DM 1999 Season Recap

1999

Long Course Championships

Our B/C swimmers led the charge as they competed in the 10 & Under B/C Championships in Duncanville, TX. The team finished 3^rd overall. As can be seen by the results, our young Mustangs did a fine job! Swimmers with a first place finish were Spin Beck, Derrick Brown, John Bannon, Alexandra Weber, Nicolas Saliba, Preston Yetts, Joyce Yee, Alexandra Barinka, Alethea Atkins and Avery Rape.

Coaches Mook Rhodehbaugh and Chris Girard display the DM fashion

Forty-one of our Mustangs visited Austin, TX another banner, at the Texas Age Group Swimming Championships (TAGS). Everyone could see us coming from a mile away because of this year’s championship T-shirts…a huge "D" on the front and a huge "M" on the back…great shirts! The TAGS shirt wasn’t the only thing about our team that was catching people’s eyes – it was our swimmers as they raced their way to another top ten finish and another banner!

Our 15-18 women were amazing as they captured their age group’s team award, scoring more points than any other age group winner! The following swimmers were the Mustang point scorers:

Debbie Forinash, Sarah Wells, Sara Alwen, Sara Haney, Megan McNamara, Amy Danchik, Katy Crawford, Clare Williams, Leslie McCormick, Alexandra Jennings, Megan Daniel, Lauren Roth, Meredith Monroe, Meagan Bolanz, Krystle Knott, Margeret Henderson, Adriane Devereux, Emily Frasco, Meredith Grubb, Beth Geis, Nicole Keller, Caroline Jennings, Kathryn Collier, Michael Carpenter, Thomas Ayers, Kenneth Wherry, Rory Peterson, Warren Renick, Brian Stephens and Andrew Hansen.

A group of our high school and college age swimmers competed in the Senior Circuit Championships held in Austin, TX. Teams from Mexico and Canada joined those from across the United States, for the last big "tune up" before the National level meets. Only the top three teams bring home a prestigious Senior Circuit Championship banner. This was exactly what our swimmers wanted to achieve going into the competition, and exactly what they achieved finishing 2nd overall. Mustangs contributing in the scoring department were:

Sara Haney, Courtney Patterson, Katie Hermann, Miki Bohan, Rania Elwani, Katie McClelland, Elizabeth Myers, Naoko Imoto, Katina Maisterellis, Alison Wimer, Jeff Graves, Josh Barrett, Nathan Rice, Bart Wickard, Jeff Livingston, Mike O’Keeffe, Andrew Priest, Steve Kemmerling, Billy Coleman, Brandon Jernigan, Adam Wright and Ben Mayo.

Junior National Championship qualifying times were made at TAGS by Sarah Alwen and Jeff Girard, which earned them a ticket to Orlando, Florida, joining teammates: Amy Danchik, Courtney Patterson, Sara Haney, Katie Hermann, Sara Wells, Debbie Forinash, Brian Stephens, Jeff Graves, Rory Peterson, and Warren Renick. Our Mustangs finished 35th out of about 300 teams at the Southeast Junior Championships. Our swimmers who stepped up to score points were Sara Alwen, Sara Haney, Courtney Patterson, Katie Hermann, and Brian Stephens.

And finally, our top swimmers traveled way up to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the Phillips 66 National Championships. Katie McClelland, Katrina Maistrellis, Alison Wimer, Elizabeth Myers, Naoko Imoto, Jeff Livingston, Brandon Jernigan, Bart Wickard, Billy Coleman, and Nathan Rice came home with a 24th place finish out of all the teams in the country. A highlight of the meet was Katie McClelland (Dallas Mustangs Hall of Fame member) finishing 4th in the 100 meter breaststroke swimming a personal best time.

Short Course Championships

This year's TAGS (Texas Age Group Championship) team, sporting their good lookin' red hockey jerseys, traveled to the City of Midland and competed well. We came up just short of bringing home another top ten TAGS banner. We finished 11^th out of 64 teams - just seven points out of tenth place!

Our 15-18 women powered their way to the top and won their age group team award. Those swimmers scoring valuable points for the Mustangs were: Caroline Jennings, Debbie Forinash, Sarah Wells, Emily Frasco, Amy Danchik, Courtney Patterson, Clare Williams, Sara Haney, Katy Crawford, Thomas Ayers, Brian Stephens (won the 200 IM and obtained Junior qualifying times in the 200 IM and 200 Breast), and Kenneth Wherry.

Our season concluded in St. Louis with the Junior Championships. This is one of the highest level meets that a swimmer can qualify for, and should be one of the long term goals for the majority of our younger Dallas Mustangs. This year's Junior team included Amy Danchik, Emily Frasco, Sara Haney, Courtney Patterson, and Brian Stephens. Our swimmers did a great job competing against some of the top swimmers in the country.