BLAST NATION:
PRESS RELEASE: BLAST TAKES FIFTH AT
LOUISIANA LONG COURSE STATE MEET
In an exciting and memorable long course state meet, the Kehoe-France Northshore Blast Swim Team led all Northshore teams with a fifth place finish at the Lousiana State Long Course Swimming Championships held at the UNO Lakefront Arena Pool July 15 -18, 2010.
Blast swimmer Kara Kopcso was named the outstanding female swimmers of the meet for the seventh consecutive
state championship meet.
Other Blast swimmers winning high point recognition were: Andrew Knudsen, 13-14 boys winner, Matt Senneff, 13-14 boys runner up, Harrison Prieto, 11-12 boys third runner up, Kopcso, runner up 19 & under girls, Brooke Vinturella, 2nd runner up 13-14 girls, Rhett Guinot, 2nd runner up 19 & under boys and Colin Babcock, 1st runner up for 19 & under boys.
The team set one state record in the 13-14 girls 800 freestyle relay. Kara Kopcso, Madeleine Rawls, Grace Tucker and Brooke Vinturella teamed up to smash a 10 year old record by over 11 seconds when they raced to a 9:02.37 in the distance relay.
The team also put seven swimmers on the Louisiana Zone Team which will be competing in the Southern Zone Championships July 27 - Aug 1at the Georgia Tech Olympic pool in Atlanta. The pool was the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics. The seven are: 11-12 boys Harrison Prieto, Trey James and Griffin Guzan, 13-14 girl Emily Prieto, 13-14 boys Matt Senneff and Andrew Knudsen, and 15-18 boy Colin Babcock. Blast coach Bill Babcock was also added to the team.
Team scores, local top eight meet results and a Blast team meet summary with splits are attached.
The Blast team will also be sending six swimmer to the Texas\Louisiana Sectional Championships which will also be held July 27 - Aug 1, but in Houston, TX at the Woodlands Aquatic Facility. Blast coach Emmett Smith will bring Kara Kopcso, Jesi Kopsco, Grace Tucker, Brooke Vinturella, Rhett Guinot and Alex Knudsen to the Championship meet.
BLAST-A-HOLICS:
Since the team's inception in 2005, we have broken 17 14 and under long course state records; all the rest of the teams in Louisiana have only broken seven. Tonight we made it 18 long course state records.
The Blast 13-14 girls 800 free relay of Kara Kopcso, Madeleine Rawls, Grace Tucker and Brooke Vinturella smashed the 10 year old record of 9:13.98 by over eleven seconds when they stroked in at 9:02.37. What a great start to the meet!
Rhett Guinot got the team off to a flying start by winning the 19 & under boys 1500 freestyle, Gavin Breaux showed true leadership by earning his first ever All-State swim by coming from behind and finishing third. The team scored very well over-all [I don't have all final results yet]. Matt Senneff raced to second in the 13-14 boys 1500. All the entered 1500 swimmers [Robert Klazynski, Jesi Kopcso, Lia Joslin and Callie Tucker] scored in the top 8. Griffin Guzan and Trey James finished fourth and sixth respectively in the 11-12 boys 400 free. All of our Senior 800 free relays scored, with the record smashing girls finishing third and our boys [Christian White, Andrew Knudsen, Rhett Guinot and Colin Babcock] racing to an exciting second place finish. Both B relays [Andrew Jones, Alex Knudsen, Matt and Michael Senneff for the boys and Jeni Jones, Beth Winkler, Jesi Kopcso and Callie Tucker]scored also. Our 800 relays have never swum this well ever at state meet!
It's going to be a fun weekend!
See ya'll at warm ups,
BB
THURSDAY NIGHT UPDATE:
The meet results show us in third, but TAQ's girls B 800 free relay did not break the world record by 23 seconds.
I can say with assurance that after the first day of competition, Blast is in SECOND Place!
There's a lot of meet to go but it's a great tribute to our distance swimmers and 11-12 400 freestylers.
Let's keep it rollin'
BB
State Meet here we come....
