Mustang Monthly - Internet Edition

September 2004

 

A big Mustang welcome goes out to all our new swimmers, and welcome back to all our returning Mustangs.  I know that many swimmers were excited to get the season started.  Because of the Olympics, we had over 100 swimmers tryout for the Mustangs in the last month.  This has presented the coaching staff with some challenges to ensure a quality program from top to bottom.  The Bronze group at Highland Park had the biggest influx of swimmers so we have started a waiting list for any new swimmers in that group. In an effort to make HP Bronze a little more manageable, we have moved some swimmers into other groups. Additionally Jeff Girard, who helped coach the Gold Group at Loos last season, will be assisting HP Bronze coaches Rory Callaghan and Meredith Rhodenbaugh.

 

The Mustangs are coming off another exciting season and we have high goals for the upcoming season.  We will continue to offer a top-notch program for the entire family.  Again this year we will have swimmers competing at every level, from the beginner to national, and even international qualifiers.  We can take our swimmers as far as they wish to go if we all work together.  Sure, as with any worthwhile journey, there will be some bumps in the road.  But if we can keep our Mustangs healthy and keep them on course, great things can and will happen.

 

Parents of all groups, please help the coaches by staying in the stands during practices.  Loos and CFB parents can sit anywhere upstairs and HP parents need to stay on the diving board end of the pool in the stands.  Please do not coach your children – that is why the coaches are there.  If you have any concerns or questions for the coaches, please talk to them after practice.  Thank you for your understanding.

 

Our club is extremely proud of it’s members and their great accomplishments.  To follow are some highlights from the championship meets from this past season.  Another great place to keep up with our team is at our club website  www.dmswim.com   You can also find useful information and results at the North Texas Swimming website  www.ntswim.org  and the United States Swimming website  www.usaswimming.org 

 

Please feel free to contact any of the coaches or board members with any questions or concerns that you may have.  We are here to help.

 

It’s Great To Be A Dallas Mustangs Swimmer!

 

- Mook Rhodenbaugh – Head Coach – Dallas Mustangs – And proud of it!

 

Meet Reports
 
TAGS (Texas Age Group Swimming Championships)

This year’s TAGS championship was held at UT in Austin.  TAGS is one of the top 14 and under meets in the country.  In order to win most events at TAGS, a swimmer needs to go faster than a National top sixteen time.  And in many events, there are a number of swimmers who will make next year's national top sixteen list. Once again, the Mustangs marched into the meet and finished in the top ten as a team.  Many of our young Mustangs stepped up to score individual points and our relays once again came through with great team efforts. 

 

Spin Beck and Lauren Roth led the way for our girls’ team, while Matt Thompson came away with three individual titles and times which will rank among the top sixteen nationally for the boys.  Spin qualified to swim the 200 breaststroke at this year’s United States Open Championships, which will take place this December in San Antonio.  And it was great to see our younger Mustangs, Eric Futscher and the other ten and under boys, have finishes in the top eight in the state.

 

Those swimmers scoring points for the Mustangs were (T16 indicates a top sixteen national reportable time):

Lauren Roth (6th - 100 fr, 6th – 200 fr, 5th – 400 fr, 8th – 200 IM, 4th – 400 IM)

Spin Beck (4th – 100 br, 2nd – 200 br US Open and T16, 2nd – 200 IM T16, 3rd – 400 IM)

Stephanie Martin (8th – 100 br, 7th – 200 br)

Meg Austin (8th – 200 br)

Eric Futscher (4th – 50 br, 7th – 100 br)

Matt Thompson (6th – 200 fr, 7th – 400 fr, 1st – 100 bk T16, 1st – 200 bk T16, 2nd – 200 IM T16, 1st – 400 IM T16)

Caleb Veazey (6th – 800 fr, 5th – 1500 fr)

13-14 girls 200 free relays        “A” – 3rd T16 (Spin Beck, Kelsey Hendricks, Catia Weickgenant, Lauren Roth)          

                                                “B” – 7th (Alex Weber, Hannah Ferrin, Kelsey Craggett, Meredith Higgins)

13-14 girls 400 free relays        “A” – 4th T16 (Catia Weickgenant, Kelsey Hendricks, Spin Beck, Lauren Roth)

                                                “B” – 8th (Meredith Higgins, Hannah Ferrin, Meg Austin, Mel Futscher)

13-14 girls 800 free relay          “A” – 2nd T16 (Catia Weickgenant, Spin Beck, Mel Futscher, Lauren Roth)

13-14 girls 200 medley relay     “A” – 4th T16 (Kelsey Hendricks, Spin Beck, Catia Weickgenant, Lauren Roth)

