Several of our swimmers competed at either D1 or D2 High School Valley Championships last month. So many of our swimmers competed, combined with the complication that USS numbers are not necessarily submitted, that I am sure names will be omitted in the following recognition. Nevertheless, here are highlights for a few of our swimmers.

Our highest place finish at D1 Championships came from senior Thomas Brown who competed for El Diamante. Thomas finished 3^rd in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.76 (21.67 at prelims). He was one of four TNT swimmers who made it to the championship final heat (top 8) in both individual events. The 48.03 he swam in finals for the 100 free was over three-tenths faster than his prelim swim, and was good enough for a 6^th place finish. Sophomore Cori Hoover of Redwood was another double championship finalist who finished 5^th in the 100 free (55.45) and 7^th in the 200 IM (2:20.08 in finals and 2:18.36 in prelims). Sophomore Colin Landweer of Lemoore High finished right behind Thomas Brown in the 50 free (22.08 in finals and 21.65 in prelims) for a 4^th place finish, and also finished 7^th in the 100 free (48.38 in finals and 47.98 in prelims). Our final dual championship finalist was Matlyn Morris of Porterville High who finished 6^th in the 50 free (25.31) and 8^th in the 100 free (56.13 in finals and 56.09 in prelims). Junior Redwood swimmer Tenney Rizzo was our final top-8 finisher who swam to a 4^th place finish in the 100 butterfly (59.79) event.

Taylor Shaw of Lemoore High earned a second swim during her freshman year in the 200 IM (2:22.24) with a 14^th place finish, and teammate Cameron Weas finished 16^th in the 100 fly (57.78 in finals and 57.16 in prelims).

Other qualifiers for D1 Valley included Bryan Brown of El Diamante (17^th in the 100 back with a 59.42), Megan Nino of El Diamante who finished 24^th in the 200 IM (2:30.37), and 24^th in the 100 back (1:08.73), and Jessica Prestridge of El Diamante who finished 27^th in the 100 free (1:00.53) and 31^st in the 50 free (27.51).

During the same weekend as D1 Valley Championships, we had at least 24 past and current TNT swimmers competing at the D2 Valley Championships. Among the group are two current TNT swimmers who became event champions in both individual events entered. Sophomore Nathan Rhea of Tulare Western went under the minute mark in the 100 breaststroke (59.86) in the preliminary heats to break Derek Ogata’s meet record. Nathan won the event with a 1:00.03. His second win came in the 200 IM (1:57.61 in finals and 1:57.37 in prelims). Our other dual Valley champion was freshman Chris Nolan from Corcoran winning both the 100 fly (54.02) and 500 free (4:54.12) events.

Additional event champions included Bre Abell of Kingsburg who won the 100 back (1:03.42) and finished 5^th in the 50 free (25.83) along with Hannah Giles of Hanford High who took home the win in the 200 IM (2:20.97) and finished 2^nd in the 100 breast (1:11.08). Josh Tabers of Hanford West was the Valley Champion in the 100 back (55.19) and swam to a 6^th place finish in the 200 IM (2:08.48).

Championship finalists also included Trevor DeLeeuw of Tulare Union who swam 5:27.83 in the 500 free for a 7^th place finish, and also finished 11^th in the 200 free (1:58.64). Teammate Chris Ewins had a 5^th place finish in the 100 fly (56.43), and also finished 16^th in the 200 IM (2:15.93). Exeter swimmer Haley Hopper had two 2^nd place finishes in both the 200 IM (2:22.54) and 100 back (1:04.92). Haley’s teammate Hunter King finished 4^th in the 100 fly (55.72) and 9^th in the 100 back (59.52). Josh Koster of CVC finished 5^th in the 500 free (5:16.26) during his first year, and also finished 13^th in his 100 back (1:01.78). Alexis Ledesma of Selma High finished 8^th in the 100 fly (1:09.13 in finals and 1:07.12 in prelims), and also finished 10^th in the 100 back (1:10.32). Emily Lehrman of Immanuel finished 6^th in the 500 free (5:53.44 in finals and 5:42.73 in prelims) and 7^th in the 200 IM (2:26.79). Freshman Tulare Union swimmer Conor Martin swam to a 2^nd place finish in the 200 free (1:49.82) and 8^th place finish in the 100 (51.43) while Immanuel swimmer Cody Nash finished 6^th in the 500 free (5:22.27 in finals and 5:13.36 in prelims), along with a 15^th place finish in the 200 IM (2:14.88). Sister Stephanie Nash swam to a 3^rd place finish in the 100 free (57.80). An additional final top-8 finisher was Tulare Union swimmer Allison Ross who doubled up with a 3^rd place finish in the 200 IM (2:23.74) and 7^th place finish in the 100 fly (1:07.88). New arrival to TNT, Christian Watts of Exeter finished 2^nd in the 50 free (22.15) and 3^rd in the 100 breast (1:03.42) while his teammate Jonathan Castillo finished 6^th in the 50 free (22.80) and 7^th in the 100 free (50.68).

