Mustang Monthly - Internet Edition

March – April 2003

Meet Results

Irving BB/B/C Meet (Feb. 15-16)

The Mustangs stormed in and out of Northlake Pool with a solid victory over our Division C rivals. The meet had a few technical glitches as far as the running of the meet goes, but in the spirit of supporting our North Texas Swimming, our multi-talented Mustang President Adele Wherry, stepped in and helped run the meet on both days for several hours. Just a small example of how lucky we are to have such a dedicated Team President.

Those swimmers who scored points for the team are listed in alphabetical order below. Swimmers who finished first in either the BB, B, or C classes are bolded. Their ages are immediately after their names in parenthesis. Almost seventy percent of our swims were best times! You go Mustangs!

Kendel Ahnell(10), Emily Andrews (10), Erica Arbetter (10), Kristen Arnold (9), Ellyn Baker (11), Tori Beckman (12), Cassidy Beckwitt (10), Jack Beckwitt (11), Hannon Bloomer (7), Rez Bloomer (10), Jamie Carson (8), Jeremy Chiang (9), Jason Corral (13), Elizabeth Crowling (7), Patrick Crowling (9), David Escamilla (14), Erin Fitzharris (15), Katie Fitzharris (13), Timmy French (15), Ashton Gregory (13), Logan Gregory (8), Stephanie Grote (11), Jun Hirota (14), Kaho Hirota (11), Becca House (11), Craig Hunter (8), Katy Hunter (9), Katie Ische (12), Meagan Keesee (13), William Keys (10), Christie Kimm (12), Nick Kirk (8), Katherine Kurzner (9), Lindsay Larson (13), Lauren Leone (10), Clark Davis Markham (13), Kristin Masters (13), Bradley McLaughlin (9), Tim Moore (11), Alicia Nicoud (13), Sarah Parker (15), Miller Pyke (12), Katie Radford (10), Megan Reardon (12), Joel Sanchez (10), Kyle Savage (13), Callie Scheffler (8), Scott Scheffler (6), Brianna Sharp (8), Christian Sharp (11), Jason Sizemore (8), Michael Smalley (14), Daniel Snell (11), Lisa Van Amburgh (11), Taylor Vaughn (9), Minden Vigier (8), Meaghan Viveros (7), Casey Watters (9), Jake Watters (7), Ward Weber (9), Rachel Wharton (13), Jeff Wherry (15), Jenks White (11), John White (11), Melissa Whitley (13), Burke Wiggins (12), Trayce Womack (14), Vicky Wu (9), Joe Wunderlick (16).

BB/B/C Championships (Feb. 28 - March 2)

This year’s championship was held at the North Lake College Natatorium. Over eighty Mustang Swimmers competed and brought home the second consecutive short course Division C title by almost 700 points over LAC. Over 90% of the swimmers had at least one best time. Many of these swimmers had all best times!

Those swimmers who competed for the team are listed in alphabetical order below. Whatever time standard a swimmer has achieved prior to the meet (i.e., their entry time) determines what class they compete in for that event. The same swimmer could compete in three different events and place in three different classes. If they have never swum an event before (and they are entered with a “no time”) then they automatically compete in the “C” Class. Mustang Swimmers who finished first in either the BB, B, or C classes are bolded. Their ages are immediately after their names in parenthesis. Great job to all of our Mustangs!