13-14 girls 400 medley relay     “A” – 4th T16 (Lauren Roth, Spin Beck, Catia Weickgenant, Kelsey Hendricks)

10 and under boys 200 medley relay     “A” – 6th (Luke Blaylock, Eric Futscher, Jake Watters, Christopher Alkire)

13-14 boys 800 free relay        “A” – 5th T16 (Matt Thompson, Caleb Veazey, Kenneth Clark-Fernandez, Kyle Savage)

 

Congratulations to our 2004 long course TAGS team:

Christopher Alkire, Meg Austin, Ellyn Baker, Spin Beck, Tori Beckman, Luke Blaylock, Kenneth Clark-Fernandex, Kelsey Craggett, Hannah Ferrin, Eric Futscher, Melanie Futscher, Des Godfrey, Bolton Harris, Tanner Harris, Kelsey Hendricks, Meredith Higgins, Katie Ische, Leah Jones, Catherine Ken, Jack Ken, Malin Kenney, Fernando Lara, Stephanie Martin, Kristin Masters, Will McNamara, Jordan Newman, Delaney Rolfe, Lauren Roth, Nicholas Saliba, Kyle Savage, Callie Scheffler, Matt Thompson, Caleb Veazey, Liam Veazey, Casey Watters, Jake Watters, Keegan Watters, Meaghan Watters, Alex Weber, Catia Weickgenant, and Burke Wiggins.

 

United States Sectional Championships

The Mustangs defended their team title at this summer’s US Sectional Championships in a dramatic fashion.  This meet also happened to take place at UT and brought in teams from all over the United States. (Mook definitely saw too much burnt orange during the back to back weeks of TAGS and Sectionals!!!)  Our swimmers pulled together all weekend and had to overcome some tough meet conditions. There were over 200 swimmers in some of the events and the 1500 meter event took about six hours to complete.  Not exactly ideal conditions for a swim meet, especially one of this caliber.

 

Going into the last relay, the Mustangs were still behind the host team, Texas Longhorn Aquatics.  And again, our relays stepped up to the challenge and performed amazingly in the 400 medley relays, finishing 1st and 9th in the women’s’ and 2nd and 10th in the men’s’.  For those of you keeping score at home, that’s over 100 points in one set of relays.  That’s tough to do!  And that made it a clean sweep for the women – winning all three relay events.  Way to go Mustangs!

 

Candace Blackman won four out of the five events she swam, and JD White finished in the top eight in five individual events.  Jonathan Berrittini also turned in some impressive swims and made a National cut in the 100 back.  The entire Mustang family should be extremely proud of the efforts given by our Sectionals team.

 

Individual scorers were:

Candace Blackman (1st – 50 fr National Qualifying Time and T16, 1st – 100 fr NQT and T16, 1st – 200 fr NQT and T16, 1st – 400 fr NQT and T16, 13th – 800 fr)

Katie Roberts (13th – 50 fr, 4th – 100 fr NQT and T16, 5th – 200 fr T16, 14th – 400 fr)

Codie Hansen (2nd – 100 fr NQT and T16)

Caroline Barnett (11th – 100 fr, 200 fr T16, 15th – 200 bk, 11th – 200 IM)

Lauren Roth (14th – 200 fr)

Meredith Monroe (6th – 50 bk, 9th – 100 bk, 10th – 200 bk)

Molly Bollen (6th – 50 fl, 10th – 100 fl)

Steph Futscher (13th – 100 fl, 7th – 200 fl)

Meredith Grubb (13th – 200 IM)

Eric Gusa (3rd – 50 fr, 16th – 100 fr, 3rd – 50 fl)

JD White (5th – 50 fr, 8th – 100 fr, 5th – 200 fr, 7th – 400 fr, 4th – 200 IM)

Alex Oldenkamp (13th – 50 fr, 11th - 50 br)

Clint Hallum (9th – 800 fr)

Jonathan Berrittini (4th – 50 bk, 4th - 100 bk NQT and T16, 5th – 200 bk)

Matt Thompson (7th – 50 bk)

Byron Carlisle (14th – 100 bk)

Rory Peterson (7th – 200 fl)

Women’s 400 free relays          'A' – 1st (Katie Roberts, Caroline Barnett, Jennifer Blackman, Candace Blackman)

                                                'B' – 5th (Debbie Forinash, Meredith Monroe, Lauren Roth, Meredith Grubb)

Women’s 800 free relays          ‘A’ – 1st (Katie Roberts, Caroline Barnett, Meredith Monroe, Candace Blackman)

