austin Barnes, Andrew Barnes, and Bradley Gillilan. From Mount Juliet were Kelsey Copeland, Taylor Wallace, Alek Nochowicz, Samuel Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, and Luke Blackwell.

Placing in the Top Eight in the meet by Age Group:

Samuel Blackwell, 8 & Under Boys: 2^nd Place 100 Yard Individual Medley; 4^th Place 50 Yard Backstroke; 5^th Place 25 Yard Breaststroke; 6^th Place 50 Yard Butterfly; 6^th Place 25 Yard Backstroke; and 7^th Place 50 Yard Freestyle.

Madison Blackwell, 11&12 Year Old Girls: 1^st Place 200 Yard Butterfly; 2^nd Place 100 Yard Butterfly; 5^th Place 400 Yard Individual Medley; 6^th Place 50 Yard Freestyle; and 7^th Place 100 Yard Freestyle.

Austin Barnes, 13&14 Year Old Boys: 8^th Place 50 Yard Backstroke.

Luke Blackwell, 13&14 Year Old Boys: 1^st Place 50 Yard Backstroke; 2^nd Place 200 Yard Breaststroke; 2^nd Place 50 Yard Butterfly; 2^nd Place 50 Yard Breaststroke; 4^th Place 50 Yard Freestyle; and 5^th Place 100 Yard Butterfly.

Kelsey Copeland, Senior Girls: 2^nd Place 200 Yard Individual Medley; 2^nd Place 50 Yard Freestyle; 2^nd Place 50 Yard Backstroke; 3^rd Place 100 Yard Backstroke; 4^th Place 200 Yard Freestyle; 5^th Place 50 Yard Butterfly; 5^th Place 100 Yard Butterfly; 5^th Place 100 Yard Freestyle; and 7^th Place 100 Yard Breaststroke.

Spencer Ford, Senior Boys: 7^th Place 500 Yard Freestyle.

Alek Nochowicz, Senior Boys: 4^th Place 200 Yard Breaststroke; 4^th Place 200 Yard Backstroke; 5^th Place 200 Yard Individual Medley; 5^th Place 500 Yard Freestyle; and 7^th Place 200 Yard Freestyle.

Bradley Gillilan, Senior Boys: 3^rd Place 200 Yard Butterfly; 4^th Place 100 Yard Butterfly; 5^th Place 50 Yard Backstroke; 6^th Place 100 Yard Freestyle; and 7^th Place 50 Yard Butterfly.

Taylor Wallace, Senior Boys: 1^st Place 50 Yard Breaststroke; 2^nd Place 500 Yard Freestyle; 3^rd Place 50 Yard Butterfly; 4^th Place 200 Yard Freestyle; 4^th Place 50 Yard Freestyle; and 6^th Place 50 Yard Backstroke.

“Most of these older boys have the High School State Meet this next weekend. Because of that we put them in events they normally do not swim in. Bradley, Luke, and Taylor all skipped their best events so as not to be overworked in them. Alek did swim the 500 Free, which he will be doing again at State, however we worked on some specific things and after he improved his best time by around 3 seconds he realized that he can swim faster at State.” Excel Aquatics Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted.

“Madison swam the 200 Fly for the first time, and won the event in her age group. The time of 2:37.44 was good enough for an Age Group Sectional Meet Qualifying Time. That meet will be held in Charlotte, NC next month.”

Excel swimmers from Wilson County will participate in five meets over the next six weeks. Next up is the State of Tennessee High School Swimming Championships in Nashville, followed by the Southeastern Swimming Districts meet in Memphis, the Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championships in Nashville, the Southern Senior Sectional Championships in Nashville, and the Age Group Sectional Championships in Charlotte NC.

For more information about competitive swimming for Wilson County residents, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com

Bradley Gillilan and Madison Blackwell swim to Sectional Meet Qualifying Times

2008-01-21T19:38:00.000-06:00

Two Swimmers attain Sectional Meet Qualifying Times

January 21, 2008….Over 1,150 swimmers from Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Virginia descended upon the UT Aquatics Center in Knoxville this past weekend. It was the largest meet to ever be held at the facility.

Six swimmers from Wilson County competed in the meet for Excel Aquatics, and with the high level of competition that eleven-hundred swimmers bring to the show, some spectacular swims were accomplished.

Swimming from Wilson County were Lebanon’s Bradley Gillilan and Spencer Ford; from Mt. Juliet were Taylor Wallace, Luke Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, and Madison Blackwell.

Leading the way with Top 8 finishes were Gillilan, Luke Blackwell, and Madison Blackwell.

Gillilan, a sophomore who attends Lebanon High School, picked up his pace on the second half of the 1,000 Yard Freestyle, and finished in a time of ten minutes, seven seconds, and eighty eight-one hundredths of a second (10:07.88). The swim was good enough for 5^th Place in the Senior Boys Category.

Gillilan’s time in the 1,000 was good enough for a Senior Sectional Meet qualifying time cut, and is his second event he has qualified in for the Sectional Meet. Gillilan qualified for the 1,650 Yard Freestyle in October 2007.

Bradley negative split his 1,000 Free,” Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes explained. “He went out in his first 500 in a 5:04.88, and came back on the second 500 in a 5:03.00. Negative splitting an event is where you come back in the back half faster than what you go out, and is a common strategy in the distance events among top swimmers.”

“His pacing was what we teach to our swimmers, and he executed his game plan very well.”

Madison Blackwell placed 7^th in the 11&12 Year Old Girl’s 50 Yard Butterfly, with a time of 0:30.04. The time was an Age-Group Sectional Meet qualifying time cut.

“This is Madison’s first Age-Group Sectional time cut, and it was a great swim. Her butterfly form is arguably the most technically correct in the county amongst any girl at any age, and is something she has been working on with her coach.”

Luke Blackwell, swimming in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s category, took 6^th place in the 400 Yard Individual Medley (4:33.51), and 7^th Place in the 200 Yard Freestyle (1:57.00).

“Luke also swam in the 200 Yard Breaststroke, turning in a time of 2:37.88, which was a Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championship Meet qualifying time cut.” Barnes noted.

Spencer Ford, a sophomore at Lebanon High School, swam in his first USA Swimming sanctioned meet. “Spencer did great, we identified some areas which we need to work on, and I was very impressed with his competitive spirit during the meet.” Barnes commented. “If Spencer continues to focus on his strokes and pushes himself physically in practices, then we will see some good things out of him in the future.”

Samuel Blackwell placed in the Top 16 in all five of his events in the 8&Under Boys category. “Sam dropped over 2 seconds in his 100 Yard Freestyle, and also swam the 100 Yard Individual Medley for the first time, placing 9^th overall in his age group.”

“He has been working on his techniques in all four of his strokes, and they all came together in that Individual Medley for a great swim. We are so proud of Samuel.”

Excel’s next meet is the Excel Aquatics Mardi Gras Meet on February 2^nd and 3^rd. Gillilan, Ford, Wallace, and Luke Blackwell will be competing in the MTHSSA Region High School Meet this coming Friday the 25^thin Nashville.

For more information about competitive swimming for Wilson County residents, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

5 Minute Barrier Goes Down to Another Wilson County Resident

2008-01-12T21:35:00.000-06:00

5 Minute Barrier in 500 Yard Freestyle is Broken by Luke Blackwell

January 12, 2008….Luke Blackwell, swimming for the Middle Tennessee Home Educators Association at the Excel Aquatics High School Invitational Saturday placed 6th in the 500 Yard Freestyle, and in the process dropped 6.69 seconds to break the magical 5-Minute barrier in the event, with a final time of 4:59.63.

Luke went out in a 56.59 in the first 100, and then averaged 1:00.76 per 100 over the next 400 yards to touch the wall in just under five minutes. Luke joins Lebanon High School swimmer, and Excel Aquatics training partner, Bradley Gillilan as the only current Wilson County residents to swim under five minutes in the 500 Yard Freestyle. Luke also placed in the 100 Yard Backstroke, turning a 1:01.68, good enough for 12th place. Those placements contributed 18 points to MTHEA’s total, making Luke the high scorer for MTHEA Boy’s team.

Another training partner, Alek Nochowicz who swims for Pope John Paul II HS and lives in Mt Juliet, turned in a 5:28.60 in the 500 Yard Free, good enough for 11th Place in the meet. The time by Nochowicz represents an 18 second drop in time for the same meet last year. Nochowicz also placed 13th in the 200 Yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:19.39. Nochowicz scored 10 points for the Pope John Paul II Boy’s team, the most of any JPII Boys.

Other Excel/Wilson County residents who placed in the meet were MJHS’s Taylor Wallace and Kelsey Copeland.

Wallace placed 7th in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, and 12th in the 200 Yard Individual Medley. In the process Wallace scored 17 points for the MJHS Boy’s team, again the leading scorer on the team.

Copeland placed 9th in the 50 Yard Freestyle, scoring 9 points for the MJHS Girl’s team.

Swimming in the separate Excel Aquatics Middle School Invitational Meet was MTHEA/Mt Juliet’s Madison Blackwell. Madison placed 6th in the 100 Yard Backstroke, and 8th in the 100 Yard Butterfly.

Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes noted that “these performances by our Wilson County neighbors today in leading their respective schools during the meet, are a reflection of their hard work and commitment to improving as swimmers in terms of technique and conditioning. Excel Aquatics is currently the gold standard for training swimmers from Wilson County, and these children are definitive proof of that.”

