Pre-Florida Training

It has been quite a busy month. Not only did we have the Christmas break (and all the cookies that go along with it) I purchased and moved into my first house. It has monopolized a majority of my time and I feel as though I have neglected my loyal blog readers (Mr. E). Don't worry ... I will make it up to you.

We arrived back on campus on the 28th and our pool was a bit chilly and remained not super warm until our last practice this morning. It inspired the rallying cry "Florida on Friday". (as we are taking our training trip to Cocoa Beach from the 2nd - 10th ... more on that in future posts).

I was fairly pleased with the overall conditioning of the team ... a few could be in better shape, but the majority showed up ready to go. We finished out the mini-training camp with the not so famous set ... "Swim until you die"

Here is how you do it ... swim a distance (for us it was 100's) at a starting interval (for us it was 2:00) and subtract :01 from the interval after each one until failure.

Here are the intervals / send offs for all my coaching homeslices (mike laubacher) Hope the spacing is okay.

(X:XX) <:YY>
X = interval
Y = send off

2:00<:00>
1:59<:59>
1:58<:57>
1:57<:54>
1:56<:50>
1:55<:45>
1:54<:39>
1:53<:32>
1:52<:24>
1:51<:15>
1:50<:05>
1:49<:54>
1:48<:42>
1:47<:29>
1:46<:15>
1:45<:00>
1:44<:44>
1:43<:27>
1:42<:09>
1:41<:50>
1:40<:30>
1:39<:09>
1:38<:47>
1:37<:24>
1:36<:00>
1:35<:35>
1:34<:09>
1:33<:42>
1:32<:14>
1:31<:45>
1:30<:15>
1:29<:44>
1:28<:12>
1:27<:39>
1:26<:05>
1:25<:30>
1:24<:54>
1:23<:17>
1:22<:38>
1:21<:59>
1:20<:19>
1:19<:38>
1:18<:56>
1:17<:13>
1:16<:29>
1:15<:44>
1:14<:58>
1:13<:11>
1:12<:23>
1:11<:34>
1:10<:44>
1:09<:53>
1:08<:01>
1:07<:08>
1:06<:14>
1:05<:19>
1:04<:23>
1:03<:26>
1:02<:28>
1:01<:29>
1:00<:29>
:59<:30>

GCC recap

The snow and ice made for a long drive back (hence the non-update lasts night).

Ahsley had a very good showing swimming back to back in the 400IM and 100fly. A good way to finish up the first semester.

Amanda didn't come away with an 'A' cut ... but did secure season best times in all 3 events. The 100 back was a soild 'B' cut, as well as a meet & pool record. The 200 back was good for the first 100, but the lack of being able to train caught up with her.

Both Ashley and Amanda agree that this would be a good meet for the team, so if the academic calendar works out in our favor (with an extra week before finals...not like this year) we will see if we can bring everyboday.

friday-night

Long drive today with a pit stop to eat a good lunch at the RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Roadhouse in Clarion. I enjoyed way too much food while Ashley got some chunks of chicken (no really, they were literally chunks) and Amanda got her traditional rib meal (see NCAA trip posts)

We arrived early enough to check in and relax for a short spell before going to the pool. Even with just 2 swimmers GCC gave us a seating section. not the best seats in the house, but i was expecting to cram in somewhere so no complants. We had to wach some diving finish up (oh the fun that was) before the pool opened up. Once it did both Ashley and Amanda were in there ready to go.

Meet started on time and for the swim dorks (like myself) out there we witnessed a really soild swim by the GCC men's 200 free relay. Breaking their school record from 2006 (which was the national title swim - i think)...the anchor split a 19.56.

Ashley was first up in the 200 im (after some rather lenghty 500's) and had a pretty good swim. A tad slower than the IUP swim, but everything (except breaststroke) looked really sharp. She should swim pretty well tomorrow in the 400 im and 100 fly (doing the tough gal back to back!)

Amanda had the 50 free and her dive/streamline/head position was pretty not good...but still managed a soild 24.9 ... missing the 'b' cut, but for with it being her first race in awhile I am okay with it. I am confident she can do well in the backstrokes tomorrow.

The 'a' cut in the 100 is 58.09 and she will have to be a 28.19 or faster to make it happen tomorrow ... the 200 is a 2:05.99 ... she will have to not die like a champ to make it happen. Should be fun to watch.

DINNER ... yesssss, was at "my brother's place" ... and speaking of my brother, this restaurant was one of my favorites when I was in Grad School & coaching SRU ... and I have a great story involving my brother at my brothers place. problem is it is PG-13 so I wont be able to share it. If you MUST know...email me.

bed time.

Will update y'all tomorrow night when we return to Lock Haven

~don't forget to check the results tomorrow on GCCinvitational.com

( I will also fix whatever spelling mistakes/typos tomorrow night)

GCC Invite

We are headed to Grove City College this weekend. Amanda Terray had an academic commitment during the IUP invite and couldn't attend, so this will be her 'mini-rest' meet. Ashley Gardner is looking to take advantage of the extra opportunity to get some racing in.

We (when I say we I really mean them) will be swimming at 6:00pm friday / 10am saturday & again at 6pmish on Saturday. I won't get to blog saturday's events until we return to Lock Haven.

For results (including LIVE TIMING) go to:

http://www.gccinvitational.com/

54 minute practice

After a long Thanksgiving break we have been back in the pool training hard. The women wanted to support the men's basketball team at this evenings game. In an effort to have 100% participation I told the team that if they all go we will have a 54 minute practice. I am sure most were expecting to do 54 minutes in the deep end, I opted for a little different approach.

Here it was...

All @ 1:00

5 x 50 warm up
2 x 75 fast
4 x 50 im order
3 x 75 fast
3 x 50 5 / 3 / 1 breath
1 x 25 easy
3 x 75 fast
1 x 25 easy
6 x 50 kick
1 x 25 easy
2 x 50 AO dive
1 x 50 easy
2 x 50 AO dive
1 x 25 easy
4 x 75 fast
2 x 25 easy
5 x 50 kick
1 x 25 easy
3 x 50 AO dive
2 x 50 WD
1 x 25 WD
1 x 50 choice

2800

Day 3

I only have about 3 minutes as I have high jacked (IUP) Coach Villa's computer to report to our loyal readers that Kasey Campbel just broke the 1650 freestyle team record with a time of 18:29.01.

This breaks Virginia's future teacher of the year, Katie Grieneisen's, record of 18:34.06.

She was 11:14.33 to her feet in the 1000 which is good enough for 3rd on our all time top performers list in that event.

More to come...

UPDATE

We are back in Lock Haven ... after what seemed to be a longer than normal drive back. Our cars met us with a wonderful coating of snow.

The fun didn't stop after Kasey's 1650 ...Our backstrokers all swam respectable 2nd swims. Sam Durham just missed her first qualfying mark in the 100 free by .03 seconds...ugh. (more on this later) Brittany Williams dropped a good .7 from her morning swim! Rachel Vagnoni swam a fairly identical race in the 200 breaststroke. Amanda Palmer had another soild swim in the 200 fly.

Janel Kinard also learned a lot from her first ever 200 fly swim ... in finals she went out about 2 seconds slower only to come back about 7 seconds faster in the 2nd 100. Great swim.

We then time trialed the 200 free relay to give Sam another chance at PSAC's in the 50. This time she left no doubt by going a 25.44 (the cut time is 25.60).

We finished up with the 400 free relays giving everyone (except our 2 flyers, time trialers & Bailey :-) ) one last swim to finish out the weekend.

Time to go get caught up on a lot of TiVo and a small ton of emails.

Still Day 2

Day 2 Headline type news ..