WE ARE TANNED RESTED & READY
BLAST NATION
It's extremely rare that a swimmer enters their first ever USAS meet, swims in long course pool for the first time at the meet and then proceeds to qualify for state in four events, win two District events and earn a BB time in a second place finish to complete the maximum seven event slate for the state championship.
But that's what James Robinson accomplished this weekend. James qualified for the big show in the 15-16 and 19 & under 50 free [27.34] and 100 free [1:00.30], won the 100 breast [1:23.12] and 200 breast [3:03.02] and swam to a BB time in the 200 free [2:23.27] to round out his state entries.
The District meet has always been a meet of agony and ecstasy for participating swimmers. It's the last opportunity for swimmers who haven't achieved a state time to make it before state. While James experienced the exhilaration of qualifying almost magically, one of our swimmers came sooooo close, but just missed in two events. Margaret Larsen swam four best times in the meet , which for a newly aged up 11 year old only 12 weeks recovered from leg surgery would be an outstanding accomplishment. But Margaret boldly wanted to "go for it" from the day she got back into the pool after her surgery. She trained very well all spring and summer and going into the meet, was really closing strong on the season. It came down to the 100 fly and Margaret battled valiently against a 12 year old rival. Both matched each other stroke for stroke, but in the final meters the 12 year old out touched Margaret by .23. Still she dropped 1.61 sec to notch a best time. To put so much of oneself into a race, to invest every emotion you have into making the time and winning the race and then come up ever so short, will normally drain a swimmer. But Margaret revealed tremendous competitive character in the way she handled adversity. Every great swimmer has experience the disappointment of not making a goal time at crunch time. But in the long run the experience is enriching, the great ones redouble their efforts to become the best they can be. I know that Margaret will be one of those who will rise up from disappointment and eventually achieve her goals.
All swimmer who competed on Saturday and came back on Sunday, swam very well. Alex and Sarah Rawls recorded huge time drops in their events; we were able to establish a solid and competitive10 & under girls relay with Marianne Monroe, Sarah, Regan Descant and Camryn Caserta all swimming well.
Now it's on to state!
BLAST NATION:
James Robinson had never swum in a long course pool until warm ups today. The lack of long course experience didn't phase him as he stepped up on the blocks in Heat 2 Lane 8 with other NT swimmers and blasted off at the beeper and streaked to a 1:00.38 in the 100 meter freestyle making not one, but two state times in his first long course swim! James also went on to win the 200 meter breaststroke and place second in the 100 meter backstroke.
Also swimming in their first long course meet were Camryn Caserta, Delaney Walsh, Marianne Monroe, Drew Putfark and
Jeremy Walkenford.
All swam with no times; so all swam best times! Also veterans swimming 100% best times were Regan Descant, Alex Rawls, Sarah Rawls, Macie Breaux and Mary Margaret Crawford. Matthew Larsen swam two best times in one swim with his 100 free swim.
Sarah Robinson and Haley Thorson came back from summer trips and swam very well.
The toughest swim of the day came from Margaret Larsen in the 50 fly. Margaret just got touched out for first in the event to just miss becoming an automatic state qualifier. She has three good races Sunday so her chances of qualifying are still excellent.
BLAST NATION
LAUREL MS BARE BONES MEET
Congratulations to Andrew Jones for making state times in the 200 back and 800 freestyle.
Matthew Stegen and Sydney Dupont had good time drops also.
Summer League Stars
In the Scenic Rivers Swim Association Divisional Championships, several Blast swimmers had outstanding meets.
In 7 year old boys, Peyton Burkhalter of Beau Chene was high point runner up.
In 10 year old girls, Brittany Piece of Tchefuncta was high point winner.
In 11 year old girls, Emily Burkhalter of Beau Chene was high point runner up.
In 12 year old boys, Matthew Stegen of Beau Chene was high point winner.
In 13-14 girls, Ann Bailey Girault of Tchefuncta was high point winner.
Also swimming well for Beau Chene were Margaret and Matthew Larsen.
Way to Geaux!!
BLAST NATION:
Usually, Last Chance Meets aren't scored, but CCSC graciously decided to score the meet and wadda ya know? Blast outscored CCSC 959 to 925 to take the meet!