Gillilan gets First Sectional Cut

2007-12-11T10:56:00.000-06:00

Gillilan Obtains Sectional Cut in Mile, Blackwell wins 4 Events at Swim Meet

December 11, 2007……It had been nearly eight weeks since Lebanon’s Bradley Gillilan narrowly missed a USA Swimming Speedo Senior Sectional Meet qualifying time in the 1000 Yard Freestyle. This past Sunday at the Excel Aquatics Meet of Champions, Gillilan was entered in the 1,650 Yard Freestyle (aka “The Mile”) and knew that he had a good shot at the Sectional cut in the event based on how his 1,000 effort went, and how he had been swimming in the 500 Yard Freestyle in dual meets for Lebanon High School.

The Senior Sectional Meet is a higher level competition, a step up from the Southeastern Swimming (SES) Short Course Championship Meet, for which Gillilan had already achieved a SES cut in the 1,650.

Gillilan swimming in the Senior Boy’s category, was seeded 6^th at the start of the race, swimming in one of the outside lanes.

At the 500 yard mark of the race, Gillilan split a 5:07.97 (five minutes, 7 seconds, and 97 one-hundreths), a little under Sectional pace, having moved up into 3^rd place in his category.

At the 1000 yard mark, the split was 10:23.30, averaging 1:02.33 per 100 yards at that point, and exactly at the pace he needed to be holding.

With three hundred yards left in the grueling race, Gillilan had fallen behind pace, with his 100 yard average having fallen to 1:02.49 and his pace falling off. Coaches from all three of Excel’s training sites, along with teammates on deck watching his swim, started yelling, whistling, and gesturing to him to pick back up his pace. Gillilan responded and literally sprinted the last 300 yards and came in at a 17:07.31 for the mile, a scant 1.18 seconds under the Senior Sectionals qualifying time.

Sectionals can be best described as a “super-regional” type of meet. The meet will be held in Nashville, March 6-9 2008, and will include swimmers either in college, or well on their way to swimming in college. At a minimum, Division I schools recruit swimmers who have achieved Sectional cuts, with most preferring Junior National or National level cuts.

“This was Bradley’s first Senior Sectional qualifying time cut, and the first 1,650 cut by a boy from Wilson County after a quick search of the records.” Excel Aquatics Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “Bradley has been working hard, with this goal in mind. He’ll go for his 1,000 Yard Sectional cut again in January at the meet in Knoxville.”

When asked afterwards about the point at which he picked back up his pace at the 1,350 point of the race, Gillilan commented “I saw him (Coach Barnes) holding up his clipboard and pounding on it and figured I was close the cut.”

In other Senior Boy’s events, Gillilan placed 9^th in the 200 Yard Freestyle (1:51.63); 5^th in the 400 Yard Individual Medley (4:30.74); 11^th in the 200 Yard Backstroke (2:09.43); 8^th in the 500 Yard Freestyle (5:02.87); and 9^th in the 200 Yard Breaststroke (2:28.76).

Nine other Wilson County swimmers participated in the meet: Dallas Barlettano, Andrew Barnes, Austin Barnes, Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, Kelsey Copeland, Alek Nochowicz, and Taylor Wallace.

Mt Juliet High School’s Copeland and Wallace both made it back to swim in Finals in the meet. Copeland placed 15^th in Finals in the Senior Girl’s 100 Yard Freestyle. Copeland also placed 13^th in the 500 Yard Freestyle. Wallace placed 8^th in Finals in the Senior Boy’s 200 Yard Breaststroke, and 9^th in the 200 Yard Individual Medley.

Mt. Juliet’s Luke Blackwell, swimming in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s category, won 4 individual events on his way to claiming the High Point Trophy as the boy with the most points in the meet for his age grouping. Luke took first in the 200 Yard Freestyle (1:54.54); 400 Yard Individual Medley (4:35.04); 200 Yard Backstroke (2:05.78); and the 500 Yard Freestyle (5:08.63). Luke placed 2^nd in the 100 Yard Freestyle; 3^rd in the 100 Yard Backstroke; 5^th in the 100 Yard Breaststroke; and 8^th in the 50 Yard Freestyle.

“Luke had a great meet, setting personal best times in 5 of his 8 events, despite dealing with a respiratory flare-up that kept him out of the 1,650 Yard Freestyle race”, according to Barnes.

Other Top 16 finishes by Wilson County swimmers: Madison Blackwell, 11&12 Year Old Girl’s Category, placed 7^th in 100 Yard Fly; 8^th in the 50 Yard Fly; 12^th in the 100 Yard Back; 12^th in the 50 Yard Back; 15^th in the 200 Yard IM; and 15^th in the 100 Yard IM. Samuel Blackwell placed 13^th in the 10&Under Boy’s 50 Yard Breaststroke. Alek Nochowicz placed 11^th in the Senior Boy’s 1,650 Yard Freestyle.

“Alek is going to be swimming the 1,650 again. He was only a little over 9 seconds away from a Southeastern Qualifying Time in the event, and this was the first time he has competed at that distance.” Barnes stated. “A nine second drop is achievable, that only works out to about 25 hundredths of a second per 50 yards.”

The next meet for swimmers from Wilson County will be the Pilot Aquatic Club Invitational in Knoxville the weekend of January 18-20, 2008.

Excel Aquatics holds open tryouts continuously throughout the year for those families interested in swimming. For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Blackwells Have Multiple Top 8 Finishes

2007-11-13T12:52:00.000-06:00

Blackwell Clan Have Impressive Showing In Indianapolis Meet

November 12, 2007…… Four swimmers from Wilson County walked onto the pool deck with their teammates from Excel Aquatics, and their stride slowed down. Ongoing conversations quickly came to a halt. Their heads were on swivels as they took it all in.

As they looked at the far wall they saw a list of swimmers who made the US Olympic Teams in years where the Olympic Trials have been held in the pool. On the level above them there was stadium spectator seating where up to 4,500 people can watch a swim meet. And the main attraction was the pool where 90 American Records and 11 World Records have been set, set in the same water they would shortly be swimming in.

They had walked onto deck at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis, which although it is 25 years old, is still considered one of the fastest pools in the Nation. An engineering marvel for swimming pools when it was constructed, the Natatorium still serves as the gold standard to which new competition pools being built are judged against.

Five Olympic Trials, nine NCAA Swimming Championships Meets, and nine USA Swimming National Championships have been held in the Natatorium over the last 25 years.

The swimmers from Wilson County had walked onto the deck of a real life Pool of Dreams.

Mount Juliet residents and Excel Aquatics swimmers Taylor Wallace, Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell and Samuel Blackwell traveled to Indianapolis to compete in the Riviera Swim Club Invitational, November 9th through November 11th.

Samuel Blackwell, participating in the 8&Under Boy's category, placed 3rd in the 50 Yard Backstroke, 4th in the 50 Yard Freestyle, 5th in the 25 Yard Backstroke, 6th in the 50 Yard Breaststroke, and 8th in the 25 Yard Butterfly.

"Samuel had a great meet and showed why he is arguably the fastest 8 year old boy swimmer in Wilson County. As he continues to pay attention in practice and follow the Excel Aquatics progression plan for young swimmers, he will be a force in the County for the next decade." Excel Aquatics Coach John Barnes explained.

Madison Blackwell participated in the 11&12 Year Old Girl's Category. Madison placed 4th in the 200 Yard Individual Medley, 100 Yard Butterfly, 50 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Backstroke; and 8th in the 50 Yard Butterfly.

"Madison had a strong showing in this meet. She has turned into a real competitor who wants to swim fast and compete."

Luke Blackwell, participating in the 13&Over Boy's category, placed in each of his events. He placed 2nd in the 500 Yard Freestyle; 3rd in the 100 Yard Backstroke, 200 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Backstroke, and 200 Yard Individual Medley; 4th in the 100 Yard Freestyle; 6th in the 100 yard Breaststroke; 7th in the 200 Yard Butterfly; and 8th in the 50 Yard Freestyle.

"Luke has been swimming great in practice these past few weeks and was a little tired. Luke's most significant swim was the 200 Yard Butterfly, where he dropped over 27 seconds, finishing in 2 minutes, 20 seconds, and 67 hundredths of a second (2:20.67)."

"Naturally new swimmers do not start out at the practice level Luke is training at; it is something that they need to work up to. Like all other sports, swimming is progressive in its nature of training programs."

The next meet for swimmers from Wilson County will be the Excel Aquatics Meet of Champions, December 7-9, in Brentwood TN.

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

5 Minute Barrier in 500 Broken

2007-10-16T23:10:00.000-05:00

Gillilan Breaks 5-Minute Barrier in 500 Yard Swim

October 15, 2007……The last 25 yards of the race was an all out sprint to the finish. After slamming into the electronic timing touch-pad at the end of the pool lane, Excel Aquatics swimmer, and Lebanon High School Sophomore, Bradley Gillilan lifted his head from the water to take a look at the timing results board. The board read 4:56.54 (Four minutes, 56 seconds, and 54 hundredths of a second). With water still streaming down Bradley’s face, a broad smile erupted as he realized he had achieved his long-standing goal of breaking the five-minute barrier in the Senior Boy’s 500 Yard Freestyle at the Nashville Aquatic Club’s October Open Swim Meet in Nashville this past weekend.

With his performance, Gillilan became the first Wilson County resident to break that barrier in the 500 Free since former Mount Juliet resident Andrew Davidson (and former Univ. of Texas swimmer) did so in his age-group career with Excel Aquatics.

“Bradley set a goal of breaking the five-minute barrier in the 500 a while back, and his swims this summer in the meter pool showed that it was attainable from the time conversions. It was great to see him break that barrier so early in the short-course season.” Excel Aquatics Assistant Coach John Barnes explained.

“It really is a significant milestone in his young career, one that all of Lebanon should be proud of. Those who know swimming understand how hard this is to do. Many High School swimmers never break six-minutes in the 500, much less five-minutes. Of note, Bradley dropped 19.39 seconds off his previous best time.”