PSAC Qualifier
Amanda Palmer – 400 im
4:551.07
Amanda Palmer – 100 butterfly
1:02.62

New All Time Top 5
Amanda Palmer – 400 im (2nd)
(actually ties her previous time)

PRELIMS (3 of 6)
We had 18 races this morning and 15 of them were season best times. Pretty awesome statistic. Amanda Palmer qualifyied for PSAC’s in the 400 im.

LUNCH
Coach Pat volunteered his volunteer assistant to go back to the Super 8 to pick up 18 fire mountain coupons (along with 17 for his team) that saved us $3ish a person. Nothing beats that Fire Mountain Buffet (minus the dessert bar that is off limits). GREAT DEAL today.

FINALS (4 or 6)
200 MEDLEY RELAY
was a great way to start the evening … some really fast swims by everyone not swimming the 400im.

400 IM
The 400 im kicked off the night of individual swims… Meghan Grenier swam in a heat with some dude (who qualified 7th) she held her own dropping 2 seconds from her morning swim. Ashley Gardner, added a few seconds and Amanda Palmer dropped a few tenths for a 4:52.07 … which ties her time from PSAC’s last year.

100 FLY
Amanda Palmer popped a 1:02.62 (a PSAC cut) and just missed taking the world famous Gerda off of the All Time Top 5 list. Sam, & Janel both dropped time from their prelim swims.

200 FREE
Kasey Campbell gets the most improved morning to night swim in the 200…dropping about 4 seconds and looking a lot less tired while doing so. Amazing what a good warm up does for her. Erin & Ali both had soild swims that saw them dropping about 2 seconds. Not bad.

100 BREAST
In the prelims there was a break after the 200 free … after asking a mis-infofmed official of there was a break (he said yes). I then told our girls not to worry there would be some time to get ready to swim. Turns out there was no break and the 3 breaststrokers had to rush up to the blocks. It was a bit of a stinker b/c none of them improved from the morning swim.

100 BACK
Nicole & Ashley had good swims staying about the same or going up just a hair. Turns looked a little weak tonight … we will have to work on that.

50 FREE TIME TRIAL
Sam Durham time trialed the 50 free along with Rachel Vagnoni & Brittany Williams. Sam just missed the PSAC qualifying time, but all 3 women had smoking fast season best times … better then yesterday!

800 FREE RELAY
We didn’t enter this relay for the same reasons we didn’t swim the 400 medley relay.

DINNER
Ruby Tuesdy to go … complete with some chips and queso (no comparison to texas queso). Pack time … earlier wake up call tomorrow.

No internet access tomorrow until we are back in Lock Haven … SO, I will provided a report tomorrow (Sunday afternoon at the latest).

"When you hear a whistle go faster"

Day 1 Headline type news ..

PSAC Qualifier
Kasey Campbell – 500 freestyle
5:22.37

New All Time Top 5
Kasey Campbell – 500 free (3rd)
Amanda Palmer – 200 im (5th)

Prelims (1 of 6)
There is a lot report on this session … of the 17 swims we had this morning 14 were season best time. We qualified swimmer or swimmers for finals in each event. I was extremely pleased with the first session ... we talked a lot about the importance of warming up and warming down.

Lunch was Subway … one of the more efficient trips with a large group I have ever been too. However, the speed of service came a the great sacrifice of the quality of the sub. Oh well, it happens.

Finals (2 of 6)
Our 200 free relay kicked off the evening (the relays are timed finals only)…Bailey Reitz shined through with a great lead of leg dropping about 7 tenths of a second from the prelim … our A relay of Sam Durham, Brittany Williams, Amanda Palmer & Kasey Campbell placed 3rd.

In the 500 freestyle, Freshman Kasey Campbell placed 2nd with a PSAC qualifying time of 5:22.37 (also places her 3rd on our All Time Top 5 performers list. Erin McCracken and Shannon Samanka swam consols, finishing in about the same times as the morning. Becky Fountaine dropped 5 seconds from her morning swim in the bonus heat.

Amanda Palmer placed 6th in the 200 IM with a time that places her 5th on our All Time Top 5 Performers list. She was a little over 3 seconds faster than her morning swim, just missing her lifetime best.

The 50 freestyle had a LHU swimmer in each of the 3 heats. Sam Durham, Brittany Williams & Rachel Vagnoni were all with in 3 tenths of there morning time. Sam is just 2 tenths off of the PSAC cut time and is inching closer. We will probably shoot for a time trial tomorrow or Saturday to give it another shot … depends on how the rest of the meet goes for her.

The 400 medley relay concluded the evening…the coaching staff decided at lunch that we would benefit from a little more rest, therefore we scratched all 3 of our relays and the points that went with them.

If I have said it once, I have said it a million times … I am always more concerned with performance over points ... in the long run good performances will take care of the points.

After a delicious dinner at Eat n Park (don’t worry Mr E … NO smiley face cookies!) we headed back to the hotel and although we missed the first 6 minutes of Grey’s it was a very good evening.

Made a quick run (or freezing walk in the snow) to wal mart to pick up some juice, bananas, bagels and skittles (those were for me). Spending the rest of the evening watching the Steelers game and season finale of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia with Coach Pat is a good way to finish day 1.

IUP Invite ~ Travel Day

We made it to IUP rather uneventfully ... no major traffic, no major weather. Knock on wood we get the same luck driving home on Saturday (go buckeyes).

We checked into the hotel and after about 15 minutes headed out to for a warm up swim. We didn't get to swim in the competition pool b/c of some 'minor' repairs being done (have no fear we will be okay for tomorrow ... knock on wood). We swam for about 60 minutes then ate a wonderful meal at the Fire Mountain Buffet. Yummy & Delish!

Quick team meeting then a quick run to Wally World to get some supplemental breakfast items with Coach Pat of Fairmont State (my alma mater).

More on Coach Pat later ... if I get some time I will share the story of when/how we managed to get 2 school vans stuck together...oh yes, stuck together.

8:15am wake up call tomorrow.

More LHU Cowbell...

"This is a sounding device event" ... famous last words of the officials during our home dual meets. There is a long an interesting story to how I came into possession of our "sounding device" but to protect the innocent (and/or guilty) I will keep the story confidential...at least for the time being.

to be continued...

TRAVEL DAY TO IUP ...

CHECK BACK FOR EVENING UPDATES

Set of (Last) Week

Here is a 'fun' set we did about 10 days ago.

3 x 25 @ :25
3 x 50 @ :50
3 x 75 @ 1:15
3 x 100 @ 1:40
3 x 125 @ 2:05
3 x 150 @ 2:30
3 x 175 @ 2:55
3 x 200 @ 3:20

Descending each set of 3.
(1=ez/mod
(2=85/95%
(3=AO Max effort

IUP & KU

Yesterday’s competition was an out of the ordinary meet for us. We had Kutztown & Indiana University of PA, 2 strong co-ed PSAC schools, come to Lock Haven to swim a women’s double dual meet and a traditional dual meet for their men’s programs.

We started our day with the traditional 9am wake up swim…and the re-issuance of bright white caps. Those white caps never seem to last too long before fading…so for each swim meet we provide a new one … with the old ones making there way to the practice cap pile. (our meet suit is solid maroon and it would be near impossible to match a maroon cap with that suit … so we don’t have a choice, but it is all good).

The order of events was the ‘long’ version that offers a 200 & 100 of each stroke…with 2 heats of women ( allowing 4 racers per team, rather than 2). The meet lasted about 45 minutes longer than I had anticipated, but that is okay.

Throughout the meet, KU broke 3 pool records in the meet and LHU’s Amanda Terray re-set her 100 backstroke pool record (also a B cut). After looking through the meet results (during home meets I rely on Katie and Joel to do the split taking … they did an awesome job) I was particularly impressed how consistent the women raced. I am confident that with a few more days of rest leading up to the IUP invite they will all swim lights out!