                                                ‘B’ – 6th (Debbie Forinash, Lauren Roth, Meredith Grubb, Steph Futscher)

Women’s 400 medley relays     ‘A’ – 1st (Meredith Monroe, Grace Kittle, Molly Bollen, Candace Blackman)

                                                ‘B’ – 9th (Caroline Barnett, Caroline Jennings, Steph Futscher, Katie Roberts)

Men’s 400 free relays               ‘A’ – 3rd (JD White, Eric Gusa, Lance Carriaga, Jonathon Berrittini)

                                                ‘B’ – 11th (Andrew Knudson, Byron Carlisle, Alex Oldenkamp, Rory Peterson)

Men’s 800 free relay                ‘A’ – 2nd (JD White, Jonathon Berrettini, Eric Gusa, Rory Peterson)

Men’s 400 medley relay           ‘A’ – 2nd (Jonathon Berrettini, Alex Oldenkamp, Eric Gusa, JD White)

                                                ‘B’ – 10th (Byron Carlisle, Clint Hallum, Rory Peterson, Lance Carriaga)

 

Congratulations to our 2004 long course Sectionals team:

Amanda Arrington, Bri Barfield, Caroline Barnett, Candace Blackman, Jennifer Blackman, John Bannon, William Balderamos, John Bannon, Jonathon Berrettini, Byron Carlisle, Lance Carriaga, Molly Bollen, Micheal Carriaga, Adriane Devereux, Debbie Forinash, Melanie Futscher, Steph Futscher, Beth Geis, Kaileen Gersper, Josh Cohen, Eric Gusa, Clint Hallum, Andrew Knudson, Rustin Kormos, Meredith Grubb, Emma Gunning, Kate Gunning, Courtney Hamilton, Codie Hansen, Kelsey Hendricks, Meredith Higgins, Alexandra Jennings, Alex Oldenkamp, Rory Peterson, Matt Primeaux, Matt Thompson, Alex Weidemann, Caroline Jennings, Grace Kittle, Maggie Marshall, Reagan Marshall, Meredith Monroe, Katie Roberts, Lauren Roth, Jessica Shaw, Maddie Steiner, Alicia Stevens, Bailey Thompson, Kenneth Wherry, JD White and Neil Willis.

 
BB Championships (July 16-18)

Forty of our swimmers trekked up I-75 to COPS’ indoor facility to compete in the summer LC BB Champs. Of the forty swimmers, only two did not have at least one best time.  The Mustangs finished 3rd in the team race almost two hundred points up on the fourth place team.  Some of the bigger time drops were from Morgan Bowser (21 seconds in the 400 IM),  Jessica Temple (26 seconds in the 400 free), Will McNamara (13 seconds in the 200 IM), and Skyler Clark-Fernandez (10 seconds in the 100 fly). The real shock of the meet occurred when Jessica Shaw got an USA Sectional cut in the 200 Breast.  She dropped almost 3 seconds and qualified for the ultra-competitive meet held at the University of Texas pool two weeks later.  Those swimmers who competed for the team at this meet are listed in alphabetical order below.  Their ages are listed immediately after their names in parenthesis.   Those swimmers who finished first in any event are listed in Italics.  Congratulations to all!

 

Christopher Alkire (10), Sarah Blue (13), Morgan Bowser (14), Yukun Chen (11), Skyler Clark-Fernandez (13), Andy Collins (14), Elizabeth Crowling (9), Patrick Crowling (11), Julia Cuaderes (11), Catie Curtis (14), Clark Davis (15), Susan Duncan (10), David Escamilla (16), Paul Gerard (13), Sarah Gerard (14), Stephanie Grote (12), Bolton Harris (13), Lauren Hill (14), Christie Kimm (14), Miyo Malouf (10), Will McNamara (11), Andy Miller (18), Courtney Nichols (8), Maddie Nieberlein (12), Patchi Ravi (14), Meagan Reardon (13), Rosy Rios (13), Delaney Rolfe (12), Matney Rolfe (15), Callie Scheffler (9), Christian Sharp (13), Jessica Shaw (18), Jessica Temple (14), Lisa Van Amburgh (12), Liam Veazey (11), Jake Watters (9), Alexus Williams (12), and Joyce Yee (13).

 

B/C Championships (July 23-25)

This twelve and under championship meet was held at the Grapevine-Colleyville pool and was attended by just a few of our Mustangs swimmers.  Of the seventeen that competed, sixteen had at least one best time.  The best time drop of the meet goes to Caelan Freeman (7) who dropped twenty-three seconds in the 100 IM.  Hayley Heiner’s seven second drop in the 50 free came in a close second.  The Mustangs finished ninth in the team standings, which was great considering how few attended.  We need to be at the championship meets!  Knowing that they are going to compete in the championships early in the season can help to keep swimmers focused in their workouts. 