Gillilan commented “my next goal is to attain a USA Swimming Senior Sectional Qualifying Time Standard in the 500 Free, which is a 4.53.89.”

Gillilan hopes to drop the additional 2.65 seconds from his time by March 7^th 2008, when the Southern Senior Sectional Meet will be held in Nashville and hosted by Excel Aquatics. Sectional Meets typically feature Olympic team swimmers, US National team swimmers, collegiate swimmers as well as age-group swimmers hoping to follow in the path of the older swimmers at the meet.

In Gillilan’s other swims during the meet, he dropped 29.69 seconds in the 1,000 Yard Freestyle, barely missing a Senior Sectional cut by a scant 0.22 seconds, finishing with a time of 10:17.31, placing 8^th in the Senior Boy’s Category in the event. Time drops also occurred in the 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Breaststroke, and the 200 Yard Individual Medley.

Other Wilson County residents racing in the meet were Taylor Wallace, Dallas Barlettano, Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, Lucy Cook, Grace McCullough, and Alek Nochowicz.

Luke Blackwell, swimming in the Boy’s 13&14 Year Old Category, placed in the Top 8 in the 200 Yard Freestyle (4^th); 100 Yard Backstroke (5^th); 400 Yard Individual Medley (3^rd); 500 Yard Freestyle (3^rd); 200 Yard Individual Medley (7^th); and 200 Yard Backstroke (3^rd).

“Luke had another outstanding meet. He expects to swim fast every time he swims, and his internal drive is tremendous.” Barnes noted.

Sam “The Shark” Blackwell swam in the Boy’s 8&Under category and placed 4^th in the 25 Yard Breaststroke; 8^th in the 50 Yard Freestyle; 7^th in the 100 Yard Freestyle; and 8^th in the 25 Yard Backstroke.

Madison Blackwell placed 6^th in the Girl’s 11&12 Year Old 50 Yard Backstroke; and attained a new Southeastern Swimming Championship Meet Qualifying Time Standard in the 100 Yard Butterfly. “The coaches were proud of Madison and that 100 “Fly” swim. She turned a 1:10.66, a 6.55 second drop. She took it out fast and held on, and turned in a great swim. I think we will see a 1:05 in that event from her before too long.” Barnes concluded.

The next meet for these dedicated Wilson County swimmers will be the Riviera Swim Club Invitational to be held at the world-famous Indianapolis Natatorium, one of the fastest pools in the world, and site of multiple Olympic Trial competitions over the past twenty years.

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Wilson County Swimmers Score Big

2007-09-23T17:48:00.000-05:00

MJ’s Blackwell Takes Two Gold at Swim Meet –
Gillilan Posts Lebanon’s Fastest 400 IM Time Ever

September 23, 2007……The Summer of 2007 is officially over according to the calendar, and attention has now turned to swimming indoors. The first area-wide sanctioned meet in the USA Swimming Short Course Swim Season took place this past weekend when the Excel Aquatics Fall Fest Swim Meet was held in Brentwood TN.

Nine swimmers from Wilson County who train with Excel Aquatics converged on the Indoor Sports Complex in Brentwood and competed against over 500 swimmers from Alabama, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee who made the trip to compete in the meet.

Representing Wilson County at the meet were Lebanon residents Bradley Gillilan, Lucy Cook, and Austin Barnes. From Watertown was Dallas Barlettano. Mount Juliet residents participating were Kelsey Copeland, Taylor Wallace, Luke Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, and Madison Blackwell.

Luke Blackwell, a Freshman Home School student, won the Boy’s 13&14 Year Old 1,650 Yard Freestyle in a time of 17:37.99 (17 minutes, 37 seconds, and 99 hundredths of a second), and the 1,000 Yard Freestyle in a time of 10:35.56. “Luke did a great job on winning these two events. They are the longest events our kids participate in. Even though we had 5 weeks out of the water in late July and early August, he has responded well to his training and was able to drop 15.83 seconds in the Mile (1650) and 6.5 seconds in the 1000.” Excel Assistant Coach and Lebanon Resident John Barnes noted. “Luke had a terrific Long Course Season this past summer, and if he continues to work hard he will be a force during this Short Course Season. He is the top swimmer in the 13&14 Year Old Boys category in Wilson County, and he is well on his way to being one of the best in his age group in the State of Tennessee.”

Luke Blackwell also placed in the Top 8 in the following events in the Boy’s 13&14 Year Old Category: 2^nd Place – 500 Yard Freestyle (5:07.90); 2^nd Place – 200 Yard Backstroke (2:08.53); 3^rd Place – 200 Yard Freestyle (1:55.40); 6^th Place – 100 Yard Backstroke (1:02.20), 6^th Place – 200 Yard Individual Medley (2:15.72); 7^th Place – 50 Yard Freestyle (0:26.24); and 7^th Place – 100 Yard Freestyle (0:55.77). Blackwell also added to his total of Southeastern Swimming (SES) Championship Meet Qualifying Events with a time of 1:13.29 in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, good enough for a 9^th place finish. “Luke now has qualifying times in a total of eight events for the SES Championship Meet.”

Also placing in the Top 8 during this meet were Gillilan (Sophomore from Lebanon High School), Wallace (Sophomore at Mount Juliet High School), Samuel Blackwell (3^rd Grade Home School student), and Madison Blackwell (8^th Grade Home School student).

Gillilan placed 6th in the Senior Boys 400 Yard Individual Medley in a time of 4:40.30, achieving a SES Short Course Championship Meet qualifying time. “Bradley split this race in an intelligent manner, with improvements across the board in every stroke. Gillilan’s performance is the fastest time in the 400 IM achieved by a Lebanon resident.”

“Like Luke, Bradley had unbelievable drops this past Long Course Season, and already in practice these past few weeks he has demonstrated that he is ready to continue those time drops. Bradley and Luke are having a synergistic effect on each other in practice, with each pushing the other to do greater things. There is no secret formula to our swimmer’s success; it’s 50% hard work and 50% attention to the details.”

Wallace placed 7th in the Senior Boys 400 Yard Individual Medley, right on the heels of Gillilan, with a time of 4:41.53.

Samuel Blackwell placed 5^th in the 8 & Under year old Boy’s 50 Yard Freestyle (0:43.46); 5^th in the 25 Yard Freestyle (0:20.42); and 7^th in the 25 Yard Backstroke (0:23.41).

Madison Blackwell placed 2^nd in the 11&12 year old Girl’s 50 Yard Backstroke (0:32.81); 3^rd in the 100 Yard Backstroke (1:10.33); 4^th in the 50 Yard Butterfly (0:32.82); 6^th in the 100 Yard Individual Medley (1:12.86); 7^th in the 100 Yard Freestyle (1:03.96); and 8^th in 50 Yard Freestyle (0:29.26). Madison achieved SES Qualifying Cuts in the 100 Yard Backstroke and 50 Yard Butterfly, bringing her total to 3 time cuts achieved, the most of any 11&12 Year Old girl in Wilson County.

Lucy Cook, a Lebanon Resident and Sumner Academy student, participated in her first USA Swimming meet, successfully making the transition from swimming in the Nashville Swim League the past few summers. Lucy participated in the 10&Under Girls 100 Yard Individual Medley, 100 yard Freestyle, 50 Yard Backstroke, 50 Yard Breaststroke, 200 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Breaststroke, 100 Yard Backstroke, and 50 Yard Freestyle. “Lucy has done great in her training and summer league swimming. She had some great times in this meet, and is progressing along quite nicely with her stroke technique and is a joy to coach.” Coach Barnes stated.

Swimming in the 10&Under Boys category was Barlettano. Copeland, a Junior at Mt Juliet High School, competed in the Senior Girls category. Austin Barnes, a Sophomore at Pope John Paul II HS, took to the water and swam in the 13&14 Boys events.

“As coaches, we’re proud of all of these swimmers. All of them have been working hard on their technique and conditioning since we returned to training. This meet serves as a baseline upon which we will measure their improvements over the remainder of the Short Course season.”

“At Excel Aquatics we have multiple goals for our swimmers. We want to drop times, be competitive with anyone anywhere at any time, improve our stroke techniques, and we also want to instill a sense of hard-work into these student-athletes that they will carry with them the rest of their lives. There are no short-cuts to being a successful swimmer, and there are no short-cuts to succeeding in school and life.” Coach Barnes explained.

The next meet for these swimmers will be the Nashville Aquatic Club October Open to be held in Nashville on October 13^th and 14^th. In November the team will be traveling to the world-famous Indianapolis Natatorium, one of the fastest pools in the world.

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Wilson County Swimmers Place First at NSL City Meet

2007-07-30T22:30:00.000-05:00

Wilson County Swimmers make a splash at Nashville Swim League Championship Meet

July 30, 2007……Swimmers from Wilson County participated in the Nashville Swim League’s (NSL) City Meet Championship this past weekend. The NSL is a Summer League organization with 19 teams spanning Davidson, Wilson and Sumner counties, with over 1,500 swimmers participating. The NSL teams compete in dual meets in June and July, culminating with the City Meet Championship in late July hosted by Excel Aquatics. Swimmers compete in one of two categories, Open or Novice. If a swimmer has a time equal to a USA Swimming “BB” time in an event, they have to swim in the Open category.

The Willoughby Station Waves and Langford Farms Swim Club, both based in Mt Juliet, are members of the NSL; while swimmers from Lebanon participated this summer for Cages Bend Swim Club in Gallatin.