Kendel Ahnell(10), Cally Alvarado (13), Carolyn Andrew (10), Emily Andrews (10), Blake Armstrong (12), Cassidy Beckwitt (10), Jack Beckwitt (11), Luke Blaylock (7), Rez Bloomer (10), Morgan Bowser (12), Rachel Briscoe (13), Chloe Bristol (12), Haley Bybee (10), Amanda Campbell (10), Alex Carpentier (11), Jeremy Chiang (9), Katie Clemens (9), Elizabeth Crowling (7), Patrick Crowling (9), Katie Curtis (13), Kendall Ernst (7), Megan Ernst (10), Erin Fitzharris (15), Maggie Fitzharris (9), Brad Gommesen (8), Ashton Gregory (13), Lauren Gregory (8), Stephanie Grote (11), Bolton Harris (12), Kelsey Hendricks (13), Shelbi Hendricks (8), Meredith Higgins (13), Lauren Hill (12), Kaho Hirota (11), Becca House (11), Craig Hunter (8), Katy Hunter (9), Kent Irvin (13), Kyle Johnson (15), Ryan Jones (8), Alex Kanaan (8), William Keys (10), Christie Kimm (12), Kristine Larsen (9), Clark Davis Markham (14), Kristin Masters (13), Travis McDaniel (15), Bradley McLaughlin (9), Meggy McVey (9), Tara Moore (7), Tim Moore (11), Brenda Morlan (9), Courtney Nichols (7), Alicia Nicoud (13), Alex Pappas (12), Robyn Postell (16), Christy Purnadi (7), Megan Reardon (12), Rocy Rios (11), Delaney Rolfe (11), Matney Rolfe (13), Nicholas Saliba (12), Joel Sanchez (10), Joe Santaularia (16), Kyle Savage (13), Callie Scheffler (8), Scott Scheffler (6), Brianna Sharp (8), Christian Sharp (11), Jessica Shaw (16), Jason Sizemore (8), Michael Smalley (14), Raissa Van Uum (15), Raina Van Uum (15), Taylor Vaughn (10), Jo Jo Veazey (6), Minden Vigier (8), Casey Watters (9), Jake Watters (7), Caiti Wenger (11), Sarah Wenger (8), Jeff Wherry (15), Burke Wiggins (12), Robert Withers (15), Trayce Womack (14), Blake Woods (11), Joyce Yee (12).

“A” Championships (Feb. 21-23)

This meet has been also fondly called the TAGS Q meet. It is the last chance for 14 and under swimmers to make a TAGS time standard and qualify for the Texas Age Group Swimming meet held in early March. Those swimmers 15 and over are shooting for best times at the end of the season and a possible Sectional or Senior Circuit time standard for this summer or next fall. The Mustangs finished a strong fourth place despite not swimming any relays, so the kids could be fresh for their individual events. Almost every one of our fifty Mustangs recorded at least one best time either in the individual events or the time trials which followed the morning session on the last two days of the meet.

Those swimmers who scored points are listed below in Italics. Those that won an event are bolded.

Bri Barfield (15), Spindrift Beck (12), Molly Bollen (14), Kelsey Craggett (12), Julia Cuaderes (10), Zak Dominguez (17), Clement Durand (16), Brenna Farren (12), Timmy French (15), Amy Geis (16), Beth Geis (16), Emma Gunning (13), Brittany Harvey-Lemons (14), Alexandra Jennings (14), Malin Kenny (10), Maggie Marshall (15), Stephanie Martin (12), Annalisa McCormick (15), Meredith Monroe (14), Erin Morrison (16), Ashley Rape (12), Lauren Roth (13), Marianne Scheer (10), Jessica Shaw (16), Maddie Steiner (14), Bailey Thompson (14), Caleb Veazey (12), Liam Veazey (9), Alexis Vigier (12), Keegan Watters (10), Alex Weber (12), Catia Weickgenant (12), Joe Wunderlick (17)

Congratulations to the following swimmers who also swam well posting some outstanding times:

John Bannon (13), Tori Beckman (12), Katy Chavet (14), Megan Daniel (14), Hannah Ferrin (11), Clint Hallum (13), Kelsey Hendricks (13), Meredith Higgins (13), Christie Kimm (12), Will McNamara (10), Dani Morlan (14), Madison Murphy (17), Audrey Rogers (16), Amanda Sanders (14), Alex Vanderzant (17), Meaghan Watters (12), Joyce Yee (12).

TAGS Championships – Texas A&M

The Mustangs took one of their biggest 14 & under teams ever to this year’s short course Texas Age Group Championships, which was held at Texas A & M University. Even though we had many strong performances, the Mustangs came up just short of bringing home another top-ten banner. Our 12^th place finish was only 4.5 points out of ninth.

The Mustangs were led by Spin Beck, who individually scored a third of the Mustang points. Spin added to her record breaking season, which included a state record in the 200 breast at the Kerr McGee meet back in December, by breaking North Texas records in the 100 breast, 200 breast, and 100 IM. These three events were also National top 16 reportable times, along with her 200 IM and her 50 breast. Unfortunately for Spin, there was a girl out of Houston who touched her out in the breaststroke events. But what a show the two of them put on over the weekend, giving the spectators a chance to see two of the top 11-12 breaststrokers in the country.

