The results of the 8 & under meet shows one very important thing:
The BLAST is a big part of a very bright future for Louisiana Swimming. Part of our formula for building a great team is to develop swimmers at a very young age, have them bond with the coaches and the sport, and work with them through their age group, high school and senior swimming careers. Having an 8 & under team that is among the best in the state is a very essential part of this formula. CCSC won several 8 & under championships before they began their run of 6 consecutive years of winning state. Now it's our turn, but we have to earn it.
Coach Amanda and I were amazed at how well everyone stepped up and met the challenge for second place on Sunday. The breaststroke and butterfly team success can be symbolized by the success of four year old Alex Rawls. Alex is swimming for the fun of it, and wants to do it because his big sisters Anna and Madeleine do it. On Saturday, we timed him with an hour glass in free and he scratched backstroke. However, on Sunday, he was so focused on his strokes that he finished ninth in breast and ninth in fly! These are strokes that in 6 & unders, there are usually have more dq's than legal swimmers. For Alex, at four, to be legal in both those strokes is a real tribute to the great job that Coach Amanda is doing with our young swimmers.
We had two individual high point winners, with Grant Gallaspy and Harrison Prieto winning the 8 boys and 7 boys respectively. Griffin Guzan was high point runner up in 8 boys and Madeleine Rawls came on very strong on Sunday to earn high point runner up for 8 girls.
We set 11 individual and two relay team records. Jack Copes broke his own records in the 25 free, 50 free, 25 breast and 25 fly. Grant set records in the 25 free, 25 back, 25 breast and 25 fly. Madeleine set records in the 25 breast and 25 fly. Notice how these records show and increased intensity in Sunday's events. When the score was on the line, these swimmers really stood out. The 8 & under boys free relay of Griffin, Grant, Harrison and Matthew Stegen set a record; and the boys medley switched Peter Hontas for Matthew and also set a record.
Participation: Swimming is a sport where no one has to sit on the side and not get to play. Everyone participates. We had the fourth largest team in the meet, yet we came out second. Why? 14 out of 15 swimmers participated. Larger teams had three or more no shows and were outscored by BLAST. CCSC had more than twice as many swimmers as us, but they only beat us by 336 points. If we put the same amount of BLAST trained swimmers in the water as they do, guess who wins?
GEAUX BLAST!!!
BB
SATURDAY MARCH 11TH
The MIGHTY BLAST 8 & unders surged into second place in the first day of the 8 & under regional championships.
The Scores
Place Team Points
1 CCSC 526
2 BLAST 375
3 Fins 357.5
4 Crawfish 311
5 Elmwood 199
6 LC Aquatics 197
7 BTAC 166
8 NU Wave 165
9 PAC 124
10 Jazz 116
11 LST 114.5
12 RST 104
13 Bayou 85
14 Hurricane 70
15 St. Bernard Aq 60
16 Un-Swim La 43
17 COLA 13
18 Swim-LA 12
The results are posted on our website. But out of 20 events, BLAST won seven: Grant Gallaspy [8 boys: 25 free, 25 back and 100 IM], Harrison Prieto [7 boys: 25 free, 25 back and 100 IM] and the 8 & under boys 100 free relay [Matthew Stegen, Griffin Guzan, Harrison and Grant].
All of our relays were outstanding! The Girls relay [Anna Rawls, Fallon Turner, Hope Winkler and Madeleine Rawls] was seeded sixth and came in fourth. The 8 & under boys B [Peter Hontas, Zachary Charles, Jack Copes and Peter Olson] was seeded ninth and came in sixth, and A relay was seeded second and won by half the pool.
BLAST also had one of the youngest swimmers in the meet with four year old Alex Rawls swimming the 25 free.
Congratulations to Maggie Modeen and Peter Olson for swimming in their first ever BLAST meet! You both are doing great!
