HLA Swimmers are Making a Splash . . .

2010 Long Course Summaries

OWSC Summer Classic
The first meet of the summer proved to be a good one with 22 swimmers driving up to Omaha to compete in the OWSC Summer Classic. We had several swimmers competing long course for the first time and more swimming new events for the first time. Hats off to Emily Whipple, Ellie Walstad and Allie Vanek for swimming the 400 Free for the first time! Our swimmer of the meet went to Carter Lyons for dropping a total of 97.56 seconds over 5 events and making 5 13/14 D-1 cuts out of his 7 swims. Congratulations Carter!

Aqua Shock Summer Sizzler
Our annual trip to Derby, Kansas proved to be a fun and fast meet for the second year in a row. 16 swimmers went down to compete, each walking away with a season best time. Our swimmer of the meet went to Sara Meyer who swam 9 events over the weekend and went 8 for 9 best times and dropped 22 seconds in the 200 IM. Congratulations Sara!

Cornhusker State Games
A rain soaked weekend resulted in a few less swims than we were hoping for, but none the less, resulted in a great turn out and even better swims. 34 swimmers came out for the weekend and everyone posted at least one personal best or season best time. With only one full day of competition, our swimmer of the meet went to Blake Costello. Blake dropped 32 seconds in the 200 IM, 8 in the 100 Back and another 11 to qualify for D-1s in the 100 Free. Congratulations Blake!

Lincoln Quad Meet
Not to be out done by the weather from the Cornhusker State Games, the four teams from Lincoln put on a one day meet to make up for lost swims. Several swimmers were trying events for the first time in the long course pool while many more went 3 for 3 best times in the session. Allie Vanek walked out with the best meet for the weekend. Allie went 3 for 3 best times and dropped a total of 23.98 seconds. Congratulations Allie!

Snow Fox Summer Invitational
Long sessions did not seem to deter the 13 swimmers who traveled to Sioux Falls, SD from having another good meet. We had two new members to HLA travel to South Dakota to swim their first long course meet of their careers. (Alexis & Alyssa Johnson) Everyone swam to a season or personal best time. Swimmer of the meet went to Alexa Goldenstein who went 5 for 6 best times, beat several 11-12 boys in the meets mixed gender event format (top 3 overall 100 Breaststroke) and qualified for Zones in the 200 IM. Congratulations Alexa!

Region VIII Sectional Championship
HLA took 5 athletes and a has-been (yes, Coach Erik swam relays…) to Columbia, MO for the Sectional Championships at the University of Missouri. Each of the 5 swimmers came home with a personal best time, but the swimmer of the meet competition was one to behold. Aaron Henry and Alexis Altmaier went back and forth, trading outstanding swims in which proved to be the best long course meets of their careers. In the end, Alexis was not to be out done by her male counterpart. Alexis went 6 for 6 best times, dropping a total of 92.88 seconds, and breaking 3 HLA 13/14 girls records. Aaron re-broke 3 of his own records while breaking two more in his return from his first year at Missouri State. Congrats to Alexis, Aaron, Ryan Bubb, Dylan Woldt and Matt Delisi for having a great meet.

Midwestern Swimming D-1 Qualifier
While Coach Erik was floundering in Columbia, MO, the rest of the team was focusing on finishing the season. 17 swimmers competed at the D-1 qualifier at Hitchcock Pool in Omaha, NE. Many swimmers were finishing the end of a great summer season and several others were looking to extend their summer of swimming by qualifying for the D-1 Championship meet. 7 swimmers posted D-1 qualifying times and 61 best times were achieved by the end of the weekend. The swimmer of the meet was a tie between William Addy and Michaela Feeney. Will went 6 for 7, qualifying for D-1s in 3 events while Michaela went 6 for 6, qualifying in 2. Congratulations to Will, Michaela and everyone who swam this weekend!

D-1 Championships
26 individual qualifiers swam at this Summer’s D-1 championship and of those, all 26 had at least one season best time and accumulated 71 personal best times. HLA also had 3 individual event champions (Alexis Altmaier, Alexa Goldenstein and Shelby Mullendore) during the weekend. Swimmer of the meet went to Elizabeth Weinmaster. Elizabeth went 7 for 7 personal bests, scored top 16 in 5 of them and contributed to all 4 11/12 girls relays. Congratulations to Liz and everyone who swam for HLA this summer!

14 & Under Central Zone Championship
With the regular season over, HLA turned its attention to being part of the crew hosting the Central Zone Meet at Woods Pool. HLA had 4 qualifiers, Alexis Altmaier, Alexa Goldenstein, Alex Kuszak and Shelby Mullendore. These 4 represented HLA well, each posting a season best or personal best and collecting 15 total top-16 finishes. The two biggest highlights of the weekend were Alexa being on the 11/12 Girls 3rd place 400 Free Relay and Shelby swimming on the 10 & Under Central Zone Champion 200 Free Relay. After that meet was finished, Alexis and Shelby tested their talents in the open water swim at Branched Oak Lake. Alexis finished 12th in the 13/14 girls division and Shelby finished 5th in the 10&U girls division. Congratulations to all four of you for a great 14 & under season finale!

USA Swimming Speedo Junior National Championships
Ryan Bubb was our lone qualifier to this year’s Junior Nationals. The meet was held in Irvine, California, home of Olympic Champion Aaron Peirsol. Ryan posted season best times in all three of his swims, 50 Free, 100 Free and 100 Fly. Ryan also was a consolation finalist in the 100 Fly. Ryan is moving on this fall to The Ohio State University where he will swim in hopes to win a Big 10 Championship and qualify for the NCAA Championship Meet in March. We wish Ryan the best and look forward to seeing the results of all of his work during his time at Heartland Aquatics.

Thanks to all Heartland Aquatics coaches, swimmers, and families for a great long course season!!!

2009-2010 Heartland Aquatics Short Course Awards

8 & Under
Outstanding Swimmer	Austin Schneider	Jillian Altmaier
Most Improved Swimmer	Vincent Roux	Marti Walstad
9 & 10
Outstanding Swimmer	Conor Kearns	Sydney Schneider
Most Improved Swimmer	Ben Dorsey	Clara Walstad
11 & 12
Outstanding Swimmer	Carter Lyons	Alexa Goldenstein
Most Improved Swimmer	Will Addy	Allie Vanek
13 & 14
Outstanding Swimmer	Alex Kuszak	Alexis Altmaier
Most Improved Swimmer	Hayden Holechek	Rachel Nissen
Thunder Award
Emily Whipple
Special Lifetime Recognition Award
The Bubb Family

Note: Complete results for meets can be found in the Results & Records section.