 

Those who competed are listed below.  The swimmers who won at least one B or C level event are in Italics.

Way to go Mustangs!

 

Emily Andrews (12), Alethea Atkins (12), Elisa Banowsky (11), Kylee Craggett (11), Anna Crowling (6), Elizabeth Crowling (9), Patrick Crowling (11), Megan Ernst (11), Caelan Freeman (7), Caroline George (8), Lydia Gerard (11), Stephanie Grote (12), Hayley Heiner (9), Kate Lormos (8), Austin Lloyd (12), Kazuomi Motoike (8), Courtney Nichols (8), and Taylor Teaster (7).

 

A Champs/TAGS Q (July 8-11)

Your Mustangs had some really terrific swims at the new and fast Southlake Natatorium.  We placed 3rd place out of nineteen North Texas teams and only swam one relay the whole meet.  Instead of trying to maximize the number of points we scored as a team, our goal at this meet was to help swimmers qualify for either the USA Swimming Sectional Championships or Texas Age Group Champs (TAGS).  Although not listed below, there were also many of our swimmers who tried to achieve their goals by participating in time trials.

 

Our swimmers swam so well that we were able to qualify swimmers in each age division for at least relays at TAGS and we really dominated some of the senior events while making several Sectional time standards in both men and women’s events.  Congratulations to all those listed below.  The names that are in italics indicate those swimmers who won at least one individual event in this championship meet.

 

Amanda Arrington (16), Meg Austin (14), Ellyn Baker (12), John Bannon (15), Bri Barfield (16), Caroline Barnett (15), Spindrift Beck (13), Tori Beckman (14), Luke Blaylock (9), Morgan Bowser (14), Byron Carlisle (17), Colin Carpenter (15), Lance Carriaga (16), Lesile Clampitt (18), Kenneth Clark-Fernandez (14), Kelsey Craggett (13), Julia Cuaderes (11), Megan Daniel (15), Clark Davis (15), Hannah Ferrin (13), Timmy French (16), Eric Futscher (9), Melanie Futscher (14), Stephanie Futscher (16), Amy Geis (17), Beth Geis (17), Des Godfrey (11), Meredith Grubb (16), Emma Gunning (15), Kate Gunning (17), Clint Hallum (15), Courtney Hamiliton (17), Bolton Harris (13), Tanner Harris (10), Brittany Harvey-Lemons (15), Kelsey Hendricks (14), Meredith Higgins (14), Katie Ische (14), Alexandra Jennings (15), Leah Jones (12), Malin Kenny (12), Christie Kimm (14), Grace Kittle (15), Fernando Lara (12), Reagan Marshall (17), Stephanie Martin (14), Kristin Masters (14), Travis McDaniel (16), Meredith Monroe (15), Dani Morlan (15), Erin Morrison (17), Jordan Newman (12), Alex Oldenkamp (16), Patchi Ravi (14), Delaney Rolfe (12), Lauren Roth (14), Nicholas Saliba (13), Kyle Savage (14), Jessica Shaw (18), Michael Smalley (16), Erin Smith (14), Maddie Steiner (15), Alicia Stevens (15), Bailey Thompson (15), Casey Watters (10), Jake Watters (9), Keegan Watters (12), Meaghan Watters (14), Alex Weber (13), Catia Weickgenant (13), Burke Wiggins (14), and Robert Withers (16).

 

We Need Your Help!

Yup, it’s that time again! On October 8-10th, we’re hosting the best BB/B/C Invitational meet once more – The Haunted Hat Short Course Invitational! Jim Cuaderes is our meet director and will be posting information at the pools regarding his volunteer needs. He will also have sign-up sheets at the picnic (Sunday, September 26th from 4-6 p.m) and at the mock meet (Tuesday, October 5th), so be sure to seek him out and volunteer to help out.

This meet, along with others later in the season, is one of our main sources of income for the team. Please help us make it a success by supporting us with your volunteer help! Thanks.

Silver II – What is it?  How do I qualify for it?

 

A couple of years ago, we added another group at HP and named it Silver II.  It consisted primarily of those Silver Group swimmers who had competed at TAGS in individual events and could handle less “wall-time” and a bit more intensity.  It also allowed us to have more room in our late Silver group, giving us a more manageable group size during the winter season at HP.

 

The Silver II group meets Monday thru Friday 4:30-6:30 PM at HP.  Since the Gold Group at this location already uses most of the pool during this time period, entrance into the Silver II group has been limited.  At the moment, the group is full. Please understand that admission into this group is by invitation only, by the Head Age Group Coach, Doug Moyse. It is based on performance and not on the convenience of scheduling. At the moment, it is full. 