East Stroudsburg

Our home opening dual meet started at 9am with a wake up swim…everybody loves the wake up swim (only a slight hint of sarcasm there). We did a 2,000ish warm up which ended with a few sprints from the block. The women headed out to return at 11:45amish.

Katie, Joel & myself spent the down time running various errands and watching some high quality YouTube clips. (thank goodness for wireless internet in Zimm).

We got the team back in the water around noon…swam a more specific type warm up and got out of the water about 40 minutes later.

We talked a lot about how this meet was going to be won with the 3rd, 4th & 5th place points. It was a fair prediction…we started with the 200 medley relay, a great race seeing Kasey Campbell coming back from about 3.5 seconds to out touch the ESU swimmer and securing 2nd place. (ESU 13 / LHU 4)

Shannon Samanka, Erin McCracken & Becky Fountaine cruised to a 1-2-3 finish in the 1000. (ESU 16 / LHU 20)

The 200 free saw a great back and forth race with Kasey Campbell just getting out touched for a 2nd place. Ali Schaefer & Shannon Wilbur picked up the valuable 4th & 5th place points. (ESU 28 / LHU 27)

The 50 free was another fantastic race with Sam Durham, Brittany Williams, & Rachel Vagnoni taking 2nd, 3rd, & 4th. All with great times … (ESU 38 / LHU 36)

The 400 IM saw the ESU swimmer break the LHU pool record and the LHU swimmers race really well. Amanda Palmer, Janel Kinard & Meghan Grenier took the 2nd, 3rd & 4th place … with Meghan having a really gutsy race to finish strong. (ESU 48 / LHU 45)

After a short break the 100 fly was swum by Amanda Palmer, Rachel Vagnoni & Janel Kinard … with Palmer & Kinard swimming the tough back to back. It was another 2-3-4 finish. (ESU 58 / LHU 54)

The 100 freestyle was another awesome race with freshman Sam Durham coming from behind to out touch the ESU swimmer by .03 seconds. Brittany Williams and Erin McCracken swam great races to put us in the lead. (ESU 65 / LHU 66)

The 100 backstroke had 3 really big time drops with Ashley Gardner, Nicole Faulstick and Ali Schaefer placing 2nd, 4th and 6th. (ESU 78 / LHU 72)

The 500 was another 1-2-3 LHU finish. Kasey Campbell, Shannon Samanka & Becky Fountaine scoring big points. (ESU 81 / LHU 88)

The 100 breaststroke had 2nd, 4th and 5th place finish. This was a great race by Rachel Vagnoni, Amanda Palmer & Brittany Williams … all had awesome last 25’s! (ESU 93 / LHU 95)

The 400 free relay was another close finish with LHU placing 2nd & 3rd.

Final Score (ESU 104 / LHU 101).

Although we lost by 3 points I can honestly say the atmosphere in the bleachers was electric … our men’s basketball team was out in full force leading the way. Also in attendance was LHU swimming legend...the former Tatiana Patakyova.

The team was a little bummed by not winning, but it sure wasn’t for lack of effort. Even with the hard/intense workouts we had this week…EVERY SINGLE swim we had was a season best time. Not to bad.

Set of the Week

Here is a good set we recently did ...

4 rounds
100
2 x 50
100
2 x 25

round 1
@ 1:40
@ :40 AO
@ 1:40
@ :20 AO

round 2
@ 1:20 AO
@ :45
@ 1:20 AO
@ :30

round 3
@ 1:20 AO
@ :40 AO
@ 1:40
@ :30

round 4
@ 1:40
@ :45
@ 1:20 AO
@ :20 AO

Mansfield

Our first dual meet of the year was a Saturday morning trip to Mansfield. (only about 75 minutes up the road)

Donny the bus driver was there right on time and after a dunkin doughnuts breakfast (no doughnuts) we were on the way. The DVD of choice (brought by me) was The Legend of Bagger Vance … after it started, the ipods came out and the eyes shut. I have never been much of a sleeper on the bus…but some how some way the women always seem to crash out.

We arrived in plenty of time for a solid warm up...all decked out in our new logo’d swim camps. The women looked really sharp. Mansfield is in rebuilding mode with a new coach and only had a few women to race. We ended up exhibitioning the last 4 events to win the meet by a score of 90 to 59.

Highlight of the meet would have to be Amanda Palmer qualifying for the PSAC meet in the 200 fly…the earliest she has ever qualifed.

Swimmers who raced the same event last week in Clarion who dropped some time are:
Alison Schaefer in the 200 free going 3 seconds faster and 2 seconds faster in the 200 back.

Samantha Durham in the 50 free going .9 faster.

Shannon Samanka in the 200 im going 3 seconds faster and 10 seconds faster in the 500 free.

Janel Kinard in the 200 im going .1 faster (hey it counts)

Amanda Palmer was 2 seconds faster in the 200 fly.

Shannon Wilbur .04 faster in the 100 free (still counts)

Nicole Faulstick 2 seconds faster in the 200 back.

Ashley Gardner 1 second faster in the 200 back.

Halloween Practice

The traditional Halloween practice was a success … how could it not be? New practice caps (this year … new meet caps too) and a small ton of candy. (I dropped $50 bucks on some high quality sugar and 14 wonderful apples).

Before going too much further I need to give credit where credit is due … the halloween practice comes from my year as the Graduate Assistant coach at Slippery Rock University where the coach, Bob Ogoreuc, had been doing this practice for years. After I took over the Head Coaching position at SRU I invited Bob back as the guest coach and he gladly participated. After 2 years at SRU as the head coach I took the job at LHU and brought the tradition with me.

This is how it works … There is a water jug full of candy (aka the pumpkin) and before the practice begins each of the women receive a new orange or black practice cap (aka the pillow case). The coaches have a slip of paper for each one of the women on the team…saying one of three things. (1) CANDY (2) a mini set (TRICK) (3) or a game (TREAT) … when a slip of paper is drawn from the bag the women either get Candy, play a game or do the mini set.

Examples of what the slips of paper say (in addition to CANDY)
4 x 75 @ 1:00, 300 im, 10 x 25 @ :20
3 minute drag jump

a few of my favorites are…(inspired by watching Survivor)
“pick 2 people to swim a 100 fly with and the rest eat candy”
&
“pick 3 people to eat candy with you and the rest do a 100 fly”

Some of the games we do are sharks & minnows, duck duck goose, and the famous bob for apples (this year’s epic battle for the last apples came down to Nicole & Rachel). The picture a the top of the post shows Sam Durham with her apple.

(Sorry Mr E … I realize this is too much sugar for the team, but I assure you that with how hard they have been working they earned it)

Clarion Fall Classic

Our first ‘real’ swim meet of the season for the 4th year in a row was the Clarion Fall Classic. This is a really good meet to kick off the season because it offers every event that we compete in throughout the season except the 1000 & 800 free relay (but lucky for us the 1650 is offered … more on that event shortly).

The women had to sign up for a total of 6 events … the 1650 counted as 2 events. I was nice enough to surprise everyone by entering 4, 200 freestyle relays (the last event of the meet) … giving everyone an additional 50 freestyle.

We boarded a bus driven by Dave. After 2 uneventful hours we arrived at the Super 8 in Clarion. Not the classiest joint to stay at in Clarion but for the total amount of time spent there (+/- 12 hours) the price was right. (one room even came with a refrigerator that doubled as an air ‘freshener’ … the scent of a 3 week old salad is probably not a top selling scent). We unloaded bags and headed to the pool.