Consolation finalists included Madison Elick of Tulare Union (200 IM 11^th – 2:32.42 and 100 breast 12^th – 1:18.13), teammate Madison Gilbert (100 fly 15^th – 1:10.73 and 100 back 15^th – 1:12.09). Erika Frees of Exeter finished 9^th in the 100 fly (1:06.27) and 17^th in the 500 free (6:10.32) while her teammate Sarah Peltzer finished 9^th in the 500 free (5:54.19) and 21^st in the 200 free (2:16.95). Taylor Goates also of Exeter finished 13^th in the 50 free with a 27.06. Anna Lehrman of Immanuel swam to a 9^th place finish in the 100 breast (1:16.27) and also competed in the 200 free (2:23.49). Chris Torres of CVC finished 13^th in the 50 free (23.53) and 14^th in the 100 free (52.48).

Our additional D2 Valley qualifiers and their highest place finish included: Tristian Abell of Kingsburg (28^th in the 100 back – 1:15.50), Luke Gregory of Corcoran (25^th in the 100 back – 1:04.46), Brittany Hopkins of Tulare Union (19^th in the 100 fly – 1:12.69), and Nick Orton of Tulare Union (17^th in the 200 IM – 2:15.37).

Congratulations to all for qualifying, and on their impressive performances.

A team of 16 swimmers traveled to Morgan Hill for the Far Western Championships during the first weekend of April to join over 1600 other athletes representing over 170 teams from states such as Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia, Nevada, as well as the city of Edmonton in Canada. Going into the last day, Tule Nation Tritons held 16th place out of the 96 teams that scored at the meet. Mission San Jose and Sunnyvale Swim Club each moved past TNT by one point during the final day of competition. TNT finished 19th overall.

The overall team improvement percentage of 59% was led by perfect 100% improvement rates from Parker Giles of Hanford (improving 1 of 1), Emily Goodbar of Selma (4 of 4), Kyle Grissom of Porterville (1 of 1), Jonas Huckabay of Selma (3 of 3) and Mia Newkirk of Hanford (6 of 6). Those improving 50% or more of their times included: Mallory Korenwinder (86%), Khloe McCarthy (67%) Allyson Duffy of Hanford (57%), and Amber Khieralla of Bakersfield (57%).

A total of 11 individual event performances were under a current team record, with one being under a Central California Swimming record. Twelve year old Allyson Duffy swam 18:29.66 in the 1650 freestyle event which dropped her preexisting team record from 18:33.20 set only last month at the Bakersfield meet. Her time currently ranks 42^nd in the nation among all 12-year old girls. Tristin Baxter of Clovis who competed at D-1 NCAA Championships in her first year of college this year had set the 11-12 girls 1000 freestyle record in 2004 at 11:01.05. This record fell to Allyson’s 5^th place performance at Far Westerns of 10:57.02, which now stands as both the CCS and team record as well as the 35^th fastest time in the nation. The previous team record of 11:38.34 was set by Khloe McCarthy in Arizona last December.