But more importantly, this was a positive long course experience for everyone competing in the meet and I was particularly impressed with how many of our new swimmers made state times or BB times to add extra events for state.
Our newest state qualifier is Will Warwick who won his heat in the 200 breaststroke and made the time by over one second. It was exciting to see Will's teammates cheer for him at the finish end of the pool and encouraged him to dig down deep and get that time. Will's swim brought back fond memories of now-USMA Cadet Zack Knudsen's first STQT in the 200 breast back in 2006.
Hope Winkler, recovering from a tonsillectomy in May, swam her first long course meet of the season and promptly posted 100% best times and made the 11-12 girls 100 free time.
Also notching up 100% best times were: Matthew Stegen, Anna Thorson, Haley Thorson, Mary Margaret Crawford, Riley Dupont, Sydney Dupont, Andrew Jones, Mia Castagnetta, Peyton Burkhalter and Matthew Larsen.
Special kudos need to go to Peyton Burkhalter and Matthew Larsen, [and their parents and sisters], who competed in the Blue Dolphin meet on Wednesday, the Scenic Rivers Divisional meet on Thursday, the 8 & under meet on Friday and the Last Chance meet on Saturday and Sunday. They got more meet experience in five days than most swimmers get in a whole season! Sleep well tonight guys.
Many swimmers went best long course times unshaved and untapered in this meet. As swimmers mature, their time drops are designed by the coaches to occur at peak meets: State Meet, Sectionals, Zones, Juniors. Swimmers in this group need to keep track of their best times from the same stage of training in their last long course training cycle. I think you will see that you are way ahead of last year's training pace and are a great position to have an awesome peak meet this year.
BLAST NATION:
Congratulations to our mini-Blasters who tied for third in Friday's 8 and under Invitational hosted by CCSC at St. Martin's School in Metairie. The boys, girls and combined scores are attached as well as our swimmers results from our tm file. Our "Super Six" Swimmers were: Matthew Larsen, Peyton Burkhalter, Sarah Rawls, Drew Putfark, Marianne Monroe and Alex Rawls. The swimmers had 70% best times which was the highest improvement of any team at the meet. An article will be submitted this weekend to the local papers.
Also, from today's Last Chance Meet, congratulations to our newest state qualifiers, Matthew Stegen, 11-12 boys 50 back, Anna Thorson, 15-16 and 19 & under girls 50 free, and Jeni Jones, 15-16 girls 400 free. All swimmers are racing very well and look to be ready to finish strong going into the final laps of the long course season.
Tomorrow's meet should bring more good swims and hopefully some more new state qualifiers.
Now everyone get some rest!
See you at warm ups,
BB
Congratulations to all swimmers who went to GPAC. We finished third over all with only 16 swimmers in the 13 and over session.
HAVIN' A BLAST AWAY FROM THE POOL
Fly, Eagle, Fly
Andrew Jones completed his Board of Review and became an Eagle Scout this past Friday night. Andrew began Scouting in 2003 as a Webelos Scout and will continue as a Boy Scout until he reaches his 18th birthday. For his Eagle Project, he administered the building of an aviary for Clearwater Wildlife located at Christ Episcopal School in Mandeville, raising over $1500 in funds. The Court of Honor commemorating Andrew's achievement as an Eagle Scout will be held this Fall.
Other Blast swimmers who have earned Eagle Scout are Jeffrey Leblanc and Jacob Frost. Congratulations, Andrew, the team is proud of your accomplishments!
Recitals: Robert Klazynski, Macie Breaux and Clare Bruns performed their music recitals this past weekend.
Our team has talent!
BLAST NATION
With only the seventh largest entry the BLAST swam to a very strong fourth place finish in the June NuWave Long Course meet. Coach Emmett and I were very impressed with our competitiveness and race planning and execution. June is always a month where experienced swimmers are broken down from intense training and their times are not near best tapered times. But we saw many swimmers do best times in events that they didn't swim in LC state in 2009. This is a very positive indicator that swimmers are on schedule for a great long course state meet in July.