After a longer warm up than usual we settled in for the evening swimming. I told the women to focus more on effort rather than actual time. With how we trained all week I wasn’t expecting overly fast times … (a later comparison found that only 1 repeat swim from the year before, out of 14, was faster than the previous season … something I expected and am completely okay with)

Dinner was Vinny’s delivery … 4th year in a row and they didn’t disappoint. As we got started with dinner we were graced with the HBO showing of “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” … the Kevin James & Adam Sandler duo is quite hilarious.

Saturday morning had our 4 brave 1650 swimmers waking up earlier than everyone else, grabbing some breakfast and heading to the pool with myself. The remainder of the team got an extra 45 minutes of sleep and road over to the pool with Katie, arriving in time to watch the 1650.

After the day of swimming we boarded the bus and parked at the Clarion Wendys giving the team the choice of Wendys or Subway. For dessert we had multiple goody bags full of cookies and sugary snacks provided by several different swim team parents and supporters. All delicious stuff!!!

Finishing in the top 6 this weekend were…

~Amanda Terray (200 backstroke) 1st – 2:09.87
(PSAC cut time)
~Rachel Vagnoni (200 breaststroke) 4th – 2:46.83
~Amanda Terray (50 freestyle) 5th – 25.93
~Kasey Campbell (500 freestyle) 6th – 5:41.72
~Amanda Palmer (200 butterfly) 2nd – 2:201.30
~Kasey Campbell (1650 freestyle) 4th – 19:40.44
(all time top 5 performance ~ 5th)
~Amanda Terray (100 backstroke) 2nd – 1:00.94
(PSAC cut time)
~Amanda Palmer (400im) 3rd – 5:05.37
~Vagnoni, Durham, Campbell, Terray (200 fr rel) 4th

Next up is our Saturday morning trip to Mansfield.

Kick ‘til You Die

We do this swim set once or twice a year that is a 100 swim starting at 2:00…subtracting 1 second after each one…making # 2 on 1:59, #3 on 1:58 etc. going until the swimmer can’t make the interval anymore.

This morning we did all out kicking across the width of the pool starting on 1:00. I was really pleased with how the set went … started a little slow so next time we will be doing this with shoes and potentially adding something after the first 20 or so when the women are getting over :30 rest.

(note: we did this set morning after our hour of power … adding to the leg fatigue)

Dirty Dozen Minus 1 (with shoes)

We did the world (not so) famous hour of power / dirty dozen (minus 1) with shoes today…basically the women are in the deep end of the pool treading water. In small groups (we ended up with 4 groups) doing the dirty dozen.

Dirty Dozen consists of 1 press out, 1 push up, 1 full sit up for every width of the pool swum. The first time you do 1 of each, second time you do 2 of each, third time you do 3 of each … continuing on until you reach 12. (doing the dirty dozen minus 1, the final number is 11 … dirty bakers dozen is 13).

For today’s practice, when the women weren’t doing the dirty dozen they were in the water. Arms out of the water whenever anyone in the small group was out of the water. (which happens quite a bit in small groups)

All with shoes on … not an easy hour!

Crimson v. White

Saturday, October 11 was our 3rd annual Crimson v. White meet and it was glorious. Leading up to the meet we had a really great/hard week of practice.

While at the meet, I really enjoy seeing the women show some spirit and get up and cheer for each other. This year’s squad is a young one and I am hoping that the “team” we had this weekend continues to be the “team” we have throughout the season!! It will sure be fun to watch.

Before the meet I told the women to keep the focus on racing rather than the times. The best thing about the sport of swimming, in my humble opinion, is the racing aspect of it…there isn’t anything better.

We had 3 meet records broken...

Amanda Palmer broke 2 of them the first being the 100 fly with a time of 1:04.57 besting Ashley Lightcap’s previous time of 1:07.42 and the 200 im with a time of 2:26.70 besting Stephanie Kudrick’s previous time of 2:29.01.

Amanda Terray in the 100 free with a time of 58.23 besting Kelly Grieneisen’s previous time of 59.00. (note: Freshman Samantha Durham was also under the old record with her time of 58.89)

Coach Katie and Joel were in charge of dividing the teams and the returning swimmers were in charge of putting together the line up. Everybody did such a good job that the final score ended up being Crimson 44 / White 43. Good stuff!!

We have 2 really hard weeks of practice coming up leading up to our first ‘official’ meet @ Clarion.

Bulletin Board Contest

Katie, our graduate assistant, and I tried to “do the bulletin boards” last week…our efforts were met with disaster. After about 10 minutes and 2 attempts to put the paper on 1 of the 3 boards it became quite apparent that if we continued on the boards were going to look quite dreadful.

Then light bulb: lets make this a team building opportunity. That afternoon at practice we announced to the team that the next afternoons practice would consist of dryland and a bulletin board contest. The team was divided into not so even teams of 3 and each team picked a board and topic to cover. The topics were … records, quotes/motivation and information.

The prize is an exempt status from lane lines and first dibs on the dunkin doughnuts I provided after that morning’s workout.

The winning board (as selected by myself, Katie and Joel … our student assistant), by split decision, was the information board.

I have no shame going on record to say I couldn’t even come close to putting together the ‘masterpieces’ that were the team boards. Great work!!

(note: the crackberry cam doesn't do the boards justice!)

Set of the Week

Our first week of practice is all done! Most of the water workouts have revolved around some drilling and some easy swimming...nothing too fun to report in terms of actual sets. Outside of the pool we are trying to increase our fitness level. This year we are going to be doing a lot of jumping rope to help us with this.

SO...our first set of the week is the dryland workout we did Friday morning.

(conducted in a gym)

Jumping Rope
3 min steady jumping warm up

:15 AO jump
Sprint down/back
10 pushups

:30 AO jump
Sprint down/back
10 pushups

:45 AO jump
Sprint down/back
10 pushups

1:00 AO jump
Sprint down/back
10 pushups

3 min steady jumping warm down

Team Activity #1

We recently had our first team building activity. As previously mentioned our team is full of super new faces and we (as a team & coaches) are putting an emphasis on some early team building so the women will get to know each other before the “fun” begins. (fun being practice).

The afternoon started with some free time then we proceeded to have a “cook out” complete with Kentucky Fried Chicken. After the meal we did some name game type of activities. Which included the women writing some an interesting fact about themselves on an index card, which was then collected and read allowed and the team had to guess who’s fact it was. Some of the highlights include a standing back flip, freakishly double jointed shoulders, a whitewater rafting trip and almost being arrested.

The evening concluded with an old fashion egg toss…good stuff.

Week 1

Our first week of classes has come and gone. We ‘enjoyed’ our first team meeting (a shade over 90 minutes…I am a bit of a talker) followed by the next evenings NCAA meeting with the administration.

This was my 4th ‘welcome back’ team meeting and afterwards I couldn’t help but to think about the first one. There weren’t even enough people to fill up the seating at the picnic tables outside of Zimmerili. Last year we were able to sit on the benches in the hallway outside of the spectator seating in the pool. I naively thought we could go there again this year…I was wrong. We had to move to one of the gyms…(note: we should have moved to a classroom)

With a roster of 15 freshman, 4 sophomores, 4 juniors and 1 senior…(for the non-math majors that's a total of 24).

This year’s freshman class outnumbers any of the previous year’s entire roster!!

T-Minus 1 Week...

Greetings! It has been a super long time since our last season ended!!

I am awfully excited for the 2008-2009 season to get underway. We had a great building season last year and with a HUGE freshman class this year we should continue to see our program grow by leaps and bounds.

We have 1 week until our first team meeting.

Be sure to check back for more regular updates!

PSAC Rookie of the Year

The PSAC conference office has just announced their annual post season awards. Every year a male and female are named as Swimmer of the Year and Rookie of the Year. These awards are voted upon by the conference coaches.