The Willoughby Waves, participating in Division A, the lowest division, concluded their season with a First Place finish in Division A at the City Meet Championships, after sweeping their division in the Dual Meet Season, with a perfect 4-0 record. At the Championship Meet, the Waves were led by Spencer Bracey and Taylor Charles, who both placed in the Top 5 in their age group category. Placing in the Top 5 is referred to as “High-Pointing” with a trophy awarded to those who achieve this honor.

Bracey placed second in the Boy’s 11&12 Year Old Novice Category, while Charles placed 5^th in the Boy’s 11&12 Year Old Open Category. Waves swimmers who scored points in the meet were: Lavoisier Fisher, 17^th Place, Boy’s 7&8 Open; Casey Charles, 6^th Place, Boy’s 7&8 Novice; Sarah Abernathy, 7^th Place, 9&10 Girl’s Novice; Pam Crutsinger, 10^th Place, 15-18 Girl’s Novice; Ryan Bretell, 8^th Place, 15-18 Boy’s Novice; and Eric Wikman, 11^th Place, 15-18 Boy’s Novice. Crutsinger also swims for the MJHS Swim Team.

Coach Johnny “Rocket” Davis, concluding his 6^th season as the Waves Head Coach, commented that “these kids swam their hearts out in this meet. Our swimmers set 16 new Team Records during the meet, with several others coming very close. I couldn’t be more proud of them and their achievements as individuals and as a team this year.”

Langford Farms placed 6^th in the Division AA category, the middle category of the NSL. Langford Farms swimmers scoring points at the meet were: Sally McCabe, 9^th Place, 9-10 Girl’s Novice; Noah Curtis, 6^th Place, 9-10 Boy’s Novice; Nathan Curtis, 1^st Place, 11-12 Boy’s Novice; Kelsey Copeland, 10^th Place, 15-18 Girl’s Open; Kathleen Witte, 13^th Place, 15-18 Girl’s Novice; Taylor Wallace, 4^th Place, 15-18 Boy’s Open; and Andy Barton, 9^th Place, 15-18 Boy’s Novice. Copeland, Wallace, and Barton compete for the MJHS Swim Team, while Kathleen Witte swims for Pope John Paul II High School. Langford is coached by former Mount Juliet High School Hurley was the 2005 Wilson County High School Swimmer of the Year and currently attends UT-Knoxville. swimmer Kevin Hurley.

With no NSL team based in Lebanon, several Lebanon residents represent Cages Bend Swim Club in Gallatin. Cages Bend is in Division AA, and took home First Place in that Division at the Meet. Competing in the meet from Lebanon were Grace McCullough in the 6&Under Girl’s category; Lucy Cook, 9-10 Girl’s Open; Conrad Claycomb, 15-18 Boy’s Open; and Stephen Claycomb, 15-18 Boy’s Open. Stephen Claycomb, who also serves as an assistant coach with Cages Bend, finished in First Place in the 15-18 Boy’s Open category, the fastest category of the meet. Conrad Claycomb will return to swim for Pope John Paul II High School this coming season;, while brother Stephen Claycomb concluded his career JPII this past year, and will be competing for Western Kentucky University this coming Fall.

For complete NSL City Meet results, visit www.ExcelAquatics.org.

Wilson County Excel Aquatic Residents at SES Championships

2007-07-24T13:42:00.000-05:00

Blackwell Places in Top 8 five times at
Southeastern Swimming Championships

July 24, 2007……With over 700 swimmers representing 38 different clubs covering Tennessee, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle, descending on the Tracy Caulkins Competition Pool in Nashville TN for the 2007 Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championships, there was a small contingent of Wilson County swimmers preparing to make their mark on the meet. This Championship level meet was conducted in the Prelims/Final format whereby if a swimmer placed in the Top 8 in the Preliminary swims in the mornings, they would come back and compete in the Finals in the evening. Long Course refers to the length of the pool, 50 Meters, the same pool length the Olympics is held in.

Siblings Luke and Madison Blackwell from Mount Juliet, and teammate Bradley Gillilan of Lebanon, were qualified and entered in a combined total of sixteen events for the Championship Meet. All three train with Excel Aquatics.

Luke Blackwell, swimming in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s category, had qualified in ten different events, but per meet rules was only allowed to swim in seven events. Luke took to the water in the 200 Meter Freestyle, 400 Meter Freestyle, 800 Meter Freestyle, 1500 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Backstroke, 200 Meter Backstroke, and 200 Meter Individual Medley.

Over the course of the four days the meet lasted, Luke placed in the Top 8 in at least one event per day. With the 800 Meter Free and the 1500 Meter Free being the only events to be conducted as Timed Finals with no repeat swims, Blackwell placed 5^th in both events. In the 800 Meter swim, Luke was one of only two 13 year old boys to finish in the top 12 placings in the race, with the rest being 14 years old. In the 1500 Meter swim, Luke was the highest placing 13 year old in the event.

Blackwell also swam to Top Eight finishes in the 100 Meter Backstroke (8^th), the 200 Meter Backstroke (5^th), and the 400 Meter Freestyle (8^th). All three of those events were swum twice, first in Preliminaries, and again in Finals.

In Blackwell’s other races, he placed 16^th in the 200 Meter Freestyle, and was disqualified in the 200 Meter Individual Medley after not executing the Butterfly to Backstroke turn properly.

“Overall Luke had a fantastic meet”, Excel Assistant and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted. “Between Prelims, Finals, and Relay events, Luke swam in 12 events over the course of the meet. That is a lot of swims at this level of competition, and he held up very well. It’s been over 6 years since a Wilson County male over the age of 13 has had that many swims at a Championship level meet.”

“He was one of the youngest swimmers in his age group returning to the Finals each night, and this bodes well for him next summer when he will be one of the oldest in his age grouping.”

Madison Blackwell competing in the 11&12 Year Old Girl’s category, swam in the 100 Meter Butterfly, 50 Meter Butterfly, 100 Meter Backstroke, and the 50 Meter Backstroke.

“Madison had some great time drops over her entry times in the 50 Fly and 50 Back, which was real nice to see. Her stroke style is probably suited more for the 100’s and 200’s, so for her to get up and race the shorter distance was great to see” according to Barnes. “She is working hard in practice and her dedication has paid off.”

Gillilan, competing for the first time in the Senior Boy’s category, after having aged up the day before the meet, competed in 5 events he had already qualified for in that higher level. Gillilan swam in the 200 Meter Freestyle, 400 Meter Free, 800 Meter Free, 1500 Meter Free, and the 200 Meter Breaststroke. Against boys ranging in age from 15 to over 20 years of age, Gillilan’s highest placing was 23^rd in the 1500 Meter Free.

“Bradley aged up and was the youngest 15 year old at the meet, having to swim against others quite a bit older than him.” Barnes explained. “But Bradley held his own and went after it in his races, we were proud of him and his efforts.”

Gillilan will be entering his Sophomore year at Lebanon High School as the only returning State Qualifier in Individual Events on the LHS Boy’s team, and is expected to compete in the distance events.

“Both Bradley and Luke Blackwell have had an amazing Long Course Season this summer. They were able to get in some long course training in Murfreesboro in the mornings, and that really paid off when combined with their normal evening training. They have established themselves as the most dominant males out of Wilson County in Long Course events since Andrew Davidson was swimming up in the late 1990s.

“All of Wilson County should be proud of these three swimmers for representing us so well.”

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Excel Aquatics Swimmers Lead Wilson County

2007-07-07T19:00:00.000-05:00

County Swimmers Tapering for Championship Meet

July 7, 2007……Wilson County will be represented by three swimmers in the upcoming Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Swimming Championships July 19-22 in Nashville and Brentwood TN. Siblings Madison and Luke Blackwell of Mount Juliet will be joined by fellow Excel Aquatics swimmer Bradley Gillilan of Lebanon as qualifiers for the meet.

Southeastern Swimming is the Local Swimming Committee (LSC) of USA Swimming (USAS). USA Swimming is the governing body responsible for hosting the Olympic Trials every four years to pick the US Olympic Swim Team. This selection process is done by different stages of qualifying meets. The SES LSC covers all of Tennessee, Alabama, and the Panhandle of Florida.

The SES Long Course Championships require that swimmers attain qualifying time cuts based on their age groupings and gender at USAS sanctioned meets. Due to the size of the meet this year, the meet is being co-hosted by two different teams utilizing two different pools, one in Nashville and the other in Brentwood. The preliminary swims will be held at both pools based on age category, with the Finals being swum in the evenings at the Tracy Caulkin’s Competition Pool in Nashville.

The Wilson County swimmers qualified for the meet have begun their tapering phase of training leading up to the meet. Tapering in swim training is used to rest the body so that muscle adaptations made during normal training are maintained, while the body rebounds to allow meet performance at a higher level.

Madison Blackwell is swimming in four events in the 11&12 Year Old Girl’s category: the 50 Meter Backstroke, 50 Meter Butterfly, 100 Meter Backstroke, and 100 Meter Butterfly. “Madison is only eleven years old and has progressed tremendously over the past year with Excel Aquatics.” According to Excel Aquatics Assistant Coach and Possum Town resident John Barnes. “Last year as a ten year old in this championship meet she swam in two events, and with aging up this year to the older category came much more difficult time standards. Madison rose to the challenge and swam to four new qualifying times in the harder category. Her work ethic during practice is wonderful.”

Luke Blackwell has qualified in ten events in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s Category for the Championship Meet, however due to rules will only be able to swim in seven of the ten. The seven chosen: 200 Meter Freestyle, 400 Meter Freestyle, 800 Meter Freestyle, 1500 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Backstroke, 200 Meter Backstroke, and the 200 Meter Individual Medley. “Having ten qualifying times can be a challenge when you have to decide which seven to swim in the meet. We had to balance the four day length of the meet, the days on which events fell on, and the potential of placing in the Top 16 of each event.” Barnes explained. “Luke will do very well in this meet even though he is thirteen and will be swimming against boys a year older. We expect him to be in the Top 16 in quite a few of his events in his age grouping. Even though it is a lengthy meet with his individual events combined with relays, as long as he eats right through the weekend, and gets plenty of rest in between his swims, he should do just fine.”