Other Mustangs helping out the cause individually were: Keegan Watters with 4^th place finishes in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes; Stephanie Martin with a 7^th place finish in the 100 breaststroke; Molly Bollen with a 3^rd place in the 50 free, 8^th in the 100 free, and 6^th in the 100 fly; Caroline Barnett finished 8^th in the 50 free; Meredith Monroe placed 7^th in the 200 back; and Caleb Veazey chipped in with an 8^th place in the 200 fly

.

Also stepping up and scoring valuable points were the following relays: 10 & under girls (Emily Andrews, Julia Cuaderes, Marianne Sheer and Keegan Watters) 7^th place in both 200 free and medley relays; 11-12 girls (Ashley Rape, Catia Weickgenant, Hannah Ferrin, and Spin Beck) finished 6^th in the 400 free relay and 4^th in the 400 medley relay – both with top 16 National reportable times; 13-14 girls (Lauren Roth, Meredith Monroe, Caroline Barnett, and Molly Bollen) were 4^th in the 400 free relay and 5^th in the 800 free relay, (Meredith Monroe, Maddie Steiner, Molly Bollen, and Caroline Barnett) finished 4^th in the 400 medley relay – all of these 13-14 girls relays were also National top sixteen reportable times.

Regardless of whether they scored points or not, the following Mustangs did a fantastic job of competing at this year’s TAGS meet. Congratulations!

Emily Andrews, John Bannon, Caroline Barnett, Spindrift Beck, Molly Bollen, Katy Chavet, Kelsey Craggett, Julia Cuaderes, Megan Daniel, Brenna Farren, Hannah Ferrin,
Emma Gunning, Brittany Harvey-Lemons, Kelsey Hendricks, Alexandra Jennings, Jack Ken, Malin Kenny, Grace Kittle, Stephanie Martin, Will McNamara, Meredith Monroe,
Dani Morlan, Ashley Rape, Lauren Roth, Amanda Sanders, Marianne Scheer, Maddie Steiner, Bailey Thompson, Caleb Veazey, Liam Veazey, Alexis Vigier, Keegan Watters,
Meaghan Watters, Alex Weber, and Catia Weickgenant.

Sectional Championships – Texas A&M

The Mustangs showed up with their “A” game at this year’s USA Swimming Sectional Championships at Texas A&M. DM out distanced all but one team as we galloped to a second place team finish. Candace Blackman and Codie Hansen led the charge by scoring in seven and six events respectively. These two, along with Jennifer Blackman and Julia Tucker-Huth, turned in our top relay performance of the weekend by winning the 400 free relay. And when a team can score “B” relays and come close to scoring a “C”, then you know there is plenty of depth. Well, that’s exactly what our Mustang women did. It was a great team effort and a wonderful experience for these athletes to do so well together at this level of competition. Way to go, Mustangs!!!

The following is the list of this year’s Sectional team with scoring events:

Candace Blackman – 1000 fr-4^th, 100 fl-9, 500 fr-6^th, 50 fr-4^th, 200 fr-6^th, 100 fr-4^th, 200 fl-8^th, 400 med relay-5^th, 400 fr relay-1^st, 800 fr relay 2^nd

Jennifer Blackman – 50 fr-14^th, 200 fr-7^th, 100 fr-5^th, 400 med relay-15^th, 400 fr relay-1^st, 800 fr relay-2^nd

Adriane Devereux

Kaileen Gersper – 400 med relay-5^th

Meredith Grubb - 400 fr relay-12^th, 400 med relay-15^th

Kate Gunning – 400 fr relay 12^th

Codie Hansen - 1000 fr-2^nd, 200 IM-6^th, 50 fr-5^th, 200 fr-3^rd, 1650 fr-2^nd, 100 fr-6^th, 400 med relay-5^th, 400 fr relay-1^st, 800 fr relay-2^nd

