Athletes of the Meet - Robinson

Congratulations to Veronika Miller, Maddie Grosz and Louis Tucker on being named athletes of the meet for our meet against Robinson.

Veronika earned her distinction for her performances in both the 200 and 500 freestyle. She dropped two seconds in her 200 free and three seconds in the 500. Just as importantly, though, she did a great job of racing her competition in both events. In the 200 she had a great finish that helped her finish second by 0.07 seconds. In the 500 she led for most of the race and, while she eventually finished second, she fought all the way home and gave Robinson's swimmer all she could handle.

Maddie was named athlete of the meet for two important reasons. The first is because of her continued strong performances in diving. The second, and probably most important, was her willingness to step up and support her teammates. With so many people missing Maddie's willingness to swim in two different events allowed her teammates to compete. Her willingness to step-up without hesitation or reservation is a great example to her whole team.

Louis is deserving of this award because of his strong performances in the 200 medley, 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays. Louis continues to work hard in practice and is a leader by example to his teammates. And tonight he paired his leadership with strong swims in the water. His butterfly split in the medley was very strong, and he helped lead the 200 free and 400 free relays to second-place finishes.

Honorable mention goes out to a number of other athletes who not only had strong physical performances in the water, but also demonstrated admirable leadership on deck:

1. Katie Kane -- Katie had a strong performance in the 100 butterfly. Her time of 1:08.77 is faster than she's ever gone for Madison, and a full three seconds faster than her time last season.
2. Morgan Howat -- Morgan's time in the 100 backstroke was right on her time from last week and just off of her personal record. Morgan works hard and continues to work on refining her stroke. As she gains confidence her times continue to improve.
3. Lilly Allred -- Lilly competed in her very first high school meet tonight and did a great job. Her time in the 200 IM was a personal best. And her split in the 400 freestyle relay was one of the fastest on the team.
4. Heather Tuft -- Heather is honorable mention on the strength of her swimming and the heart she demonstrated during the meet. Despite not feeling well during the meet Heather had a sub-minute split in the 400 freestyle relay for the first time in her career.
5. Elsa Marsden and Elizabeth McNiff -- Both Elsa and Elizabeth are not swimmers. They are divers, and very good ones. But tonight their team needed them to swim as well. And while both were nervous about doing so, they both stepped up, put on their goggles and did an admirable job in the 200 freestyle relay. Both young women demonstrated the kind of commitment to team that leaders are made of.
6. Joey Eisen -- Joey was a key contributor for the men's team tonight. He had exciting races in both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. He earned his first first-place in the 100 breast and continues to show improvement from last season.
7. Sam Deege -- Sam had a very good swim in the 500 tonight, dropping more than 17 seconds off of his previous personal best in his first-ever high school meet. At this rate he will be competing for an Olympic spot in no time flat!
8. Noah Zimmerman -- Noah did his very best in each of his events tonight. But it was not because of what he did in the water, but what he did on deck that is noteworthy. Noah was consistently supporting the swimmers AND the divers throughout the meet. Coach Brenda continually found Noah watching and cheering the divers on. Noah continues to demonstrate the strong leadership and concern for his whole team that made him captain this season.