Gillilan, a rising Sophomore at Lebanon High School, will be competing in the 15&16 Year Old Boy’s 200 Meter Freestyle, 400 Meter Freestyle, 800 Meter Freestyle, 1500 Meter Freestyle, and the 200 Meter Breaststroke. “Bradley will age up to the 15&16 year old category the day before the meet. In the 13&14 year old category Bradley had attained qualifying times in eleven different events, now because of the large drops in times needed to swim in the 15&16 year old category, he is qualified in five events.” Barnes stated. “Bradley is the first 15 year old from Wilson County to compete in the Long Course Championships since Andrew Davidson, who went on to swim at the University of Texas. Bradley has had some outstanding swims this summer and I expect that to continue as long as he keeps his drive and focus.”

“Wilson County residents have reason to be proud of these three swimmers. They are showing us what our youth are capable of with hard work and determination. Swimming is a sport where no child is left on the bench. Why are these three the cream of the crop of Wilson County swimmers? Their success starts with their attitude, continues with a focus on training that emphasizes both correct technique and challenging work, and concludes by coming full circle back to the swimmers and their goals. Our coaches at Excel Aquatics give them the tools necessary to help them realize those goals”

Summer Sizzler Has Epic 400 Meter Freestyle Duel in the Pool

2007-06-25T21:18:00.000-05:00

Gillilan Leads Wilson County Swimmers

June 25, 2007……At the annual Summer Sizzler Meet in Nashville TN this past weekend, Lebanon High School rising Sophomore Bradley Gillilan swam to two 4^th Place finishes in the meet, leading a contingent of Excel teammates at the meet.

The Summer Sizzler Meet is a three day meet swam in the “Long Course” 50 Meter format, the same pool distance the major international competitions are held, such as the Olympics. 808 athletes from 29 separate teams covering 11 states converged on Nashville to compete in what has become one of the most competitive meets in the South each summer. The meet is in the Preliminary/Finals format whereby if a swimmer qualifies in the “Prelims” in the morning, they come back to swim in the Final’s at night.

Swimming for Excel Aquatics in the meet from Wilson County were Gillilan, Watertown residents Chelsie and Dallas Barlettano, and Mount Juliet siblings Luke, Samuel, and Madison Blackwell.

Gillilan placed 4^th in both the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s 400 Meter Freestyle as well as the 1500 Meter Freestyle. Right on Gillilan’s heels was Luke Blackwell, placing 6^th in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s 400 Meter Freestyle, and 5^th in the 1500 Meter Freestyle.

“Both boys had to swim the 400 Meters twice, once in the morning, and then again at night in Finals.” Excel Aquatics Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “The 400 is considered a middle distance event and to have to swim it twice in one day takes something out of you. In the Prelims the race was a photo finish between the two boys. They were swimming side by side the last 25 meters of the race, matching stroke for stroke in a dead sprint. Bradley out-touched Luke at the finish by 2 tenths of a second. Faster than you can snap your fingers twice. It was exactly like their battles in practice every day. They are pushing each other to a level of swimming not seen in Wilson County in the past six years.”

“Then the next day they both had to swim the 1500 (aka “The Metric Swim Mile”) as a Timed Finals, which means they only had to swim it once. It is a grueling race and both did a tremendous job.”

In the 1500 Meter Freestyle, Gillilan dropped over 71 seconds to finish in Seventeen Minutes, Forty Five Seconds, and Seventy One-Hundredths of a second (17:45.70). Blackwell was just behind him with a time of 18:01.93, a 4.43 second drop. These times are notable since both boys are now ranked 2^nd and 4^th on Excel Aquatics in the event. Excel is a team of over 300 swimmers from 3 training locations and is Nationally Recognized.

“Because of the aging up rules in swimming, Bradley will be competing in the older 15&16 Year Old Category at the Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Championship Meet in a month.” Barnes stated. “He was able to achieve 3 new 15&16 cuts in this meet – the 200 Meter Freestyle, the 800 Meter Freestyle, as well as the 1500 Meter Freestyle. That brings his total to 5 events.

Blackwell also returned to Finals on Sunday night in the 13&14 Boy’s 200 Meter Backstroke, where he turned in a time of 2:26.55, good enough for a 5^th Place finish.

“Luke will stay in the 13&14 Year Old Category for the upcoming Championship meet and has 10 of a possible 14 qualifying cuts. In this meet we just finished he also achieved time cuts for the 15&16 category in three more events, the 100 Meter Backstroke, the 200 Meter Backstroke, and the 200 Meter Freestyle. He is well on his way to being well qualified in two years when he is swimming in that category.”

Chelsie Barlettano only competed in one event, the 13&14 Girl’s 100 Meter Freestyle, where she finished with a time of 1:28.25. “Chelsie participated in a Triathlon in McMinnville on Saturday, and then turned around and competed in this meet. We are proud of her efforts, and as she continues to improve with her swimming, it will only benefit her efforts in the triathlons.”

Dallas Barlettano competed in four events in the 10&Under Boy’s Category, notching best times in 3 of his 4 events. “Dallas did great, he competed in the 200 Meter Freestyle for the first time, and at his age that was a great accomplishment. We look forward to him continuing to improve in the years to come.”

Madison Blackwell, who has SES Qualifying Cuts in the 11&12 Girl’s category swam to best times in 5 of her 9 events, with a nearly one second drop in the 100 Meter Butterfly. “I’ve been telling Madison that she is becoming a very good “Flyer”, and will become a great Individual Medley (IM) swimmer when she wants to be. Her times are starting to reflect that. She is solid in all 4 of her strokes and as a result she dropped 6.85 seconds in her 200 Meter IM this past weekend.

The youngest of the Wilson Country swimmers, and one of the youngest in the meet, is Samuel Blackwell. Samuel participated in three events, all in the 10&Under Category, and Samuel is only Seven Years Old. “Samuel dropped times in 2 of his events, and swam very well. He’s a joy to coach and to be around.” Coach Barnes concluded.

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

More Time Cuts at Stars and Stripes Meet

2007-05-27T12:51:00.000-05:00

Excel Swimmers Make Their Mark at Swim Meet

May 27, 2007……Madison Blackwell of Mount Juliet led a contingent of seven Wilson County residents in competing at the Excel Aquatics Stars & Stripes Long Course Swim Meet in Brentwood TN this past weekend. Joining Madison from Lebanon were Austin Barnes and Bradley Gillilan; from Watertown were Chelsie Barlettano and Dallas Barlettano; and also from Mount Juliet were Samuel Blackwell and Luke Blackwell. All seven compete for nationally recognized Excel Aquatics.

The Long Course format is swam in a 50 Meter Pool, the same pool dimensions as the Olympic Games.

Madison Blackwell garnered Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Swimming Championship Meet Qualifying Times in the Girls 11&12 year old category for the 50 Meter Backstroke and 100 Meter Butterfly. Madison had previously attained a qualifying cut in the 100 Meter Backstroke. In the 100 Meter Butterfly, Madison turned in a time of one minute, twenty one seconds, and 86 one-hundredths of a second (1:21.86), good for a 7^th place finish. “I knew Madison’s time was faster than anything I remember for girls that age in Wilson County, and after coming home to check several websites I’m fairly confident that it is the fastest time ever for a girl from Wilson County in that age group in that event.” Excel Assistant Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes stated. “Her time in the 100 Meter Backstroke also is the fastest time ever for a Wilson County girl that age.”

Blackwell placed 6^th in the 100 Meter Backstroke with a time of 1:20.36, dropping 87-hundredths of a second in the process. In the 50 Meter Backstroke, Blackwell popped a 0:38.28, a SES Qualifying time.

“Madison continues to do very well with Excel Aquatics, and I was ecstatic with her big time drops in both the 50 Meter Butterfly and the 100 Meter Butterfly.” Barnes commented.

Chelsie and Dallas Barlettano competed in their first Long Course Meet, and showed that they were up to the challenge. Both turned in impressive times. Chelsie swam in the 100 Meter Breaststroke and 50 Meter Freestyle, while brother Dallas took to the water in the 100 Meter Freestyle, 50 Meter Backstroke, 50 Meter Freestyle, and 50 Meter Breaststroke.

Austin Barnes competed in the 400 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Freestyle, and 100 Meter Backstroke; setting personal best times in all three events.

Samuel Blackwell, competing in the Boys 8&Under category swam to a 4^th Place finish in the 50 Meter Breaststroke, 6^th Place in the 50 Meter Backstroke, and 9^th Place in the 50 Meter Freestyle with best times in all events.

In the older 13&14 Boys division, Luke Blackwell and Bradley Gillilan proved once again why they are the most well rounded male swimmers in the county. Gillilan increased the number of SES Long Course Qualifying Cuts to 11 in the 13&14 age group, while Blackwell closed close in bringing his total to 10. Gillilan added two Boy’s 13&14 year old SES cuts in the 200 Meter Individual Medley and 200 Meter Backstroke (13&14). He added cuts in the 15&16 year old category in the 200 Meter Breaststroke, which was also a Senior Boys cut.

Blackwell added qualifying cuts in Boys 13&14 year old category in the 400 Meter Individual Medley, the 100 Meter Freestyle, the 200 Meter Breaststroke, and the 1500 Meter Freestyle. In the 200 Meter Breaststroke the time was also good enough for a 15&16 year old qualifying cut; while in the 1500 Meter Freestyle Luke’s time of 18:06.36 was both a 15&16 cut and a Senior cut.