Twelve year old Mallory Korenwinder led the team both in second swims and in record-breaking performances. Mallory began with the 100 butterfly event by swimming 1:02.68, edging out Amber’s record-breaking performance of 1:02.82. Both girls swam well under the preexisting record of 1:03.84 set by Lynnie North in 1989. Mallory went on to qualify for Sectionals in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:28.54 that ranks 21^st fastest in the nation.  Her performance broke her own record of 2:33.26 set in Bakersfield during February. Mallory’s 50 fly time of 27.67 edged out Mia Newkirk’s record breaking swim of 27.84 in a swim off that reset the team record in the 50 fly, both girls swimming within a half second of the CCS record which stands as 27.18 set in 1999 by former Auburn swimmer Kristen Hastrup. Mallory’s 100 IM time of 1:03.57 was again within one second of the CCS record of 1:02.76. She and Amber swam 4 combined times in the 100 IM alone that were under the preexisting team record held by Samantha Goates and set in 2002 while competing at AA’s. Mallory had already set the 50 breaststroke record while at JO’s as a 32.69, and now reset the standard at 32.27 which was .6 seconds off of the CCS record. Her final record breaking swim came with the time of 1:09.56 in the 100 breaststroke where she once again swam under her previous record of 1:09.96 set at JO’s two weeks earlier.

Bakersfield swimmer Amber Khieralla continues record-breaking performances as she dropped the team record in the 100 fly and 100 IM events. At 12 years old, Amber’s 1:02.82 in the 100 fly is the 168^th fastest in the nation, and went under one of the longest standing records on the team. Lynnie North had set the record at the Fig Garden pool in Fresno back in 1989 with a 1:03.84. Amber’s second record-breaking performance was in the 100 IM where her 1:03.93 went under the 1:04.81 set by Samantha Goates at AA’s in Cerritos in 2002. This time is the 107^th fastest in the nation. She had earned two second swims placing 4^th in the 50 backstroke with a time of 28.49 and 8^th in the 100 IM with a time of 1:04.54.

Dax Korenwinder earned two second swims at the meet, first with an 8^th place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.44), and then again with his 4^th place finish in the 50 breaststroke where his 35.77 went under his preexisting record of 37.09 that he set only two weeks earlier at Junior Olympics.

Mia Newkirk earned a second swim by way of a swim-off for first alternate with teammate Mallory Korenwinder. Both girls not only swam a time during the swim-off that would have qualified for a championship swim, but both girls also swam under the pre-existing team record. Mia swam 27.84 which was under Amber Khieralla’s previous team record set two weeks ago as 27.93 at Junior Olympics. Mia’s time currently ranks 104^th in the nation and was also a mere .75 seconds off of the CCS Record.

Notable swims also came from Preston Niayesh who finished 9^th in the 50 breaststroke event, Mia Newkirk (9^th – 50 fly), Emily Goodbar (17^th – 200 fly), Hannah Giles (24^th– 100 breast), Parker Giles (24^th – 50 fly), Bre Abell (34^th – 50 free), Jonas Huckabay (34^th – 50 back), Conor Martin (41^st – 50 free), Kyle Grissom (43^rd – 200 fly), Khloe McCarthy (43^rd – 200 back), Chris Hanson (51^st – 200 breast), and Katelyn Herrera (54^th – 200 fly).

Relays are a large contribution to a team’s overall point accumulation. Our team entered 4 relays in the 11-12 girl’s division, and each relay placed among the top 4 at the meet with the highest finish being 2^nd in the 400 freestyle with a time of 3:47.58, 3^rd place finishes in the 400 medley relay (4:15.85) and 200 medley relay (1:56.50), and a 4^th place finish in the 200 free relay (1:45.03). Those of us at Junior Olympics watched as our relay team of Allyson Duffy, Amber Khieralla, Mallory Korenwinder, Mia Newkirk and Morgan Coddington went undefeated each time they swam. One goal at Far Westerns was to improve their CCS record breaking performances. Records were re-set in the 200 free relay (1:45.03 at Far Westerns vs. 1:45.97 from JO’s), 400 free relay (3:47.58 vs. 3:38.26), and the 400 medley relay (4:15.85 vs. 4:16.56) relays.

Swimming World Magazine provided live on-demand viewing opportunities during finals at Far Westerns. These videos can still be viewed for those who are interested in watching the top 8 competitors of each event, along with the relays that took place during finals. Click on Swimming World’s video coverage of 2011 Far Westerns to view the nightly finals that took place.