Meet Recap: Blazers Win MV Short Course Open Championships!

Mary-Catherine Ivey
 
It’s a great time to be a Blazer!  We had an INCREDIBLE weekend at Missouri Valley Open Championships this weekend!  We came ready to race and finished 1st overall as a TEAM by just 1.5 points.  This just goes to show how important EVERY SINGLE PERSON on this team is, whether you made finals and scored points or not – our performances as a team carried over to each other and helped bring us to the top.  Great job!!!!
 
Senior I Finalists (top 24):  Demarkus Darensbourg 19th place 100 Breast, Suzette Donovan 14th place 1650 Free, Halee Evans 18th place 100 Breast and 15th place 200 Breast, Jack Hanahan 19th place 100 Free, 9th place 50 Free, Farrell Joswara 16th place 50 Free, Klain McGraw 24th place 100 Breast, Reagan Salsbury 22nd 100 Breast
 
New Champs cuts from Bonus events:  Suzette Donovan 500 Free, Halee Evans 400 IM, Farrell Joswara 200 IM, Emily Snyder 200 Back, Chloe Thompson 200 Back
 
New Sectional cut:  Halee Evans 200 Breast!
 
Best Race of the Meet:  Halee Evans 400 IM |  35 second best time and made Top 16!
 
Swimmer of the Meet:  Suzette Donovan
Suzette swam all the long distance races and helped the Blazers distance crew make a strong showing!  She dropped in every event, as well as dropping 36 seconds in the mile and making her Champs cut in the 500 Free!
 
Seniors recognized: Josephine Butler and Grace McNamara
 
 
National:

Highpoint | Annika Finzen - 2nd Place

 

Blazers in Top 3:

Annika Finzen - 1st Place 50 Free, 200 Free, 200 IM & 100 Breaststroke,

Sam Peterson - 1st Place 200 Fly ∙ 3rd Place 400 IM

Aidan White - 2nd Place 100 Back

Maliegha Vietti - 2nd Place 1000 Free

Carmen Braden - 3rd Place 1000 Free & 1650 Free

Will Christie - 3rd Place 1000 Free

 

Top 3 in Relays:

Girls 400 Medley Relay - 1st Place | Sophia Paduano, Caroline Blake, Annika Finzen & Presley Baber

Boys 200 Medley Relay - 1st Place | Nick Frank, Cameron Lee, Sam Peterson & Aidan White

Girls 200 Free Relay - 1st Place | Caroline Blake, Presley Baber, Reagan Salsbury & Annika Finzen

Boys 200 Free Relay - 1st Place | Nick Frank, Aidan White, Cameron Lee & Sam Peterson

Girls 800 Free Relay - 2nd place | Presley Baber, Carmen Braden, Maleigha Vietti & Sophia Paduano

Boys 800 Free Relay - 2nd Place | Will Christie, Anthony Molinaro, Paul Turberg & Sam Peterson

Girls 200 Medley Relay - 2nd Place | Annika Finzen, Reagan Salsbury, Caroline Blake & Presley Baber

Boys 400 Medley Relay - 3rd Place | Nick Frank, Cameron Lee, Aidan White & Sam Peterson

 

New Sectional Cuts Achieved:

Presley Baber ∙ 200 IM | Will Christie ∙ 1000 Free | Sophia Paduano ∙ 100 Fly | Sam Peterson ∙ 200 IM | Aiden White ∙ 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free & 100 Back

Sectional Bonus Cuts:

Kaya Alvegaard-Struble ∙ 200IM | Presley Baber ∙ 200 Fly | Carmen Braden ∙ 200 IM & 400 IM | Caroline Blake ∙ 200 Breaststroke | Nick Frank ∙ 400 IM & 500 Free | Cameron Lee ∙ 100 Back | Caroline Polhemus ∙ 400 IM

Swim of the Meet: Aidan White - 100 Backstroke from 6th place to 2nd place! An amazing swim to end the meet. 

Seniors Recognized: Caroline Blake | Carmen Braden | Nate Kaestner | Abby King | Sasha Malik | Cameron Lee | Sam Peterson | Caroline Polhemus | Maleigha Vietti | Aidan White