Also, in the 12 and under session, we were excited to see the overall improvement of our group at the meet. The "Three Amigos": Griffin Guzan, Harrison Prieto and Trey James swam for the first time together in a long time. Griffin was the Comeback Swimmer of the Meet [unoffically], came off three arm breaks this winter to show he's not far off peak form by winning the 50 fly and recording a best time in the 50 breast. He'll be tough to race in a month. Harrison and Trey were also excellent in theirs swims.
Congratulations to Mackenzie McGuire, Ann Bailey Girault and Sarah Robinson who swam their first ever long course meets. Mackenzie made a state time in the 50 back and BB times in the 50 free, 100 free and 50 fly. Anne Bailey made two state times in one swim with her 50 free. She also made a BB time in the 100 free to give her three events to race at state. Sarah had a solid first long course meet and was close to BB times in several events.
NUWAVE LONG COURSE MEET
Good meet so far! Congratulations to Anne Bailey Griault and Mackenzie McGuire for making their first state qualifying in their first Blast meet! Anne Bailey made the 13-14 and the 19 & under 50 free time with a 31.47 time in the 50 free. Mackenzie raced a 45.77 in the 10 & under 50 back to place third in the event and make the state time by over a second.
Way to go!
CRAWFISH LONG COURSE MEET
Congratulations to Brittany Pierce and Margaret Larsen for swimming 100% best times and all swimmers who competed. With only 22 swimmers attending, we finished a solid seventh out of 16 teams in the meet.
Congratualtions to the swimmers who performed so well at the TAQ SPRING MEET in Baton Rouge. Lia Joslin and Andrew Knudsen swam 100% best times! Great job for early season!
IN THE NEWS:
In the May-June issue of Inside Northside Magazine, Coach Emmett is featured (p.154), Girls State Record Breaking Relays (p.138), & Blast swimmer and St. Paul's senior Colin Babcock is listed among St. Paul's School's top seniors in the graduating class of 2010 (p.66).
Great job all!
HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS TO SWIM IN COLLEGE.
Congratulations to high school seniors Jesi Kopcso and Colin Babcock who will be swimming at the NCAA Division I Collegiate Level in the fall of 2010.
Kopcso, a senior at Fontainebleau High School, will be swimming for the LSU Fighting Tigers. She is a Consideration All American in the 100 breaststroke and holds four individual Louisiana state records in the 17-18 and Open 100 and 200 meter breaststrokes. Babcock, a senior at St. Paul's School, will be swimming for the Fighting Irish at the University of Notre Dame. He is an Automatic All-American in the 100 breaststroke and 200 yard individual medley and was the 2010 LA Short Course State Meet Damon McCoy Award winner. Both swimmers were USAS Academic All Americans in 2008 - 2009 and voted Large School Metro Swimmers of the Year for the 2009-10 school year. We look forward to following their progress in NCAA swimming over the next four years.
CCSC LONG COURSE JUNE 26TH-27TH
Congratulations to 100% best timers Emily Burkhalter, Clare Bruns and Andrew Jones.
Blast swimmers Macie Breaux and Robert Klazynski recently competed in the annual Louisiana Academy of Performing Arts Fest. The Academy has about 800 students and over 116 were asked to compete for a spot in the 2010 LAAPA Honors Concert. Twenty-five students who received a superior rating were invited to perform in the Honors Concert. Macie Breaux was selected to perform in the vocal area and will be performing her rendition of "The House of The Rising Sun". Robert Klazynski was chosen as an alternate in the area of piano.
Blast 13-14 GIRLS 800 Free Relay
Kara Kopcso, Madeleine Rawls, Grace Tucker and Brooke Vinturella smashed the 10 year old LA STATE RECORD of 9:13.98 by over eleven seconds when they stroked in at 9:02.37 @ LC STATE
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LAST UPDATED: February 23, 2011
Covington
BLAST SWIM TEAM
NATIONAL WEBSITE
NEW INTERESTED SWIMMERS
Join us any day at practice
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LOUISIANA
SWIMMING
AT ITS BEST
LONG COURSE 2010
BLAST TAKES TX & GA
BY STORM!!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BLAST ZONE & SECTIONAL SWIMMERS!!!
