BLAST FINISHES 1ST IN LOUISIANA USA SWIMMING 2006 LONG COURSE IM EXTREME CHALLENGE!
BLAST SWIMMERS SPARKLE IN POST SEASON MEETS
Three Kehoe-France Northshore BLAST swimmers successfully continued their long course season into August with excellent post-season performances.
Alex Cloutet, competing in the 40th Annual AAU National Junior Olympic Championships in Hampton Roads, Va. August 1 – 4, grabbed two AAU national
Championships in the 10 & under 50 and 100 meter breaststrokes and scored a 15th in the 50 meter fly. Cloutet’s winning time in the 100 breast of 1:33.70 was over two seconds faster than her Louisiana State Championship winning time 10 days earlier, and set a new BLAST team record.
Jesi Kopcso and Garrett Malbrough represented Team Louisiana and competed in the USA Swimming Southern Zone Age Group Championships held at the Georgia Tech
Aquatic Center, site of the 1996 Olympics. All 14 Southern Zone Associations were represented.
Kopcso, the state long course champion in both the 100 and 200 meter breaststrokes, finished sixth in the 13-14 girls 200 breaststroke [2:48.29] and 11th in the 100 breast. She also swam the 50 free, 100 fly and 200 & 400 Individual Medley.
She set BLAST team records in the 200 breast, 200 IM and 400 IM. She also swam breast on the 13 – 14 girls 200 meter medley relay which placed 9th and in the 200 free relay which placed 11th.
Three time long course state champion Malbrough swam the 100 and 200 backstrokes, the 100 and 200 fly and the 200 IM. His highest individual finish was an 18th in the 200 fly. He swam on both the 15 – 18 boys 200 meter medley relay which placed 10th and the 200 meter free relay which placed ninth. He set a team record in the 50 meter
backstroke leading off the medley relay.
KEHOE-FRANCE BLAST WINS 19 STATE TITLES AND SMASHES A STATE RECORD IN THE LOUISIANA STATE LONG COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Kehoe-France Northshore BLAST, swimming in its first ever Long Course State Championship edged out the NuWave Swim Club for a sixth place finish in the meet.
The meet was held July 20 – 24 at the LSU Natatorium in Baton Rouge. The meet was won by Crawfish Aquatics of Baton Rouge.
The top 15 team standings:
1.
Crawfish Aquatics 3,774
2.Crescent City Swim Club 3,107.50
3 City of Shreveport Swim Team 2,624.50
4. Bengal Tiger Aquatic Club 2,143.50
5.Hurricane Swim Club 2,114
7. NU Wave Swim Club 1,365
8.Bayou Barracudas 1,290.50
9.Riverside Swim Team 928.50
11. Lafayette Swim Team 872.50
12. City of Lafayette Swim Team 672.50
13. Indian Aquatic Club 624
14. Elmwood Sharks 533.50
15. Pelican Athletic Club Swim Team 362
The team won 19 state championship races and broke a 28 year old state record in the 8 & under 200 medley relay by nearly six seconds.
The championship winners were led by the 10 & under girls team who recorded and unprecedented sweep of all their events in the age group.
Kara Kopcso led the team with seven individual golds, winning the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles, the 100 back, the 50 and 100 butterfly and the 200 IM. She was the high scorer in her age group and for the whole meet. She was the only female swimmer to win every event she entered in the meet.
Also winning gold medals in this age group were Alex Cloutet, 50 and 100 breaststroke and Kristen Jennings, 50 back. The freestyle and medley relays of Cloutet, Kopcso, Jennings and Brooke Vinturella completed the age group dominance by posting impressive wins in both relays.
The 10 and under boys also won the age group team title. Event winners were Andrew Knudsen in the 50 breaststroke and the 200 medley relay of Alex Salles, Knudsen, Will Warwick and Gianni Scramuzza.
The 10 & under boys and girls scored 993.5 of the 1,396 points that the team scored in the meet. In winning both the boys and girls 10 & under team title, they also won the combined 10 & under age group team title by over 300 points.
In the older age groups, two swimmers stood out. Garrett Malbrough, swimming unattached-BLAST, won three events, the 15-16 boys 100 and 200 backstrokes and the 200 IM.
Jesi Kopcso won the 13-14 girls 100 and 200 breaststrokes.
Both swimmers were selected to the Louisiana Zone All-Star Team and will compete in the Southern Zone Championships in Atlanta, GA, August 1 – 5.
