All athletes experience highs and
lows at some point in their competitive sporting career. Lock Haven’s
10-and-under girls have been on this rollercoaster ride in championship
swimming the past couple weeks.
The
low feeling came two weeks ago at the first event of the YMCA Central District
meet, the 200 yard medley relay. The girls were seeded 7th and were
pumped for the upcoming race as top six automatically qualified for YMCA
States. And hard-charging the foursome were as the finished in the four
spot. The excitement was quickly crushed as an official notified the team
that they had been disqualified on one of the relay starts. Spirits were dashed temporarily.
But
as the meet progressed, the 10-and-under girls saw that they were hanging with
some of the elite programs and were placing high in their events. The day’s extreme high waited in the wings
until the very last event, the 200 freestyle relay. The foursome of Ana
Persun, Kate Butzler, Camryn Bair, and Lilyann Gugino were aggressive enough to
not only win but break the meet record by 1.5 seconds. In addition, enough points were accumulated throughout
the day that the girls won their age group.
Fast
forward to this past weekend with YMCA States at Penn State’s McCoy
Natatorium. Every coach worries about a
letdown after some monumental achievement or win but Lock Haven’s Jim Merinar
was pretty optimistic. “Not only were my
10-and-under girls positive and sharp the past two weeks of practice, but as
were the other 24 State qualifiers”, he said.
“I knew these girls could carry the momentum from Districts into this
State meet”.
That
momentum into States had to wait a bit as the 10-and-under girls watched team
after team swim the 200 medley relay. It
was only the very next event, the 200 freestyle that Lock Haven started to make
up lost ground.
While
Bair was seeded 5th, she quickly moved into third after the start and held that
position for the first 100 yards. In the
next 50 yards, she passed Bellefonte’s Katie Rarrick to trail behind the
leader; Greater Johnstown’s Sasha Innis.
A great burst of speed in the last 50 yards was enough to propel her to
a win by .38 seconds. “I wasn’t nervous
and just wanted to drop time”, said Bair.
“I was on the outside lane and was able to see everyone. I just sped up and went faster as we got
closer to the end.”
 |
| Top
12 finishers of the 200 yard freestyle.
Winner Lock Haven’s Camryn Bair upper, far right and Bellefonte’s Katie Rarrick (4th) upper row, fourth from the right. |
The
same 200 freestyle didn’t sit too well with Rarrcik. “I didn’t do well and felt sluggish”, she
said. She finished fourth and was
looking up the podium stairs to Lock Haven’s Bair. “I told my coach that I didn’t like looking up
at anybody”, said Rarrick. She soon got
her chance to back up those thoughts in her signature event, the 100
backstroke. Seeded first, she held off hard charging Sarah Fox of Upper Main
Line YMCA to win by half a second. “I
knew people were coming after me,” she said, “I needed to go faster as I could
tell the competitors were close”.
Lock
Haven’s 10-and-under girls had outstanding swims throughout the day as each one
produced points and several podium finishes.
But it was their last event of the day, the 200 yard freestyle that put
an exclamation point on their season. Lock
Haven was seeded in the two spot behind Corry YMCA. But the girls were able to cobble together
fast enough times to easily beat Corry by 2.73 seconds. “Lock Haven hasn’t won a State YMCA relay in
31 years”, said coach Merinar. “My
recollection is a little fuzzy with age but I can’t recall the girls ever
winning a State relay in our long swimming history”.
While
the girls were able to beat Corry YMCA in the final relay, they were unable to
amass enough points to unseat their lead and placed second in their age group
(out of 36 teams).
Full results can be found here.
No comments:
Post a Comment