Amanda Terray was named the 2008 PSAC Rookie of the Year after a great season and post season. In continuing with the season of firsts, this is our first ever conference post season award.

I also want to point out that Dave Rider who is retiring from coaching after “many” years of at the helm of the Bloomsburg women was named the Women’s Coach of the Year. Congratulations to Coach Rider.

The Monday After

First things first. Traveling back from Columbia couldn’t have gone smoother. Our flights were all on time or if you can believe it EARLY. We arrived in Cincinnati with about 45 minutes to spare and actually that flight left about 10 minutes late, giving our luggage a little extra time to make it to the plane.

We made it back to Lock Haven at decent hour...I unpacked, and promptly fell right asleep.

Finally ... after looking through our one HUGE posting for NCAA's I have decided to re-organize and re-post each day. Nothing new will be posted (eventually I may add a picture or 2) but it will be easier to go through and relive the week if it is better organized.

Day 8 ~ Travel Day

Our schedule (subject to change!) is as follows...
8:25am depart Columbia, MO
9:15am arrive Kansas City, MO
11:45am depart Kansas City, MO
2:30pm arrive Cincinnati, OH
3:00pm depart Cincinnati, OH
4:24pm arrive Harrisburg, PA

note: the 30 minute connection in Cincy...cross your fingers for us that we make it!!

Day 7 ~ 200 Backstroke

I knew today was going to be a good day when I bought a slightly overpriced mountain dew from the hotel pepsi machine and on the other side of the cap was a “buy 1 get 1 free” coupon.

I rocked our conference championship T-shirt this morning. After all, last time I wore it Amanda won the 200 back at PSAC’s…

We were the first team to arrive, something Amanda was very happy about (only a slight hint of sarcasm there). She eventually got into the pool and did a really solid warm up. Some build ups working the turns.

The first event was the 100 freestyle and the PSAC will be well represented by both men and women in tonight’s finals. The second event was the 200 backstroke. There were 4 total heats, and Amanda, seeded 8th, was in the 3rd heat, lane 3.

She swum a very smooth race. Going out slightly slower than she did at PSAC’s. Her 3rd 50 was too slow and hopefully she won’t let up on the gas as much tonight. She brought it home very well and finished with a time of 2:03.81 (another lifetime best!). Puts her in 4th position for tonight’s final.

After giving the announcer a slight dig in last night’s posting based on his messing up some of the bio’s, I need to give him some props today. He offered me a congratulations on the night before and during the race when Amanda was leading her heat (before the 3rd 50) he reminded the crowd that Amanda was the only LHU and first LHU swimmer at nationals. Maybe he does better without a script?

Going into tonight she is in a little better position than yesterday. There isn’t much to lose, she swam a lifetime best this morning and after taking another quick look at the top 8, I can’t help but to notice she is the only freshman in the championship final, (1 sophomore, 2 juniors, and 4 seniors).

Tonight is all about what Amanda does best…racing. Win, lose or draw she still gets another trip to the podium, a sweet trophy and All American status. Not a bad day.

We attempted to do lunch at IHOP again, but found the doors to be overflowing and so we decided to give Cracker Barrel a shot. We had a wait of about 30 minutes…time was spent playing a game of checkers. (I got my butt kicked!) We had a hearty, filling meal and headed back to the hotel.

Again, nap time and tredmill time await…4:30pm departure for the pool.

(just a quick note about the overall team race … we are 29th, not bad…but there is a tie between perennial swimming powerhouses Drury and Truman State and it is going to be really fun to watch the teams go at it. On the Men’s side, West Chester is currently in 2nd place and is probably not going to win it, but will be fighting to hold on to the silver medal)

~finals~

For those who didn’t get a chance to look at the live results, I will spare you the suspense. Amanda was third with a smoking fast time of 2:01.95.

We talked about a few things that needed to happen to make the final swim faster then her preliminary swim. The first being out in the mid 59 range (Amanda went 59.60), the next was not letting up on the 3rd 50, I was thinking to not go any slower than 31.99 (Amanda went 31.61) and finally kick in and out of the turns (I have no clue if this happened b/c I was a too excited to make mental notes of the turns).

We ended up arriving at the pool a little later than usual, which turned out to still be plenty of time before her race. There were 2 heats of the 1650 and then all the heats of the 100 free, awards and finally the 200 back.

By virtue of finishing in the top 8 twice, Amanda ends her freshman campaign a 2 time All-American.

Amanda swam 5 events this weekend, 50 free prelims, 100 back prelims & finals, and 200 back prelims & finals, each performance was a lifetime best. Awesome.

This season was very much a roller coaster for Amanda and I am so proud of the fact that she ended up on top! I think we can make some adjustments to how we train next season to build upon this year’s successes to continue doing some great things. Next years national meet will be in Houston, Texas…but we are going to take some time to savor this season before thinking about the next one.

Here is how all the PSAC institutions finished at the NCAA meet.
Women…
West Chester, 7th with 202 points
Clarion, 8th, with 190 points
Edinboro 18th, with 54 points
Lock Haven 26th, with 29 points
California 27th, with 27 points
Bloomsburg 30th, with 15 points

On the Men’s side:
West Chester 3rd, with 316.5 points
Clarion 18th, with 68 points
IUP 26th, with 15 points

Finally, thank you to all those who texted, emailed, called and facebooked us. Sorry if replies didn’t come fast and furious and most weren’t nearly as long or detailed as I would have liked (I was uncharacteristically short winded most of the time). Your support did (and still does) mean a great deal to us. Thank you.

Day 6 ~ 100 Backstroke

Let’s just get to the important part of this morning’s events because I know our loyal readers want to know…I rocked the pink lady eagle swimming t-shirt, jeans and white nike kicks.

Oh yeah, we had the 100 backstroke today. Here is how the morning unfolded...

I made my way over to the opposite side of the pool so I could write the times off everyone in an effort to find out what place she was going to end up a few minutes before it would be announced. Shortly before the backstrokes Chris Rhoades, the Edinboro coach, joined me offering his support and cheered just as loud for Amanda as I did.

As previously mentioned we were seeded 10th going into prelims. I was pretty close on what it would take to get into the top 8. I was guessing 57.2 or 3…turns out it was a 57.17. Amanda’s time this morning … 57.17 (a lifetime best). YESSS! Mission accomplished…she made the top 8. Awesome!

For the non-swimming crowd out there…by virtue of being in the top 8, she is guaranteed no lower than 8th place. This is great b/c we literally have nothing to lose we can only stay the same or (hopefully) move up. Also, the top 8 get to march out to some music and have a short bio read about them AND perhaps more importantly get some on the awards podium to receive some “hardware” as well being awarded the distinction of ALL AMERICAN. It's a pretty big deal...

Taking you through the race a little bit. Amanda was the only swimmer in her heat to not grab the starting block at the start (she grabs the wall). Not sure why I noticed that little factoid, but I did. The start was respectable, not her best, but defiantly not her worst. She spun her wheels a little bit so for tonight’s warm ups we are going to add a few more starts to the routine.

We had been working on getting into the walls really strong (backstroke turns permit you to do a full freestyle stroke before you flip in every practice for the past month we have done something to practice a fast turn). I give the first turn a B minus, the second turn was brilliant, an A plus, flipping early enough to get a full stroke in AND furiously kicked her legs to accelerate the process, it was great. The last turn doesn’t get a grade b/c I don’t remember it.

Amanda is a great finisher and this morning was no different. Ended up 3rd in her heat and 8th overall. After the race, I could tell there was a sense of relief and a great deal of excitment with Amanda. So far 2 swims at NCAA's, 2 lifetime bests!!