Caroline Jennings

Nicole Keller

Maggie Marshall

Reagan Marshall

Jennifer Penley

Erika Saito

Katie Smith – 100 bk-5^th, 200 bk-3^rd, 400 med relay-5^th, 400 fr relay-12^th, 800 fr relay-2nd

Julia Tucker Huth – 100 fr-16^th, 400 med relay-15, 400 fr relay-1^st

Kenley Woods – 400 med relay-15^th, 400 fr relay-12^th

Jeff Benson

Byron Carlisle – med relay-3^rd

Eric Gusa – 100 fl-9^th, 50 fr-6^th, med relay-3^rd, 400 fr relay-11^th, 800 fr relay-16^th

Brooks Haller

Andrew Hansen – 50 fr-4^th, 200 fr-14^th, 100 fr-3^rd, med relay-3^rd, 400 fr relay-11^th, 800 fr relay-16^th

Griffin Marshall – 200 br-8^th, 100 br-5^th, 400 med relay-3^rd, 400 fr relay-11^th, 800 fr relay-16^th

Matt Primeaux

Fabian Toth – 1000 fr-10^th, 1650 fr-10^th, 400 fr relay-11^th, 800 fr relay-16^th

United States National Championships

This year’s USA Swimming National Championships was held in Indianapolis April 1-5. The Mustangs took one of their biggest squads ever to Spring Nationals, with 10 swimmers. Those qualifying to attend the meet are: Spin Beck, Candace Blackman, Jennifer Blackman, Codie Hansen, Katie Smith, Julia Tucker-Huth, Eric Gusa, Andrew Hansen, Griffin Marshall, and Ed Wagner. The Dallas Mustang family could not be more proud of these individuals, because they exemplify the commitment, sacrifice and determination that our Mustang swimmers show, day in and day out on every level. Please know that we are proud of all of you and that the Mustang spirit was with you every stroke of the way!

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THE DALLAS MUSTANGS BOARD?

The Dallas Mustangs Swim Team operates under the direction of The Dallas Mustangs Parent Association nine-member Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors is elected for two-year terms with four (4) members elected in even years and five (5) members elected in odd years. Our Executive Committee, in addition to the nine elected Board members, includes our Head Coach (Mook), Head Age-Group coach (Doug) and three committee members who coordinate team and swimmer registrations, social activities, and our supplies and apparel. Our Board is a “working board”, in that each member chairs/coordinates a specific operating area of the club such as fundraising, publicity, newsletter, meet direction, etc. If you are interested in becoming more involved in the operation of the Dallas Mustangs, the 2003 Nominating Committee would like to know your interests.

If you have even a slight interest in working with the Dallas Mustangs Board, please talk to Adele Wherry (phone: 972-418-1544 or email: jwherry@airmail.net). We will be happy to provide more detail regarding specific job responsibilities or discuss your interests and how you may best assist the Dallas Mustangs Swim Team. Remember -- just asking questions does not commit you to anything! Also -- We don’t know that you are interested – unless you tell us! Please take this opportunity to step forward and consider making an increased contribution to the Dallas Mustangs!

Tom Thumb Good Neighbor Program

As you well know, there are times when we call upon everyone to help out in the fundraising department of our team. For the most part, that involves some degree of active participation on the part of parents whether it means driving kids around to secure pledges for a swim-a-thon or participating in a garage sale. Well, we have an easy fundraiser for you this time! It’s one that most everyone is familiar with, if you frequent Tom Thumb grocery stores. It’s called the Good Neighbor Program. The Tom Thumb website describes this program as follows: “Tom Thumb offers our customers a way to direct our donation dollars to their favorite church, school or other non-profit organization....Through our Good Neighbor Program, organizations can sign up to have an exclusive account number. Members of an organization can then link the account number to their Reward cards. You can link your favorite participating charity to your Reward card by completing a Reward Application Form at any Courtesy Booth. Fill in the top portion and the "Good Neighbor Program" section, indicating what account number to link to your card.”

Several years ago the Dallas Mustangs signed up for the Good Neighbor program and acquired the account number 7648.