“This was another great meet for these two boys. Bradley’s time in the 800 Meter Freestyle was phenomenal, just hundredths of a second off a qualifying cut in the 15&16 year old category.” Coach Barnes commented. “Luke turned the meet on its ear with his time in the 1500 Meter Freestyle, coming out of nowhere to place 2^nd in his age group in the event. Honestly, I was stunned by his 1500 Free and his 400 Meter Individual Medley swim on Friday night. That 1500 swim was the fastest swim by a Wilson County boy I’ve been able to find in results databases and website searches. Both boys swam great in the Individual Medley events, something we work on several times a week in practice.

“At Excel Aquatics our goal is to develop well-rounded swimmers that can be competitive at all levels of swimming. It’s what the families want, and what our focus is on a day to day basis. We have fun, they swim fast, and we want them to be the best student-athletes they can be out of the water and in the water.”

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Excel Swimmers get Time Cuts at Knoxville Meet

2007-05-12T12:51:00.000-05:00

Excel Swimmers Travel to Knoxville

May 12, 2007……Three Wilson County residents with Excel Aquatics recently traveled to Knoxville to swim at the Pilot Invitational held at the University of Tennessee Aquatics Center, May 4-6. All three returned with new Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Championship Meet Qualifying Times.

Bradley Gillilan of Lebanon led the way with new 13&14 Boys Qualifying Times in the 100 Meter Breaststroke, 100 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Backstroke, 1500 Meter Freestyle and 200 Meter Freestyle. Gillilan also attained a 15&16 Boys Qualifying Time in the 400 Meter Freestyle, having already qualified in that event at the 13&14 age group level. “Bradley did well this meet.” Coach John Barnes of Lebanon noted. “At Excel we constantly focus on both technique and aerobic conditioning, and Bradley is making some technique changes in the Freestyle events, and they seem to be taking hold early. He was focused on what he wanted to do, and went out there and did it. It was great seeing those time drops at the Long Course format.”

Luke Blackwell of Mount Juliet attained six new Qualifying Times in the 13&14 Boys category. As a result, Luke is eligible for the SES Long Course Championships in the 800 Meter Freestyle, 200 Meter Individual Medley, 100 Meter Backstroke, 400 Meter Freestyle, 200 Meter Freestyle, and 200 Meter Backstroke. “Luke was only 6-hundreths of a second away from a qualifying time in the 100 Meter Breaststroke, so we are fairly confident that he will add that to his qualifying list when he swims it again.” Barnes predicted. “With his strength in the distance events, we believe that he has a realistic shot at the 200 Meter Breaststroke as well as the 1500 Meter Freestyle. The qualifying time in the 400 Meter Individual Medley is also a real possibility.”

“With Luke moving up to the same training squad Bradley is in, it is a pleasure to watch them train from a coaching perspective. After doing a good 45 minutes or so on drills and kicking, we turn them lose on the main set, and it becomes a battle to see who leads the practice. In an average day at practice they swim 6500+ yards, with Saturday practices between 8000 to 9200 yards. Combine that sort of conditioning with technique work and it is obvious why they are leading Wilson County in performance.”

Madison Blackwell also of Mount Juliet brought home an 11&12 Girls SES Qualifying Time in the 100 Meter Backstroke. “Madison had a great meet in all 9 of her events she swam; there are 3 or 4 more events where she is close to her qualifying times for the Long Course Championship meet in July.” Barnes noted. “The last time a Wilson County girl as young as Madison attended the Long Course Championship meet was in 2002, so Madison is leading the way among her age group.”

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Excel Awards Presented

2007-05-02T12:50:00.000-05:00

Wilson County Duo Receive Swim Team Awards

May 2, 2007……Two Wilson County swimmers, Bradley Gillilan of Lebanon and Madison Blackwell of Mount Juliet, recently were awarded the prestigious “Excel Award” from Excel Aquatics for their achievements this past Short Course Season.

The Award is given annually at the Excel Spring Banquet to a select few recipients in each training squad, and is based on Good Sportsmanship, Dedication, Positive Attitude, and Leadership within the squads. Out of 350 swimmers over three training locations, only 14 swimmers received the honor of the Award.

Gillilan, a Freshman at Lebanon High School, is a multi-year winner of the award. “Bradley exemplifies the work ethic and “can do” spirit that we look for in our older swimmers.” Excel Coach John Barnes stated. “He steps up to any workout challenge that we give them, he works hard, has no real complaints, and pushes everyone in the Gold Training Squad on a daily basis. He encourages his training partners to step up and reach beyond their pre-conceived notions of what they can do.”

“Last year we had Kyle Lee who was the leader in the water. After Kyle graduated and went to swim at the University of Alabama, Bradley has stepped up and is learning to be a leader although only a Freshman.”

Blackwell, a rising 8^th Grader who is Home Schooled, won her first Excel Award. “Madison only started training with us about 16 months ago and has done a phenomenal job both in training and in meets, quickly becoming a Southeastern Swimming Qualifier, the only 12&Under Girl in the county to achieve that this past short course season.” Barnes noted. “She trains with our Silver 1 Squad, and leads the squad in attendance and attitude.”

“Madison has a tremendous upside on her swimming abilities, and is proficient in her stroke techniques. The next step is for her to start applying strategy to her races of 100 yards and longer, and when she does that, I believe that you will see some amazing things from her. She is already the top Middle School age girl in Wilson County, and in a few years will be the top High School age girl if she continues to keep her great attitude and work ethic.”

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

4 From Wilson County in Championship Meet

2007-03-19T12:49:00.000-05:00

Wilson Quartet Represents Wilson County at Southeastern Championship Meet

March 19, 2007……The Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championship Meet this past weekend in Nashville saw Madison Blackwell, Luke Blackwell, Bradley Gillilan and Taylor Wallace, all from Wilson County, contribute to Excel Aquatics’ Third Place finish at the Meet. 45 teams, comprising 872 swimmers from Tennessee, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle competed in the Championship Meet.

Lebanon High School freshman Bradley Gillilan placed 15^th in the 13&14 Boy’s 1650 Yard Freestyle with a time of 18:10.86. Gillilan also competed in the 1000 Freestyle (17^th place), 200 Yard Freestyle (33^rd), 100 Yard Breaststroke (30^th), and 200 Yard Backstroke (31^st).

“Bradley had a great meet, dropping time in 3 of his 5 events after coming off a short course season where he split his training focus between his natural distance events and the sprint focused High School season.” Excel Assistant Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes stated.

Home School 8^th Grader (Mt. Juliet) Luke Blackwell took home a 13^th Place finish in the 13&14 Boy’s 1650 Yard Freestyle, turning in a time of 17:53.49. A 16^th Place finish was garnered in the 1000 Yard Freestyle with a time of 10:42.08, a remarkable 37 second drop from his previous try at that distance. Blackwell also competed in the 200 Yard Freestyle (32^nd Place), 200 Yard Backstroke (28^th), 500 Yard Freestyle (24^th), and 100 Yard Backstroke (23^rd).

“Both Bradley and Luke did great in the 1650, aka “The Mile”. For someone not familiar with this sport, swimming that distance is more closely similar to running a 5 Kilometer race, a Cross Country running distance. Excel Aquatics’ encourages our kids to swim all the strokes and varied event lengths in swimming, in order to find what the correct fit is for them. Over time things may change, and all of our kids typically continue to develop because of their strong aerobic base.” Barnes commented.

Madison Blackwell, a Home School 6^th Grader (Mt. Juliet), competed in her first Southeastern Short Course Championship in the Girl’s 11&12 category. Blackwell participated in the 50 Yard Backstroke, and turned in a time of 0:32.76. “Madison swam lights out in her event, she really nailed her underwater technique off of the start and turn and once on top of the water she got her arms moving while maintaining excellent body position in the water.”

Mount Juliet High School freshman Taylor Wallace swam to a 9^th Place finish in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, and anchored the 13&14 Boy’s 400 Medley Relay that attained a National Top 16 time during the meet. Wallace also competed in the 400 Yard Individual Medley, 200 Yard Individual Medley, 50 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Butterfly, and 100 Yard Freestyle.

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Madison Blackwell Posts Win In Memphis Meet

2007-03-12T12:48:00.000-05:00

Madison Blackwell Swims to Wins in Memphis

March 12, 2007……Madison Blackwell of Mount Juliet, competing in the Girl’s 11&12 year old category at the Southeastern Swimming Districts Meet in Memphis this past weekend scored an individual win along with two relay wins.

Competing in the 50 Yard Backstroke, Blackwell quickly swam away from the field, with a winning time of 0:33.40. In other individual events Blackwell placed 3^rd in the 100 Yard Backstroke (1:13.66), 4^th in the 50 Yard Butterfly (0:32.89), 6^th in the 100 Yard Individual Medley (1:15.10), 7^th in the 100 Yard Breaststroke (1:26.77), 9^th in the 50 Yard Freestyle (0:30.09), and 12^th in the 50 Yard Breaststroke (1:13.66).

Blackwell was also part of Excel Aquatic’s winning 200 Yard Medley Relay and 200 Yard Freestyle Relay at the meet.

“Madison has done a great job this short course season. Having just aged up into this harder age group, she just barely missed her Southeastern Swimming Championship Meet Qualifying Times.” Excel Aquatics Assistant Coach John Barnes stated. “This was only her fifth short course meet since joining Excel a little over a year ago, and at the rapid pace she is progressing, she should have no problem achieving the long course standards in the upcoming long course season.”