Lunch was consumed at Ruby Tuesday. There was a decent lunch crowd joining us that included the University of Wisconsin Softball and Toledo University Baseball teams. We enjoyed a rather satisfying meal with just one exception. Dorthoy, Amanda’s sister, discovered the hard way that the redskin potato salad is actually an apple salad. To put it nicely, she wasn’t overly thrilled about her discovery.

Traditional nap and tredmill time this afternoon with a 4pm departure.

BTW, “live timing” can be found @

http://www.mizzourec.com/

(look under “recent news”)

~finals
Departure time for the pool was 4pm. Much to the sha-grin of Amanda, and pretty much 90% of all the swimmers I have ever coached, I strongly encourage an nice long early warm up, stretch, then have a more race specific warm up closer to the start time. It’s just my style I guess…which is why we are usually one of the first teams at the pool and hopefully one of the first to hit the water. To her credit Amanda hasn’t whined too much about this…

We did get to the pool in plenty of time to swim before they became saturated with swimmers. Our race specific warm up consisted of 4, 25’s … the first 2 where all out, the next 2 where just good breakouts. I felt good about them, but does it really matter how I felt?

With the help of Amanda’s monster towel, which she laid out upon our arrival, her mom and sister scored some front row seats. They arrived and disappeared one at a time only to reappear a short time later proudly sporting matching T-shirts. They were airbrushed shirts of an oversized duck with some supportive wording and Amanda’s nickname. I think Amanda loved it.

The start of the meet finally had a real American Flag, the ROTC color guard placed themselves atop the 10 meter diving platform, for the national anthem. It’s a nice step up from the “cartoon” on the mini-jumbo-tron (is it possible to have a mini-jumbo tron?)

The meet started with the 500’s … seeing the oldest record in all of D2 swimming (1987) get broken by an amazing swimmer from Southern Connecticut State. The men’s 500 saw 3 swimmers from PSAC powerhouse, West Chester, in the championship finals. The next event was the 100 backstroke.

Before each championship final the swimmers have to report to the “ready room” where they are lined up (lane 1 is first, lane 2 is second etc) and marched to the starting block to a song selected by the top seed.

Amanda walked to lane 8 looking a bit nervous, but very confident at the same time. The announcer stumbled through a bio sheet for each swimmer, he usually screws up more then he gets right, and announced to the crowd that Amanda was Lock Haven’s first ever NCAA qualifier and the PSAC runner up in this event.

Amanda’s preliminary swim was much more technically sound (I don’t think I would give any of her turns a grade above a B minus), but tonight she managed to have the exact same time at the halfway point which is a testament to the racing mentality that Amanda possesses. Her feet hit the wall last at the 50 yard mark, but in typical Terray fashion she picked up the pace to finish up the race a shade faster than her morning swim…57.11. A new lifetime best and was good enough for 6th place, improving 2 spots.

So far she’s had 3 total swims and achieved 3 lifetime bests…

Dinner was a small feast at Applebees where a majority of the time was spent calling and texting various people with all the highlights. The Wisconsin Softball team made another appearance only to walk back out the door when they realized there were only 2 empty tables available. After eating out for this entire week it is going to be a LONG time before I go anywhere but home to eat again.

Let’s look ahead to tomorrow’s race…
Key’s for Amanda to have a successful 200 backstroke are get out quick (I am hoping for a 59 at the 100 mark), great turns (utilize the freestyle stroke, and kick, to get into the walls quick), not letting up on the 3rd 50 (sometimes Amanda lets up on the 3rd 50). Of course all this will go in one ear and out the other b/c once the race begins it is exactly that … a race, and I can’t wait to watch!

Day 5 ~ Off Day

Amanda’s mom and sister drove in yesterday (quick check on mapquest, Coaldale PA to Columbia MO = 977 miles) that’s a long way to travel…pretty awesome.

It will be nice for Amanda to have her family here. I readily admit that my jokes are ridiculously corny and stories can be hilarious to nobody but myself. If I had a dollar for every time Amanda rolled her eyes at my attempt a humor we could have upgraded our Mazda to a Lexus.

Today is our off day so we are headed to the pool this morning for a good warm up before some down time. Amanda has the uncanny ability to sleep at any time of the day…

Just a quick update on the rest of our day. We had every intention of staying for most of prelims to watch some swimming (I was particularly interested in the lead of legs off the 400 medley relay) BUT, there was a catastrophic error with the timing system that delayed the morning well over an hour. It’s the kind of thing that should never happen at this type of competition … I am thankful that we didn’t have any swims today.

After hanging around for a bit we decided to peace out and get some lunch. We had some another pasta meal and we were graced with the presence of Amanda’s sister, Dorothy, and mom. The highlight of the meal being the endless supply of breadsticks…receiving honorable mention on the meal highlight reel was the lengthy “discussion” on the socks Amanda’s mom had on. (this may fall into the “you had to be there” type of story)

There was some family time after lunch, which if I understand correctly, consisted of a rather productive shopping spree at the mall. I watched the WVU basketball game and spent a very solid 13 minutes on the treadmill.

We headed back to the pool for the evening warm up … it sure took awhile for Amanda to get into the pool to swim, but she got it in. There were some really wicked fast swims this evening. I am pumped to get back to the racing…this was a long day off.

Oh yeah … we got a copy of the heat sheet for tomorrow. Barring a re-seed (which seems to happen about 3 times a session), Amanda is in the last heat (4th) and is seeded 10th…we both agree that this is the perfect place to be. She is right next to an amazingly fast swimmer from D2 powerhouse, Drury, and if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times. Amanda is a straight up racer … so having some stellar competition right next to her tomorrow morning is just what she needs to have a great morning swim.

I really think it is going to take a 57.2 or 3 to make it into the top 8. Amanda’s best time ever is a 57.3, her best time this season is a 57.5. Hopefully the magic of lane 6 (also the lane she swam in for the 50) gives her another lifetime best performance and makes the top 8.

Day 4 ~ 50 Freestyle

8:30am was our departure time for the pool. We made it there in plenty of time to get a good warm up in a not so crowded lane. (again, sharing the pool with Delta State…apparently, they too enjoy the early warm up).

Before “blogging” further I’d like to take a quick paragraph to mention how much I enjoy the PSAC. There are several “large” PSAC contingents here (Clarion & West Chester) but other teams like Bloomsburg, California, & IUP are in the same boat as us…just 1 qualifier (our Florida training “home slices” Edinboro, have 2 qualifiers). By virtue of their top 5 performance last year WCU received their choice of seating and naturally took some space close to the competition pool. The rest of the PSAC has set up a “team PSAC” section. It was really great to see Amanda talking it up with Bloomsburg Senior, and nationals veteran, Dianna Smith. It’s not always a “love fest” in the PSAC, but when it comes down too it we are there supporting, and rooting for each other.

I tried my best not to be too annoying this morning, so I gave Amanda some space after her 2nd warm up (consisting of 2 all out 25’s). Spent a lot of time talking with legendary Bloomsburg coach, Dave Rider, who I have a feeling was giving an equal amount of space to Dianna.

Amanda was seeded 46th (out of 52) on the psych sheet with a time of 24.63 … after scratches, there ended up being 46 people entered. Amanda popped off a smoking lifetime best performance of 24.22 to end up tied for 24th.

I couldn’t have asked for anything more…a great first swim at her first NCAA’s. To end up in the top 25 is awesome.

We had another delicious meal for lunch, this time at Macaroni Grill…were the crayons are free.

In an effort to get some time outside of the hotel we are going to hit the mall and head back to the pool this evening to get in a warm up swim (it is important to get in the habit of swimming twice in a day) and root on some PSAC swimmers.

