Athletes of the Meet - Districts

This week's meet was so successful for so many athletes that choosing a single athlete of the meet is nearly impossible. There were so many best times and strong performances that the coaching staff chose to recognize both teams as a whole this week. The number of spectacular performances included:

• Sam Duncan -- Sam won the dive championship for the third straight year. His score was nearly 70 points higher than his next-closest competitor. He also earned All-American consideration based on his score this week.
• Anna Keating -- Anna continued her storied career by winning both the 200 IM and 100 breast. Her time in the 200 IM earned her All-American consideration, while she won the 100 breast with an automatic All-American time.
• Aidan Jones -- Aidan set personal-bests in both the 200 free and 500 free. His time in the 200 free broke the 2-minute mark for the first time in his career. He earned a spot at regions in the 500 by winning the consolation heat.
• Adam Hammoud -- Adam will join Aidan in the region meet after setting a new personal-best in the 500 free. He dropped nearly 14 seconds off his previous best  and is poised to get even faster at Regions.
• James Rushforth -- James also set personal-bests in each of his events (100 free and  200 free. He dropped more than 3 seconds in the 200 and more than 1 in the 100 free. While he missed out on regions this year he will almost certainly be competing in the meet next year.
• Emma Wainwright -- Emma broke the 2-minute mark in her 200 free for the first time in her career on Saturday night. Her 500 time was just off of her personal-best and was good enough to qualify for Regions. 
• Lilly Jacobs -- Lilly had a breakout meet in both of her events. Her 200 freestyle shaved nearly 5 full seconds off her previous best. And her 100 breast was just off of the state cut.
• Hannah Carmen -- Hannah showed real grit competing in both the 200 and 500 free. She joined the parade of swimmers who broke the 2-minute barrier in the 500. Her times were just off her personal bests in both events.
• Kevin Rice -- Kevin dropped more than 2 seconds from his 200 IM time while also dropping a second in the 100 breast. He earned the opportunity to compete in both events by finishing in the top-10 on Saturday night.
• Joey Eisen -- Joey dropped 2 seconds from his 200 IM time, breaking 2-minutes for the first time ever. He also posted a strong cut in the 400 free relay, helping lead the team to its best time all season.
• Regan Hau -- Regan established herself as one of the strongest all-around swimmers in the district with her times in both the 200 IM and 100 breast. She set a personal-best in the 200 IM and just missed the state cut in the 100 breast.
• John Klein -- John Klein broke the 23-second mark in the 50 free consistently throughout the weekend. He also dropped more than a second in the 100 fly. John qualified for Regions for the first time in his career with his performance in the 50 free.
• Lucas Diehl -- Lucas dropped nearly 1.5 seconds in the 50 free and nearly 3 seconds in the 100 free. He also played an important role in helping the 200 free relay earn its first state cut this season.
• Owen Dyson -- Owen Dyson was simply spectacular all night long. He won both the 50 free and 100 free with personal-best times. His split in the 200 free broke the 21-second barrier as well.
• Alexandra Dicks -- Alexandra set a meet record in the 50 free in an Automatic All-American time. She followed that up with an All-American consideration time in the 100 back and a state-qualifying time leading-off the 400 free relay.
• Morgan Howat -- Morgan set personal-best times in both the 50 free and 100 free. She is headed to Regions in both events for the first time in her career. She also helped lead the 200 medley relay to an Automatic All-American time.
• Benham Cobb -- Benham set personal-bests in the 200 IM and 100 fly this weekend. He will also be competing at Regions for the first time in his career.
• Jackson Miller -- Jackson Miller's 200 free time was nearly 4 seconds faster than his previous best, while he dropped his fly time by nearly a second. He also helped pace the 200 medley relay to a state-qualifying time.
• Natalie Lauer -- Natalie continued her tremendous freshman season by obliterating her previous high-water marks in both the 100 fly and 100 back. She dropped 5 seconds in the 100 back and 7 seconds in the 100 fly. She is also qualified for the Region meet in the 100 back after finishing 7th in that event.
• Darby Galbraith -- Darby demonstrated her grit and determination in winning the 100 fly. She was locked in a tight race but pulled away at the end to take the Concorde District title. She also had a state-qualifying time in the 100 back.
• Maggie Shi -- Maggie had another strong meet this weekend, posting another state-qualifying time in the 100 fly. She also finished in the top-3 in both the 200 IM and 100 fly.
• Elizabeth Kuhlkin -- Elizabeth was tremendous all night long in sprint freestyle. She finished second in the 50 free and was the Concorde District champion in the 100 free. She also helped lead the 200 free relay to a thrilling victory over a strong Oakton team in an All-American consideration time.
• Matthew Schlueter -- Matthew had one of the biggest time drops all weekend, breaking his previous best in the 200 IM by nearly 6 seconds. He was also just off of his personal best in the 100 back.
• Aaron Diehl -- Aaron Diehl returned to form in the 100 back this weekend after working hard all season to overcome an ACL injury. His time of 57.43 is not only his personal best, but qualified him for the Region meet for the first time in his career.
• Will Manousos -- Will Manousos set a personal best in the 100 back, earning a spot as first alternate in the event.
• Erica Rice -- Erica showed her versatility by qualifying for Regions in the 100 back with a time 58.89. She was only 0.2 seconds off of a state cut, which she hopes to earn in two weeks at Regions.
• Brayden Philpott -- Braydon had a strong meet in both of his individual events. Brayden finished second in both the 500 free and 100 breast. He also earned a state cut in the 100 breast.
• Anabel Huffstutler -- Anabel dropped 9 seconds in the 500 free during prelims on Friday night. She also posted a time that was less than 0.2 seconds off of her previous best in the 100 breast. She will compete at Regions in both events.
• Will Bush -- Will finished his strong season with yet another personal-best time in the 100 breast.
• Sophia Brown -- Sophia dropped more than a second from her best time in the 200 IM. She also helped lead the 200 free relay to victory in an All-American consideration time.