KARA KOPCSO
1ST PLACE WOMENS 2OO IM
LONG COURSE NATIONALS CUT 2:20.65
1ST PLACE WOMENS 100 FLY
LONG COURSE NATIONALS CUT 1:02.44
1ST PLACE WOMENS 400 IM
LONG COURSE NATIONALS CUT 4:54.87
2ND PLACE WOMENS 200 FLY
SHORT COURSE NATIONAL CUT 2:18.70
COLIN BABCOCK
1ST PLACE BOYS 15-18 100 BR
SHORT COURSE NATIONALS CUT 1:06.01
2ND PLACE BOYS 15-18 200 IM
SHORT COURSE NATIONALS CUT 2:08.98
3RD PLACE BOYS 15-18 400 IM
LONG COURSE JR NATIONALS CUT 4:37.39
4TH PLACE 15-18 BOYS 200 BR
LONG COURSE JR NATIONAL CUT 2:25.37
8TH PLACE 15-18 BOYS 200 FLY
11TH PLACE 15-18 BOYS 100 FLY
JESI KOPCSO
6TH PLACE WOMENS 200BR
13TH PLACE WOMENS 100 BR
ANDREW KNUDSEN
7TH PLACE 13-14 BOYS 100BR
8TH PLACE 13-14 BOYS 200 BR
17TH PLACE BOYS 13-14 200 FLY
MATT SENNEFF
9TH PLACE 13-14 BOYS 100 BK
GRIFFIN GUZAN
15TH PLACE 11-12 BOYS 100 FLY
16TH PLACE 11-12 BOYS 50 FLY
HARRISON PRIETO
17TH PLACE BOYS 11-12 50 BK
BLAST TAKES FIFTH AT LOUISIANA LONG COURSE STATE MEET
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BLAST STATE CHAMPIONS
COLIN BABCOCK - RHETT GUINOT
GRIFFIN GUZAN - TREY JAMES
KRISTEN JENNINGS - ANDREW KNUDSEN
JESI KOPCSO - KARA KOPCSO
EMILY PRIETO - HARRISON PRIETO
MATT SENNEFF - MATTHEW STEGEN
GRACE TUCKER - BROOKE VINTURELLA
KARA KOPCSO
Outstanding Female Swimmers of the meet for the 7th consecutive State Championship Meet
Blast Swimmers Winning High Point:
Andrew Knudsen, 13-14 Boys Winner, Matt Senneff, 13-14 Boys Runner up, Harrison Prieto, 11-12 Boys Third Runner up, Kopcso, Runner up 19 & under Girls, Brooke Vinturella, 2nd Runner up 13-14 Girls, Rhett Guinot, 2nd Runner up 19 & under Boys and Colin Babcock, 1st Runner up 19 & under Boys
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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BLAST ZONE SWIMMERS!!! GREAT JOB!!! GEAUX BLAST!!!
SOUTHERN ZONE AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIP LIVE STREAMING
2010 SPEEDO TX/LA SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BLAST TX/LA SECTIONAL SWIMMERS!!!
GREAT SWIMMING!!!
Kara Kopcso, Jesi Kopsco, Grace Tucker, Brooke Vinturella, Rhett Guinot and Alex Knudsen.
*REAL TIME RESULTS*
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SEVEN BLAST SWIMMERS
EXCEL @ ZONES
11-12 Boys Harrison Prieto/Trey James/Griffin Guzan, 13-14 Girls Emily Prieto, 13-14 Boys Matt Senneff/Andrew Knudsen, and 15-18 Boys Colin Babcock
*REAL TIME RESULTS*
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!
MADELEINE RAWLS
FEMALE 12 & UNDER
LA SWIMMER OF THE YEAR
KARA KOPCSO
FEMALE 13-18
LA SWIMMER OF THE YEAR
COLIN BABCOCK
MALE 13-18
LA SWIMMER OF THE YEAR
KARA KOPCSO