Day 3 ~ Pre-Day 1

We arrived at the pool just before 9am and Amanda was able to get some quality time in the big pool with just a few swimmers from Delta State and Ashland. We finished the workout with 2 sprints from the starting blocks. Since this meet is “big time” the blocks are equipped with reaction pads. These will be used to see how fast (or slow) each swimmer gets off the block. (I also learned at the coaches meeting that touchpads will be used at each end of the pool giving us 25 splits…for the non-swimming crowd reading, that is really cool).

After the swim we used the crackberry and GPS combination to locate the local the International House of Pancakes (IHOP, if you will). Our waiter was a local guy who was very upbeat and energetic. He took our orders without writing them down, promising they would be correct, even repeating them to us 2 times. Apparently he needed a 3rd repeat b/c my sausage links ended up as 2 crispy strips of bacon.

I dropped Amanda off at the hotel and went back for the coaches meeting…oh the “joy” of the coaches meeting, highlighted by a wonderful Turkey sandwich. Edinboro’s student assistant coach, Jon, scored my peanut butter cookie and chips. After all, I am on a diet.

Student-Athlete banquet tonight...

The national championship swim banquet was a site to behold.

University of Tampa dressed as bikers. Fellow Holiday Inn Select residents, University of Seattle, went with a different approach...abnormal color shorts and some rather hideous sweaters…the kind of sweater that is overpriced at the thrift store for 25 cents. Great stuff. Other teams had matching team shirts and most were just plain dressed up. Amanda and I went with plain old khaki’s and our TYR jackets.

Post pasta, salad & chicken dinner we made a quick Wal Mart supply run (razors for Amanda and skittles for myself) and returned to the hotel.

8:30am departure tomorrow.

Day 2 ~ Recovery Day

After getting to bed just before dawn we decided to wait until the evening to swim. I was able to wake up after a few hours of sleep and ventured to the pool. I checked in and headed back to the hotel. The NCAA gives a gift to all the student-athletes competing. This year's gift was a bag pack and a really (really!) nice blanket. Not too shabby...

We had a nice pasta lunch around 1pm and proceeded to make a Wal Mart run. Followed by nap time for Amanda and tred mill time for myself. We are headed to the pool around 5:15 to get in a swim.

The pool was/is as advertised...phenomenal. Easily one of the best I have ever been in (rivaling the Swim Center at University of Texas). It was a little crowded this evening, so Amanda spent warm up time in the diving well...which is fine b/c tonight's swim was mainly just getting the "travel" out and get ready for a decent warm up tomorrow. We are headed in around 9am and hoping to get some quality time in the "big" pool.

We had a superb dinner at Ruby Tuesday ... more or less spending a day's per diem, but it was totally worth it.

Day 1 ~ Travel Day

Quality time in the airports...turned into quality time in a very small Kia driving 144 miles from Kansas City to Columbia. Arrival time 3:33amish.

I find it to be fitting that one of my all time favorite movies is Planes, Trains and Automobiles...Amanda and I lived the movie (minus the trains part). There were multiple hilarious moments throughout the entire adventure.

Hilarious moment #1 ~ The Delta Airline check in "guy" in Harrisburg telling us that we'd be "SOL."

Hilarious moment #2 ~ The fact that everything, literally everything, closes in the Cincy airport at 9pm. I finished calling the hotel, my boss, Hertz car rental, US Air, Mama Waeger among others at about 9:02pm, only to find I had no choice for dinner but a ham and cheese Lunchable and a Twix bar. (it should be noted that Amanda found this to be way more hilarious then I did...she enjoyed a delicious looking subway sandwich).

Hilarious moment #3 ~ Kansas City has a shuttle bus that all the car rental companies use to take customers to the rental 'offices' and lots. We were the last ones, of about 30 or 40, to board the shuttle...I envisioned everyone on the bus running to the Hertz desk ahead of me...so when we arrived, I told Amanda to meet me up there b/c I was bookin' it up to the rental desk (very much in the fashion of Black Friday shoppers rushing into a store, trying to get a bargain on the newest flat screen tv or tickle me elmo doll). I made it up there in no time flat and ended up 2nd in line b/c the guy with a southern accent cut me off. Only to find we were the only 2 people going to Hertz.

Hilarious moment #4 ~ Rental car number 1 was a tiny Kia. Again, this should be noted as way more hilarious to Amanda then myself. (fortunately we are now in a pretty sweet mazada)

Hilarious moment #5 ~ Graceland University is in Kansas City...not Tennessee.

NCAA Division 2 National Championships Preview

2008 Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving Championships
Hosted by the University of Missouri - Columbia

“live timing” can be found at
http://www.mizzourec.com/
(look under “recent news”)

AND/OR

click the official championship link over to the right.













Amanda will be wearing the brand new TYR suit at NCAA's...check it out!!! www.TYR.com ~ The Tracer Light. It's amazing!

On the official final listing of top times (pre-psych sheet) Amanda is ranked 53rd in the 50 free, 11th in the 100 back, 52nd in the 100 free, and 8th in the 200 back.

The official psych sheet rankings (before scratches) are as follows:
50 freestyle ~ 46th
****finished T-24th
100 backstroke ~ 10th
****finished 6th
100 freestyle ~ 44th
****scratched
200 backstroke ~ 8th
****finished 3rd

Set of the Week (last practice!)

Today is the last workout of the season (in Lock Haven anyways). We will be swimming "warmups" in Missouri on Monday & Tuesday.

5 x 50 @ 1:00 descend (minus 1.5) ~ backstroke
250 pull
5 x 50 @ :50 descend (minus 1.5) ~ freestyle
250 pull
5 x 50 @ :40 #1 for time, ‘hold on’ ~ backstroke
250 pull
5 x 50 @ :35 #1 for time, ‘hold on’ ~ freestyle
250 pull

50 AO free dive (< / = 25.75)
Short rest
25 AO backstroke (< / = 14.99)

**we are doing "#1 for time" to work on going out fast early ... Amanda is a great finisher, but needs to work taking her races out faster.

Set of the Week

After PSAC's Amanda took 2 days off. Here is the main set of the first workout back.

3 times through...
3 x 50 @ 1:00 free (#3 for time)
3 x 100 @ 1:40 back
:15 rest
2 x 50 @ :45 free (#2 for time)
2 x 100 @ 1:30 back
:30 rest
1 x 50 @ :35 free
1 x 100 @ 1:20 back (for time)
:45 rest

After PSAC Stat Update

We previously posted (2/8) some really great stats.
Instead of re-posting everything I am going to just list the updated stats of those who participated at PSAC's.

SCHOOL RECORDS
(only final performance)
Terray 100 backstroke 57.56
Terray 200 backstroke 2:04.27

NEW All Time Top 5 Performers
(only final performance)
Terray 50 freestyle 24.63 (3rd)
Terray 100 freestyle 53.58 (3rd)
Terray 100 backstroke 57.56 (1st)
Terray 200 backstroke 2:04.27 (1st)
Palmer 400 IM 4:51.07 (2nd)

Known Lifetime Best Performances
(first year swimmers only)
Terray 200 backstroke 2:04.27…previous best - 2:09.99

Best Times as a College Swimmer
(returners only…not counting events swum for the first time)
Palmer 400 IM 4:51.07…previous best - 4:57.75
Palmer 200 IM 2:20.92...previous best - 2:21.28

Best Relay Splits as a College Swimmer
(returners only...not counting events swum for the first time)
Lightcap 200 freestyle 2:10.99...previous best was 2:15.33

PSAC Championships

I will be updating this post with Lady Eagle Swimming highlights. Be sure to check back again soon.

Visit the 2/13 post to view where we stack up on the psych sheet.

