Athletes of the Meet - McLean

Congratulations to Katie Rooney and Reece de Kramer on being named athletes of the meet for this week's meet against McLean!

Katie earned recognition not only for her strong performances in the pool this week but her continued hard work and leadership as captain this season. Katie set personal-best times in both the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly. Her time in the fly was nearly 4 full seconds faster than her previous best this season. More importantly, Katie demonstrates the kind of focus and hard work that makes good swimmers great. And she continues to provide steady leadership to the team both in and out of the pool.

Reece is being recognized for his outstanding times this week and his continued attention to detail during practices. Reece's time in the 100 freestyle was a personal-best 0:51.81 while his 100 backstroke continued his streak of sub-minute times. Just as important as his times in the water, though, is his work ethic during the week. Reece did a fantastic job of implementing some of the stroke mechanics he is learning in practice. And it showed in his times!

Congratulations go out to several other athletes who deserve honorable mention for their performances this week:

1. Anna Keating -- Anna continued her brilliant freshman season with extraordinary performances in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Her time in the 200 IM was the sixth fastest in Madison history -- and fastest ever in a dual meet -- while her time in the 100 breaststroke was a fraction off of her school-record. Anna is certainly primed for even better times as conferences, regions and states approach!
2. Garrett Smith -- Garrett had a very successful meet tonight, including a personal-best in the 200 IM. More importantly that his time was his finish, where he managed to out-touch the McLean swimmer next to him by a half-second for valuable points.
3. Ian Cobb -- Ian flashed his fierce competitiveness again by racing to the wall and out-touching his nearest rivals. Ian took out-touched the same swimmer from McLean in both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke by a combined 0.65 seconds. The lesson learned here is that if Ian's close at the end you'd better watch out!
4. Michael Hynes -- Michael posted a season-best time in the 200 IM and was just off of his best time in the 100 back. More importantly, Michael stepped up when we needed him and took first place in the 100 backstroke.
5. Jacob Roth -- Jacob continued to establish himself as a key contributor to the team with strong performances in the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle. He dropped nearly a full second in the back and an eye-popping 1.5 seconds in the free!
6. Ryan Straka -- Ryan celebrated senior night with a best-ever split in the 200 freestyle relay and a personal-best in the 100 butterfly. Ryan continues to work hard in practice and it shows in his times.
7. Jonathan Laredo -- Jonathan also took a big step forward during the meet with a 2.5 second drop in his 200 IM. What makes his accomplishment even more impressive is that he dropped so much time in what is easily one of the most grueling events in high school swimming.