Madison’s older brother, Luke, will be joining LHS Freshman Bradley Gillilan and MJHS Freshman Taylor Wallace in the upcoming Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championship Meet March 15-18. All three boys will be competing in the Boy’s 13&14 year old category, representing Excel Aquatics.

For more information on year-round competitive swimming options in the Mid-State, as well as information on Summer League Swimming in the County, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Claycomb 3rd at State

2007-02-26T12:48:00.000-06:00

Claycomb Places 3^rd at State High School Swimming Championships

February 26, 2007……Stephen Claycomb, a resident of Lebanon and a Senior at Pope John Paul II High School finished his High School swimming career this past weekend at the State of Tennessee High School Swimming and Diving Championships in Nashville by placing 3^rd in the 50 Yard Freestyle and 8^th in the 100 Yard Freestyle, scoring a total of 27 points in the process for Pope John Paul II.

In placing third in the Finals on Friday night, Claycomb attained a time of 0:21.56 in the 50 Yard Freestyle, becoming the first Wilson County resident to earn a Top Three finish at the State Championships since Mt Juliet’s Andrew Davidson did so in 2001.

On Saturday night, Claycomb returned to the Finals and placed 8^th in the 100 Yard Freestyle with a time of 0:47.75. In the 2006 State Championships, Claycomb placed 10^th in the 100 Yard Freestyle.

Fellow Lebanon resident and Pope John Paul II Senior Amy Pouget also finished her career by returning to swim in the Consolations Finals this year as a member of the JPII Girl’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay who placed 14^th in the State. This was Pouget’s third year of swimming in the Consolations Finals, having done so in each of the prior two years in individual events.

Conrad Claycomb, a sophomore at JPII, competed in his first State Meet by qualifying in the 100 Yard Freestyle. Mt Juliet resident and JPII freshman Alek Nochowicz competed in his first State Meet in the 200 Yard Individual Medley and 500 Yard Freestyle.

Mardi Gras Meet 2007

2007-02-18T12:47:00.000-06:00

Blackwell Excels in Mardi Gras Swim Meet

February 18, 2007……Wilson County resident Luke Blackwell added to his total of Southeastern Swimming Short Course Qualifying Times with three new cut at the Excel Aquatics Mardi Gras Swim Meet this past weekend. By achieving new cuts in the 200 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Backstroke and 400 Yard Individual Medley, Luke brought his total of qualifying cuts to 7 in the 13&14 Year Old Category; joining fellow 13&14 Year Olds Taylor Wallace (MJHS) and Bradley Gillilan (LHS) with 7 or more qualifying times.

Joining Luke Blackwell at the Mardi Gras meet were fellow Wilson County swimmers Samuel Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Kelsey Copeland, Taylor Wallace, Dallas Barlettano, Alek Nochowicz, Andrew Barnes, and Austin Barnes, all of Excel Aquatics.

“Luke continues to drop some nice chunks of time in his progress and development with Excel.” Assistant Coach John Barnes of Lebanon noted. “He is not afraid of anyone he swims against, and has a strong desire to try to win. At next months SES Championship Meet we expect Luke to make his mark in the distance events even though he will be one of the youngest swimmers in his age group.”

Barletanno, a 9 year old from the Watertown area, had nice time drops in the 100 Yard Individual Medley and 50 Yard Breaststroke. Madison Blackwell, 11 years old, dropped over 31 seconds in the 500 Yard Freestyle, and swam in the 400 Yard Individual Medley for the first time. Samuel Blackwell, 7 years old, continued his streak of time drops in all of his events.

“Overall, our kids had great swims. The younger swimmers used it as a meet in which they applied what they have been learning by their specific stroke drills designed to improve their technique, and the pacing strategies to improve their endurance. Our older High School swimmers (Wallace, Nochowicz, and Copeland) used the meet as a tune-up by working on specific portions of their races, in preparation for next week’s State High School Championship Meet.” Barnes stated. “The coaches at Excel are proud of all of them and how they performed.”

For more information on year-round competitive swimming options in the Mid-State, as well as information on Summer League Swimming in the County, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Epic Battle at Meet of Champs

2006-12-04T12:45:00.000-06:00

Blackwell and Gillilan engage in epic battle at the Excel Aquatics Meet of Champions

December 4, 2006……Twelve of Wilson County’s youth swimmers competed in the annual Excel Aquatics Meet of Champions in Brentwood TN Dec 1^st-3^rd. This “Championship” formatted meet consisted of both Preliminaries and Finals swims. The Meet of Champions has turned into one of the fastest meets in the South heading into the Holiday Season. This year 674 swimmers from 26 clubs spread across Alabama, Ohio, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi converged to see who the best among the best was.

Wilson County residents competing in the meet were Chelsie Barlettano, Dallas Barlettano, Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, Conrad Claycomb, Stephen Claycomb, Kelsey Copeland, Josh Deardorff, Bradley Gillilan, Alek Nochowicz, and Taylor Wallace. All twelve train with Excel Aquatics.

Luke Blackwell an 8^th Grade Home School student from Lebanon, competing for Excel Aquatics was the only one of the Wilson County Twelve to win an event, the Boy’s 13&14 Year Old 1650 Yard Freestyle.

“The Mile” as the event is known was an exciting race to watch, as both Blackwell and his Excel teammate Bradley Gillilan (Gillilan is a Freshman at Lebanon High School) battled to the end, with both boys averaging in the vicinity of 1 minute 6 seconds per 100 yards throughout the entire race. Blackwell pulled ahead towards the end to win the event in 18:10.31. Gillilan placed Second with a time of 18:19.31.

“The Mile is an exhausting event, and in the past 6 years no male swimmer from Wilson County has gone under 20 minutes in the event, and in this one event on Sunday, we had two.” Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes commented. “Bradley beat Luke in the 200 Yard Freestyle and the 500 Yard Freestyle earlier in the Meet, and Luke turned around and won the 1650. These boys have 3+ years left of training together at Excel, and it will be exciting to witness, one I’m sure both of them will step up to and commit themselves to achieve further successes while feeding off of each other. Swimming is a sport where success breeds success, and we are looking forward to seeing all of these swimmers raise the quality of swimming here in the near future.”

Josh Deardorff, an 11^th Grade Home School student from the Possum Town area northwest of Lebanon, dropped over 3 tenths of a second off of his 50 Yard Freestyle. “When you are at the speed that Josh is at on his 50 Free, usually the drops are measured in hundredths, not tenths. He did great.”

Mount Juliet swimming prodigy, Taylor Wallace, also in the 13&14 year old category, had the most overall success in the meet among Wilson County swimmers, with Top 8 finishes in all 8 of his events. “Taylor will have a huge impact on the success of MJ High School (where he is a Freshman) this season, and be a tremendous asset to Coach McCabe and the rest of the talented young men on that High School team.” Kelsey Copeland, a Sophomore at MJHS, continued dropping time in her signature event, the 500 Yard Freestyle, and will be making a significant contribution to the MJHS Girls Swim Team again this season.

Lebanon’s Stephen Claycomb, a Senior at JPII HS, finished 3^rd in the Senior Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle, with a time of 0:22.30, in his continuing training efforts geared towards qualifying again for Finals at the State High School meet to be held in February. Alek Nochowicz of Mt Juliet, and a Freshman at JPII HS had drops in all of his events, and “has a full understanding” of what he has to do to qualify for the State High School meet in the 500 Yard Freestyle. Conrad Claycomb, a Sophomore at JPII HS is on track to achieve a qualifying time for the State High School Meet in the 100 Yard Backstroke.

Among the Elementary and Middle School age swimmers from Wilson County, Chelsie Barlettano of Watertown dropped over two seconds off of her time in the 100 Yard Backstroke, while brother Dallas Barlettano dropped over 7 seconds in his 50 Yard Backstroke.

Madison Blackwell, who recently aged up to the 11&12 Year Old Category made large strides in accomplishing her short term goals of qualifying for the Southeastern Championships. “Madison is doing great in all of her events, and she will become a tremendous competitor in the Individual Medley events.”

The youngest Blackwell sibling, 7 year old Samuel, competed in his first Meet of Champions, and finished 25^th in the Boys 10&Under category in the 50 Yard Breaststroke.

“I encourage all of my fellow Wilson County neighbors interested in swimming to contact us at Excel. If anyone knows one of the families who attended this meet, feel free to ask them about the qualitative difference gained from training with Excel.” For more information about swimming opportunities for Wilson County youth, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com, or call Coach Barnes at 443-4115. The next meet for swimmers from Excel Aquatics’ will be the Baylor Invitational in Chattanooga TN in January.

Dozen Dazzle at Thoroughbred Meet

2006-11-05T12:44:00.000-06:00

Wilson County Dozen Excel in Brentwood

November 5, 2006……Twelve residents from Wilson County and Excel Aquatics took to the pool at the annual Excel Aquatics’ Thoroughbred Invitational November 3-5 in Brentwood TN. Leading the way and placing in the Top 8 were Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, and Bradley Gillilan of Lebanon; and Taylor Wallace and Kelsey Copeland of Mt. Juliet. Also competing were Chelsie Barlettano, Dallas Barlettano, Josh Deardorff, Makensie Moses, Taylor Moses, and Alek Nochowicz.

Those winning events were Taylor Wallace (13&14 Year Old Boy’s 400 Yard IM) and Bradley Gillilan (13&14 Year Old Boy’s 500 Yard Freestyle). Wallace finished the 400 Yard IM with a time of 4:33.34, over a 10 second drop in winning the event; and followed that up with Top 5 finishes in his 6 other events. Wallace is a freshman at Mount Juliet High School and will be competing in the High School season under the guidance of Kathy McCabe.