RACE OF THE DAY:
The most exciting race of the day came in the 8 boys 100 IM. The "G men", Griffin Guzan and Grant Gallaspy are great friends and were the two top seeds in the event. At the start, Griffin streaks out to an early lead in fly, splitting about 16.4, Grant is slightly back at 17.1. Griffin lengthens the lead through the back touching at 37.57 to Grant's 39.66. Both have solid back to breast turns, but Grant breaks out knowing that if he's going to make a move, he's got to do it now. He powerstrokes and powerglides into a dead heat touch at the 75. Both boys come sprinting home, with each stroke or breathe one or the other squeezes into the lead, both stretch to stick their finishes and Grant touches Griffin out by a 1:21.89 to 1:22.21! Both swimmers are under the 10 & under boys qualifying time for the event! More importantly, both swimmers displayed remarkable knowledge of strokes, techniques and race strategy to compete at their very best. Great swims both of you!
Holding on to second will be very tough. The Fins were missing some key swimmers who will be there Sunday. However, the second day of this meet looks to be a better day for us since we do very well in breast and fly and medley relays. If we can hit the 800 point mark Sunday we should get second. Disqualifications will play a big role in scoring tomorrow so we will emphasize good dives, strokes and touches in warm ups tomorrow. But whatever the place, second or third, we are swimming very well as a team and we are making great progress! The Coaches are very proud of all of you!
Awards will be given out on Wednesday next week.
GEAUX BLAST!!
See ya poolside,
BB
PRESS RELEASE:
KEHOE-FRANCE BLAST SURGES TO SECOND IN THE 8 & UNDER REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Kehoe-France Northshore BLAST, swimming in its first ever 8 & under Regional Championship swam to a surprising second place finish out of 19
teams in the meet.
The meet was held at the Ketcham Natatorium in Baton Rouge, March 11 & 12.
The meet was won for the 9th consecutive year by Crescent City Swim Club.
The top fifteen teams:
2. Kehoe-France Northshore BLAST
824
6. Bengal Tiger Aquatic 323
7. Louisiana College Aquatics 303
9. Pelican Athletic Club 256
10. Louisiana Jazz Aquatics 213
11. Lafayette Swim Team 201
12. Riverside Swim Team 196
14. Hurricane Swim Club 146
15. St. Bernard Aquatics 120
The BLAST was paced by individual high point award winners, Harrison Prieto in the 7 boys and Grant Gallaspy in the 8 boys.
The team also had high point runner ups with Griffin Guzan in the 8 boys and Madeleine Rawls in the 8 girls.
The team won 13 of the 38 scored events in the meet, more than twice as many as any other team. Event winners were: Gallaspy [25 free, 25 back, 100 IM, 25 breast, 25 fly and 50 free], Prieto [25 free, 25 back, 100 IM, 25 fly and 50 free] and they swept the 8 & under boys relays winning the freestyle relay with Gallaspy, Prieto, Guzan and Matthew Stegen and the medley won with Gallaspy, Prieto, Guzan and Peter Hontas. Both relays set team records.
The BLAST also set 10 individual team records. Gallaspy set four with his 25 free, back, breast and fly swims. Six year old Jack Copes set records in the 25 free, 50 free, 25 breast and 25 fly for 6 & under boys, and Madeleine Rawls set records in the 8 girls 25 breast and 25 fly.
Other BLAST relays scoring in the top eight were:
8 & under girls free and medley relays – fourth place [Madeleine Rawls, Anna Rawls, Fallon Turner and Hope Winkler].
8 & under boys ‘B’ free relay – sixth place – Zachary Charles, Peter Olson, Peter Hontas and Jack Copes.
8 & under boys ‘B’ medley relay – fifth place – Charles, Olson, Copes and Matthew Stegen.
Three swimmers made 100% best times: Maggie Modeen, Peter Olson and Griffin Guzan.
The BLAST’S next meet is the Louisiana State Short Course Championships in Sulphur, La. March 16 – 19.