 

When there is room to accommodate more swimmers in the future, it will be for those swimmers twelve and under who make TAGS time standards and exhibit the work ethic and desire necessary for success in this group. Those swimmers who are currently in the group and are over twelve years of age will be “grandfathered-in” and are being encouraged to get their three 13-14 age group BB time standards. This will allow them to join the Gold Group at HP. It is not necessary for kids to be in Silver II before they eventually progress through the Mustang program from Bronze up to the National Group. Any questions should be directed to Doug Moyse.

 

Buddy Family Program

 

Thank you to the families that have agreed to help out again this year with our buddy family program and welcome to all the new families. The purpose of the program is to help the new families’ transition to the Mustangs, as either first time year round swimmers or as transfers from other teams, to be as smooth as possible.  Under this program, our volunteers will be assigned to several new families.  If you choose to volunteer, your responsibilities would be to contact your swimmers, introduce them to other swimmers, parents or coaches, answer any questions they may have, help them fill out swim meet forms, explain what to expect from their first meet, what equipment they may need, etc.  We still need several more volunteers, so if you are interested in helping or if you have any questions about the program, please contact Donna Watters at 214-890-0227 or at watters7@sbcglobal.net  

  

Swim-A-Thon Announcement (and revised date)

 

Please mark your calendars for this important event!  This year’s Swim A Thon will be completely different from years past, and its success depends on every Mustang swimmer participating.  No more drudgery of swimming 200 laps over the course of two different nights at three different locations. This year, we are going to have a party!!   Get ready for a fun-filled evening of swimming for the entire team (parents included) at Loos.  The new date is Monday, October 25th, and the time will be 5:30 – 7:30. Preliminary plans are for the Bronze and Silver groups to swim their Swim A Thon laps from 5:30-6:30, while the Gold and National swimmers cheer them on and serve as lap counters.  The Gold and National swimmers will swim from 6:30 – 7:30, while Bronze and Silver cheer and count for them.  The Swim A Thon committee is even discussing plans for a designated “Parent lane” for parents who want to stay fit and show your support for the team!   Music, games, and refreshments will make the evening special.  Again, the success of the Swim A Thon depends on every single Mustang participating, both by raising money and by coming to Loos on Monday, October 25th to swim (and party!) 

 

Social News

 

The annual Dallas Mustangs Team Picnic is scheduled for Sunday, September 26th from 4-6 p.m at Curtis Park. Every Mustang swimmer and their family is invited and encouraged to attend this catered barbeque picnic. It's a great chance for all swimmers, especially the new members to meet fellow swimmers and their coaches. Fliers with details are at all the pools. Don't delay as reservations are required. Please contact Maryann Martin at social@dmswim.com with questions.

 

Dallas Mustangs Team Picnic 2003 – lots to eat and loads of fun!

 

Mock Meet 

 

We will have our annual Mock Meet at Loos on October 5th. All swimmers should plan to be there by 5:30pm – there will not be any workouts at any of the other pools. There will be a parent meeting especially for those parents who are new to the team, at 5:30pm. The fun (the meet) will begin at 6:30 and will last approximately one hour. If you have never attended one of our mock meets you are missing out! Swimmers from all of the groups are divided by our head coach Mook Rhodenbaugh, into 8 different teams. Each swimmer has an opportunity to swim a couple of sprint swims and the team displaying the best team spirit, wins the mock meet. Hidden in the competition are the goals to unify the team, encourage swimmers from the various pools and groups to mingle, and to introduce “rooky” swimmers to the format of a swim meet. D&J Sports (apparel supplier) will be at the pool as well, with a variety of practice suits and other swimming items for sale. Please make every effort to participate – it’s guaranteed to be loads of fun!

 

Here are a few photos from last year’s mock meet:

 

Miscellaneous Items of Interest

 

Open Tryouts

Spread the word to your friends at school, at church, at sporting events...whatever gathering you choose! The Dallas Mustangs has open tryouts for new swimmers on Tuesdays at 5:30pm at both HP and Loos pools and at CFB pool at 4:30pm.

Supplies at HP

Swimmers who need basic supplies or who want to submit forms to order our supplies from D&J’s should speak with Ronda Ferrin. Ronda (aka Hannah Ferrin’s mom) has graciously volunteered to “man” the supply orders from Monday-Friday from 4:30-6:30pm. If you are new to the HP pool and don’t know Ronda, just ask one of the coaches (before practice begins) to introduce you to her.