Kelsey Copeland, a Sophomore at MJHS, finished in the Top 8 in the 13&14 Year Old Girl’s 200 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Backstroke, and 200 Yard Backstroke.

Gillilan won the 500 Yard Free in a time 5:20.21, an 8.79 second drop. He followed up that performance with a 2^nd Place finish in the 1000 Yard Free with a time of 11:05.92, missing first place by a scant 0.83 seconds. Gillilan placed in the Top 8 in 8 of his 9 events, and improved his times in all 9 events. Gillilan is a freshman at Lebanon High School and is coached by Jaymie Reynolds during the High School season.

“This was a great meet for our kids. Of 74 events competed in by these 12 swimmers, there were 61 best times.” Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “Chelsie Barlettano of Lebanon competed in her first meet and did very well. Her brother Dallas had a very nice time drop in the 10&Under Boy’s 50 Yard Free.”

“Our two 7 year old swimmers, Makensie Moses of Mt Juliet and Samuel Blackwell of Lebanon made their mark as future forces to be reckoned with. Makensie continued improving her times in all of her events, and Samuel placed 6^th in the 25 Yard Breaststroke in the first time he has competed in a meet.”

Makensie’s older brother Taylor competed in the 11&12 Year Old Boy’s events. Notably he dropped over 18 seconds in the 500 Yard Freestyle, although he was battling an injury. “Taylor is a tough kid, I was glad that he gutted it out and swam his events.” Barnes observed.

Luke Blackwell was 10 for 10 in improving his times, with notable drops coming in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s 400 Yard IM (7^th Place and over a 22 second drop); and the 1000 Yard Freestyle (3^rd Place and over a 15 second drop). Younger sister Madison Blackwell placed 8^th in the 11&12 Year Old Girl’s 50 Yard Backstroke, and 8^th in the 200 Yard IM.

“I was really pleased with Madison in her Butterfly events. Her technique continues to improve, and as she gets stronger, I’m confident that Fly will be one of her better events.” Barnes stated.

Alek Nochowicz of Mt Juliet, a freshman at Pope JPII High, went 6 for 6 in his improving of times, with a notable drop of over 6 seconds in the Senior Boy’s 100 Yard Breaststroke, and placing 9^th in the 500 Free. Josh Deardorff of Lebanon, a 11^th Grade Home School student, dropped time in the Senior Boy’s 50 Yard Freestyle as a good measurement of where he is in his preparation for the High School State Championship Meet.

For more information on year-round competitive swimming options in the Mid-State Region, as well as contact information on High School swimming in Wilson County, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Fall Fest 2006 Meet Notes

2006-10-01T12:43:00.000-05:00

Wilson County Swimmers take to the Water in Swim Meet

October 1, 2006……Nine Wilson County Residents, ranging in ages from 7 to 17 competed in the Excel Aquatics’ Fall Fest Swim Meet in Brentwood, the weekend of September 29^th thru October 1^st. The Wilson County 9 joined their 220 other teammates from Excel Aquatics to compete against 10 other swim teams from Mississippi, Alabama, East Tennessee, and Kentucky who traveled to Brentwood TN for the meet. 545 swimmers were entered in the meet.

Leading off in the Friday night competition were the Claycomb Brothers of Lebanon, Stephen and Conrad. Stephen, a Senior at Pope John Paul II placed 3^rd in the Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle in a time of 22.61. Conrad, a Sophomore at Pope John Paul II, dropped his personal best time in the 50 Yard Freestyle by 3.44 seconds, finishing in 26.01.

Saturday competition featured 7 more Wilson County residents. Dallas Barlettano, Madison Blackwell, and Luke Blackwell are all from the Lebanon area, while Makensie Moses, Taylor Moses, Taylor Wallace, and Kelsey Copeland are all from the Mt. Juliet area. “We saw some significant swims out of all of these swimmers on Saturday. They will continue to work on their technique, pacing and speed work.” Lebanon resident and Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “Several of the swimmers recently aged up to more difficult age groups, and overall we were pleased with the way in which they responded to the higher level of competition.”

On Sunday, all 9 swimmers participated in the meet, and were led by Stephen Claycomb. Claycomb placed 6^th in the 200 Yard Individual Medley, and within a time span of 15 minutes was back in the water swimming in the 100 Yard Freestyle where he placed 7^th. “Stephen went all out on the IM swim, set a best time in that and was exhausted. He had very little time time to recover before his 100 Free. Later in the morning, after having some time to recover, he came back and placed 4^th in the 100 Fly while swimming to a personal best time.” Coach Barnes noted. “The way Stephen is swimming right now when having proper rest between events is almost where he was last Spring at the High School State Meet, and we are early in the season. This bodes very well for the State Meet when he will be more conditioned and tapered. He will be an early season favorite to medal at High School State this year.”

For full Fall Fest Meet Results visit www.ExcelAquatics.com. Excel Aquatics is a nationally ranked USA Swimming team, and offers the closest training facility with a full range of training times for Wilson County residents.

Luke Blackwell Places 2nd at Championship Meet

2006-07-31T12:42:00.000-05:00

Blackwell Places Second at Swimming Championships

July 31, 2006……Wilson County residents Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, and Taylor Wallace traveled this past weekend to Knoxville TN as members of nationally ranked Excel Aquatics to represent Wilson County at the Southeastern Swimming Long Course Swimming Championships.

Leading the way in scoring points for the Wilson County contingent was 12 year old Luke Blackwell of Lebanon. Luke scored points by placing 2^nd overall in the 11&12 Boys 800 Meter Freestyle, and 7^th in 400 Meter Freestyle. Luke had Top 16 finishes in the 200 Meter Free (11^th), 100 Meter Free (16^th), and the 50 Meter Free (16^th). Luke also participated in the 50 Meter Backstroke (27^th Place) and 100 Meter Backstroke (22^nd Place). In the 800 Meter Freestyle, Luke missed placing first by a scant 62 hundredths of a second, a extremely tight finish after racing for a little over 10 minutes. The next closest competitor was over 6 seconds behind the leaders. “Luke almost chased the boy down in the last 50 meters of the race, but simply ran out of room” Excel Assistant Coach and Wilson County resident John Barnes noted. “Luke backs down from no one in his races, or in his training. This Fall we are going to be changing some of his stroke mechanics to make it more efficient, and if Luke dedicates himself to learning and applying those changes as well as he does in working on his set intervals, then we expect to see greater things out of Luke.”

Madison Blackwell competed in two events in her first Championship level meet. In the 10&Under Girl’s 50 Meter Breaststroke Madison placed 25^th, and in the 50 Meter Backstroke she placed 18^th. “Madison has trained well these past 7 months she has been with Excel Aquatics, and she did great at this meet. This meet tends to stress out a lot of swimmers because of it’s championship level status, and Madison responded wonderfully.” Coach Barnes commented.

Taylor Wallace, a rising 9^th Grader at Mount Juliet High School, participated in 4 events. Wallace place 21^st in the 13&14 Boys 100 Meter Breaststroke, 21^st in the 100 Meter Butterfly, 23^rd in the 50 Meter Freestyle, and 36^th in the 200 Meter Individual Medley. “Wallace is a great competitor, and this was his second meet in 7 days. Last week he placed as a High Point Winner in the Top 5 of the Nashville Swim League Championship Meet, and then turned around and continued to drop times at the SES Championship Meet.” Barnes stated. “Typically it is hard to compete at two meets of that caliber in back to back weekends, it drains you mentally and physically.”

For more information on year-round competitive swimming options in the Mid-State Region, as well as contact information on High School swimming in Wilson County, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Madison Blackwell Gets 1st Qualifying Time Cut

2006-07-09T12:42:00.000-05:00

Madison Blackwell Qualifies for Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship Meet!

July 9, 2006……Lebanon’s Madison Blackwell, a 10 year old Excel Aquatics swimmer has qualified for her first Southeastern Swimming Championship Meet. Blackwell qualified in the 50 Meter Backstroke this past weekend during a swim meet in Chattanooga. Madison will be participating in the SES Long Course Championship Meet in Knoxville, July 27-30.

“Madison came over to Excel this past Fall, and has been training with Coach Andreea Ianoli-Mitrofan, a former Romanian National Champion.” Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes commented. “Madison will be joining her older brother Luke at the meet, who has also qualified for the SES Long Course Meet.”

Going into the meet, Madison was 2.30 seconds away from a qualifying time in the 50 Meter Backstroke, and finished her race in 10^th place with a time of 0:43.20, well under the qualifying time by more than a second. Madison also participated in the 50 Meter Butterfly, 50 Meter Freestyle, 50 Meter Breaststroke, 100 Meter Backstroke and the 100 Meter Breaststroke, dropping time in all of them.

“I was ecstatic to see Madison’s 50 Meter Butterfly time, it was amazing.” Coach Barnes stated. “Her Butterfly stroke has improved quite a bit, and she just barely missed the SES cut time in the event, and this was the first time she had swum Butterfly in the Long Course format. She has the rhythm down, now she needs to work on conditioning in that event.”

Two other Wilson County swimmers representing Excel Aquatics participated in the meet. Luke Blackwell and Bradley Gillilan. Luke continued with his time drops in preparation for the SES Long Course Meet, and Bradley Gillilan made a qualifying time in the 400 Meter Individual Medley.

“Gillilan is a distance swimmer, and has his SES Long Course cuts in the distance events.” Coach Barnes noted. “Getting this cut in the 400 IM was significant because many believe it to be the hardest event to participate in for the Long Course format, and Bradley has been training hard this summer. His achievements are well deserved. He should easily break the 500 Yard Freestyle record at Mount Juliet High School this coming fall when he enrolls there as a Freshman.”

For more information on swimming opportunities at all levels, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.