The state record was set by the 10 & under boys B relay that swam all 8 year olds. The relay consisted of Harrison Prieto, Grant Gallaspy, Griffin Guzan and Zachary Charles. They broke a 28 year old record for the 8 & under boys 200 medley relay with a time of 2:47.22. The previous record was a 2:53.11.
Top three finishers were Brooke Vinturella, third in the 200 IM and second in the 100 breast, Kristen Jennings second in the 100 back, Andrew Knudsen 100 breast and the 10 & under boys 200 meter free relay of Warwick, Scramuzza, Gallaspy and Knudsen finished second.
Top eight finishers were:
Colin Babcock, 13-14 boys 200 fly 5th, 400 free and 100 fly 6th, and 200 IM 7th
Alex Cloutet, 10 & under girls 200 IM, 6th
Grant Gallaspy, 10 & under 50 breast 6th and 100 breast, 8th
Griffin Guzan, 10 & under boys, 50 fly 5th, 100 fly 7th, and 50 back 8th
Thea Haemmerle, 18 & under 200 fly 4th, and 100 fly 8th
Kristen Jennings, 200 free 7th and 100 free 8th
Sam Jones 11-12 boys 50 free 8th
Andrew Knudsen, 50 fly 4th, 100 back 4th, 200 free 5th and 200 IM 5th
Zack Knudsen, 15-16 200 breast 6th, and 18 & under 200 breast 8th
Harrison Prieto, 10 & under 50 back 5th
Claire Rasmus, 10 & under girls 100 free 7th and 200 IM 8th
Gianni Scramuzza, 100 free 8th
Kat Snitzer, 15-16 girls 100 breast 5th and 200 breast 6th
Brooke Vinturella, 100 fly 4th, 50 back 5th, and 50 free 6th
Will Warwick, 100 fly 6th, 200 IM, 50 free, 100 breast and 100 back 7th and 200 free 8th.
Nineteen of the BLAST’S 22 relays scored.
Relays placing in the top 8 were:
13-14 girls 200 free relay 7th [Lauren Salles, Beth Winkler, Sarah Keating and Jesi Kopcso]
11-12 boys 200 free relay 8th [Robert Klazynski, Brennan Dorsey, Michael Jennings and Sam Jones]
10 & under boys 200 free relay “B” 4th [Alex Salles, Zachary Charles, Griffin Guzan, and Harrison Prieto]
10 & under girls 200 free relay “B” 6th [Emily Prieto, Caroline Limbaugh, Carley Boyce and Grace Tucker]
10 & under girls 200 medley relay “B” 7th [Tucker, Boyce, Madeleine Rawls and Prieto]
Other BLAST swimmers who scored in the top 16 or were on scoring relays were: Liam Babcock, Michael Wintermute, Gavin Breaux, Alex Knudsen, Jacob Sloan, Michelle Limbaugh, Caroline Gallaspy, Callie Tucker, Katie Fearn, Rachel Strain, Alissa Winkler, and Jessica Sloan.
Swimmers recording 100% best times in the meet were: Colin Babcock, Sam Jones, Alex Cloutet, Claire Rasmus and Zack Knudsen
The team also had two new state qualifiers. Grace Tucker and Alex Salles qualified for the next state championship in the 50 backstroke leading off their respective medley
KEHOE-FRANCE NORTHSHORE BLAST 8 & UNDERS TAKE SECOND IN 8 & UNDER REGIONAL MEET
The Kehoe-France Northshore BLAST Swim Team closed strongly on the second day’s events to finish second out of 20 teams entered in the 2006 8 &
under Summer Regional Championships held July 15 & 16 at Elmwood Fitness Center in Metairie.
The meet was won for the ninth year in a row
by the Crescent City Swim Team with 1,358 points. The Blast had 940 points, followed by Franco’s Fins [840], Crawfish Aquatics and Pelican Athletic Club tied for fourth with 566 points and host team Elmwood finished sixth with 388 points.
The BLAST were led by an amazing trio of 8 year old boys who swept the top three places in every individual event in the 8 boys age group. The trio,
Grant Gallaspy, Griffin Guzan and Harrison Prieto also teamed up with Zachary Charles to sweep the 8 & under boys freestyle and medley relays.
Gallaspy won the 8 boys individual high point award by taking firsts in the 25 and 50 yard freestyles, 25 yard backstroke and 25 yard breaststroke. He also finished second in 100 IM and third in the 25 fly.