Tom Thumb Reward cards also allow customers to link their reward cards to American Airlines Frequent Buyer Miles. So, you can earn travel miles AND benefit the Dallas Mustangs at the same time! If you do not have a Reward card, if you already have a Reward card and are not taking advantage of the AA benefit or if you do not have the Dallas Mustangs swim team linked to your Reward card, simply visit the Courtesy Booth at any Tom Thumb grocery store and they will take of everything for you! This really can be a tremendously beneficial program for our team, with very little effort on the part of the participants. If you have any other questions or want to read more about the program, log on to the following link. Thanks! http://www.tomthumb.com/community_caringneighbor.asp

Upcoming Swim Meets

Well everyone, our championship meets have come and gone and once again we have a few meets during the long course season that we are hosting. Hosting the meets provides substantial income for our team but we can’t reap the benefits without the manpower to run them. The first meet we are hosting and will need many volunteers for, is the 22nd Annual Dallas Mustangs “A/BB” Swim Classic, which will be held from May 9-11^th, at SMU. We typically need several volunteers to be safety marshals, work in hospitality or clerk of course, to name a few areas. Victor Kimm is our Meet Director, so all questions regarding volunteers should be directed to him at vkimm@worldnet.att.net.

The other meet we are hosting is the Texas Senior Circuit Long Course Meet #2. The meet is generously sponsored by The Beck Group (yes, Spin Beck is related!) and is also being held at SMU, from June 6-8^th. This meet is one that our younger swimmers might want to consider volunteering at, so that they can see some of the most talented swimmers compete in their own backyard. Lilli Hansen is once again going to be our Meet Director and I know she would be thrilled to have all sorts of volunteers lined up to work this exciting meet! If you are interested, please contact her at LILLIAN.HANSEN@tccd.net.

Dallas Mustangs Swim Banquet

The annual Dallas Mustangs swimmer recognition banquet is fast approaching. The date is set for Sunday, May 4th, 2003 at 6pm at SMU's Umphrey Lee Ballroom. The cost is $22/person (no difference between adult and child). Please make a special effort to come to this event. It is truly something that the swimmers treasure, as their efforts for the year are recognized by the coaches, and appreciated by their peers. We also have a motivational speaker and a slide show that features our swimmers! It is a great event, so please don't miss out. Flyers have been available at the pools for several weeks now or the form can be downloaded and printed off, from our website. Simply log on to the following link, http://www.dmswim.com/, print the form and submit it to Stuart by April 23^rd. Don’t forget to attach a check or money order made payable to the Dallas Mustangs ($22/person including the swimmer), and either drop it off in the file at the pool you attend or send to:

Stuart Roth, 1413 W. Peters Colony, Carrollton, TX, 75007. Make sure you indicate that the check is for the banquet and also write your swimmer's name on it. Thank you!

Loos Supply Room Hours

Loos Supply Room has changed! Not only is it cleaner and more organized, thanks to a few neat dads on the team (Stuart Roth, Harmen Bollen and Michael Hill), but the hours of operation have changed as well. The new hours are 6:15 - 7:30 PM Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Supply room houses the swimmers’ folders, as well as various basic swimming items such as goggles, fins, team suits and caps and spirit items. Check it out next time you visit Loos!

Team Trip

This year’s team trip is scheduled for lovely Fort Smith, Arkansas on the weekend of June 20 – 22, 2003. The meet we will be participating in is the “Recordsetter Invitational”. Several years ago, we had our team trip to Arkansas and thoroughly had a blast! We hope to have many swimmers and their family members attend the trip. There will be more details to follow in the next newsletter.

Call for Photos

As was discussed in previous newsletters and email messages, there is a slide show at the annual team banquet. This is the last call for photos of your swimmers. Producing the slideshow does take a bit of time and planning, so now is the time to submit photos of your swimmers! They can be of them practicing, competing, enjoying a team activity or just hanging out before or after practice. Most importantly, if you have a senior who will be graduating, I would like a copy of their graduation photo and several (5 or 6) of them as young children (the funnier the better!). All photos will be returned but you must put your name or your swimmer’s name on the back of the photos.

You can get photos to me in the following ways:

1. Email jpeg attachments: vp@dmswim.com
2. Drop them off to me at Loos and put in the box labeled “Banquet Photos”.
3. Mail them to me at 2229 High Country Drive, Carrollton, TX, 75007.

 Thanks – Wendy Begg