Guzan won the 25 fly and 100 IM and place second in the 25 back, and third in the 25 breast, 25 and 50 freestyles.
Prieto finished second in the 25 free, 50 free, 25 breast and 25 fly, and scored thirds in the 25 back, and 100 IM.
Other 8 boys who scored individually were Zach Charles, sixth in the 50 free, seventh in the 25 free, 10th in the 100 IM, 12th in the 25 back and 16th in
the 25 fly and 25 breast. Peter Hontas was 13th in the 50 free, 25 breast and 100 IM
and 16th in the 25 fly.
The seven year old boys also scored well. Zach Cloutet finished fifth in the 25 breast, 7th in the 100 IM and 25 back, and 10th in the 25 fly,
25 and 50 freestyles.
Jack Copes raced to sixth in the 25 breast, 7th in the 25 fly, 12th in the 25 back, 13th in the 25 free and 15th in the 50 free.
Garrett Boyce scored 14th in the 25 back and 13th in the 25 fly.
In the six and under boys Daniel Wieseneck finished 11th in the 25 fly and 13th in the 25 breast. Alex Rawls finished 12th in fly and 14th in the 25 breast. Andrew Gruntz also place 12th in the 25 breaststroke.
Other scoring boys relays were:
8th Boys 8 & under 100 free relay “B”
Jack Copes, Peter Olson, Zach
Cloutet, Peter Hontas
9th Boys 8 & under 100 medley relay “B”
Copes, Cloutet, Hontas and
Olson.
12th Boys 8 & under 100 free relay “C”
Alex Rawls, Andrew Gruntz, Daniel
Wieseneck, Garrett Boyce,
On the girls side, seven year old Anna Rawls led the BLAST girls scoring with a fifth in the 25 breast, seventh in the 100 IM, 9th in the 25 free, 10th in
the 25 fly and 50 free and 13th in the 25 back.
Other seven year old girls scoring were Mary Frances Chauvin, 9th in the 25 fly, 14th in the 25 free and 15th in the 25 back and Fallon Turner was 11th in the 25 fly, 13th in the 25 breast, 15th in the 25 back and 16th in the 25 free.
Eight year old Murphy Conlin also had an excellent meet placing sixth in the 25 free and 25 fly, 7th in the 25 breast and 8th in the 50 free. Sydney
Dupont scored 9th in the 8 girls 25 free, 11th in the 25 back, 13th in the 25 fly and 16th in the 50 free. Hope Winkler was 10th in the 25 fly, 11th in the 50
free, and 12th in the 25 free.
Grace Guzan led the BLAST 6 & under girls in scoring with a 9th in the 25 breast and a 13th in the 25 fly. Sydney Walker placed 15th in the 25 back.
Scoring Girls Relays were:
3rd Girls 6 & under 100 yard free relay Sara Bailey Geier, Sydney Walker, Grace Guzan, Peyton Conlin
3rd Girls 8 & under 100 yard free relay “A” Sydney Dupont, Murphy
Conlin, Hope Winkler, Anna Rawls
3rd Girls 8 & under 100 medley relay“A” Dupont, Conlin, Winkler, Rawls
9th Girls 8 & under 100 free relay “B”
Bailey Rose Kelly, Fallon Turner, Mary Frances Chauvin, Kelly Wieseneck
10th Girls 8 & under 100 medley relay “B” F.Turner, K.Wieseneck, Lily Huval, M. Chauvin
15th Girls 8 & under 100 medley relay “C” Catherine Walker, Samantha
Vinturella, P. Conlin, Grace Guzan
16th Girls 8 & under 100 free relay “C”
S. Vinturella, Riley Dupont, Lily Huval, Catherine Walker
KARA KOPSCO MAKES NATIONAL TOP 16 TIME IN THE 400 FREE! BLAST HAS THREE NEW STATE QUALIFIERS: CONGRATULATIONS TO ALEX KNUDSEN [200 BREAST], MICHELLE LIMBAUGH [100 FREE] AND ALISSA WINKLER! [50 AND 100 FREE] ALSO WE HAD AT LEAST FOUR NEW EVENT QUALIFIERS WITH HARRISON PRIETO [100 BACK], ALEX CLOUTET [100 FREE], CARLEY BOYCE [100 FREE] AND GRIFFIN GUZAN [100 BACK].
AND WE HAD A TON OF BEST TIMES!
COACH BILL