THURSDAY
finals
Kelly Grieneisen swam the 1000 freestyle tonight. The final outcome isn't what we were hoping for, but at a meet where you get to swim three individual events, this was her "third event." Kelly swam very well for how she was feeling...I am confident that this was her "off" night and she will swim really well over the next 3 days.

On another note...the weather forecast is calling for some pretty "wicked" winter weather. As it is now 10:45pm, the snow is falling. I am not the least bit concerned...word on the street is that our school van is indestructible. (knock on wood that this is in fact true)

FRIDAY
prelims
Today started off with Amanda Terray's 200 backstroke. She swam a good morning swim. She is seeded 2nd going into tonight's finals. I am looking for a pretty good time drop from this morning's swim.

Stephanie Kudrick swam the 200 breaststroke and had a great race, but being sick caught up with her for this one.

Amanda Palmer had another great morning swim in the 200 butterfly, essentially matching her best time of the season. She traditionally drops some time from morning to night, so hopefully this will be the case again.

Amanda Terray lead off the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 53.58. This was fast enough to qualify for the NCAA national championships (it's a "B" cut)...making her a national qualifier in 4 events. (note: it is highly unlikely that she will swim the 100 free at NCAA's as it is the event before the 200 backstroke). Kelly Grieneisen, Brittany Williams and Caroline Sweeney finished up the relay. We are looking for some more improvement tonight.

NOTE: I will not have internet access until we return to Lock Haven. Please check www.HAVENSPORTS.com for the final press release regarding tonight’s finals. I will give you "my take" at some time this evening, or early tomorrow morning.

finals
Our 200 free relay started off our evening. Amanda Terray and Caroline Sweeney were just a tad bit slower than this morning...but Stephanie Kudrick and Brittany Williams swum faster this evening, overall the final time was faster.

Amanda Terray scored our first individual points of the meet in the 50 free. She placed 7th with a time of 24.65.

Our 400 medley relay swam to a tenth place finish. Of the four swimmers, Ashley Lightcap dropped the most time from the morning.

Tomorrow's session has our team in some of their strongest events. Check back soon!

ps-it turns out that our school van is quite the tank and did just fine today with a little bit of snow. However, the downside of driving a tank is the 13 minutes it takes to warm up in the morning.

SATURDAY
prelims
Our 200 medley relay had a solid performance this morning...I think that we can put together a few great legs tonight to win consols.

Amanda Palmer had fantastic 400im this morning. Her time of 4:52.04 moves her to 2nd on our all time top 5 performers list. She has a pretty good track record of swimming faster in finals, so we are going to shoot for an improved swim tonight.

Kelly Grieneisen battled through the 200 freestyle, but her shoulder injury just didn't allow for the speed needed to bring it home. Stephanie Kudrick had a really solid swim this morning in the 100 breast.

Amanda Terray had a respectable time of 58.18 in the 100 backstroke. This time puts her 2nd going into finals. Amanda will have one of the country's best swimmers next to her tonight to push her...combine that with the fact that she should swim a little more aggressively and we should have a real decent shot at a win or worst case season best performance.

finals
Our 200 medley relay started off the evening with respectable swims across the board.

Amanda Palmer continued to drop time in the 400im going 4:51.07...what made this swim great was that Amanda's splits were just a tad bit slower for the fly, back & breast legs but she brought it home about 2.5 seconds faster than this morning. She continues to show she is a gutsy racer!

Amanda Terray swam to a 2nd place finish in the 100 backstroke. Her time of 57.56 is her season best and a new school record. Additionally, Amanda earned All-PSAC honors. This was a great race and with plenty of time between now and NCAA's, we both think there is some more time to drop!

Our 800 free relay swam very well.

SUNDAY
prelims
Today started off with Amanda Terray's 200 backstroke. She swam a good morning swim. She is seeded 2nd going into tonight's finals. I am looking for a pretty good time drop from this morning's swim.

Stephanie Kudrick swam the 200 breaststroke and had a great race, but getting over being sick caught up with her for this one.

Amanda Palmer had another great morning swim in the 200 butterfly, essentially matching her best time of the season. She traditionally drops some time from morning to night, so hopefully this will be the case again.

Amanda Terray lead off the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 53.58. This was fast enough to qualify for the NCAA national championships (it's a "B" cut)...making her a national qualifer in 4 events. (note: it is highly unlikely that she will swim the 100 free at NCAA's as it is the event before the 200 backstroke). Kelly Grieneisen, Brittany Williams and Caroline Sweeney finished up the relay. We are looking for some more improvement tonight.

NOTE: I will not have internet access until we return to Lock Haven. Please check www.HAVENSPORTS.com for the final press release regarding tonight's finals. I will give you "my take" at some time this evening, or early tomorrow morning.

finals
Tonight's finals will be the last session for Kelly Grieneisen (swimming 2nd on the 400 free relay)...although her shoulder has prevented her from having great swims at this meet, she never once let it affect her or her teammates. I am very proud of her for pushing through it all and remaining (mostly) positive through the meet.

History was made tonight...Amanda Terray won the 200 backstroke and became the first ever PSAC champ from Lock Haven University.
It was an impressive swim and perhaps more importantly an impressive race. Amanda went out after the race and when her top competition turned it on at the end (at the 100 Amanda was 1.5 seconds ahead, at the 150 the lead was only .6 seconds) Terray answered the challenge and touched the wall first. It was a great race and she can only get better (having only swum it about 8 times)

Amanda Palmer swam great in the 200 fly. She ended up coming up just short of her collegiate best time, but finished the race, and season, very well.

The final relay of the night provided a little excitement. We were in a close points race with Millersville ... basically the final relay would determine if we would finish 2nd of the women's only programs, or if we would finish 3rd. Amanda Terray lead off with a great time, Kelly Grieneisen went cold turkey (not recommended), Brittany Williams maintained the lead and Caroline Sweeney fended off the late surge of Millersville.

As a team we finished 9th, of the women's only programs we finished 2nd.

Set of the Week

In honor of our lone senior, Kelly Grieneisen, I wanted to share her final workout as a real live college swimmer.

1000 warm up
(last 400 is with wicked fast turns)
(good SL's & BO's)

6 x 50 descend to wicked fast
75 AO from block
wicked long WD

SL = streamline
BO = breakout
AO = all out
WD = warm down

Set of the Week

This was done with Amanda Terray. Amanda has been out of the water for a bit and we are "easing" back into things as we prepare for PSAC's and NCAA's.

Amanda will be swimming the 50 free, 100 back & 200 back @ PSAC's this weekend.

5 x 50 @ 1:05 backstroke, pick 1 and go AO
4 x 25 scull, must be 4 different positions
5 x 50 @ :55 freestyle, pick 1 and go AO
4 x 25 same
5 x 50 @ :45 backstroke, smooth
4 x 25 same
5 x 50 @ :35 freestyle make it
4 x 25 same

A Shout Out

This week marked the start of championship meet season. Already we are seeing some wicked fast swims across the country.

A special congrats goes to Coach Pat at Fairmont State (Coach Andy’s alma mater) who’s most recent team addition, Kate Inozemtseva, swam her way to the fastest 50 free in all of NCAA D2 yesterday. Her time of 23.55 puts her ahead of a trio of sophomores, including PSAC representative Jackie Borkowski.

In non-collegiate action, the eyes of the swimming world are on Columbia, Missouri this weekend as they host the USA Swimming Grand Prix. This fact is relevant to the Lady Eagle Swimming program for two reasons.

First, in 26 days they will be hosting the NCAA D2 national championships. Freshman Amanda Terray will be representing LHU at this meet for the first time in team history.

Secondly, team inspirer, Dave Cromwell is competing at the Grand Prix. Take the time to visit Dave’s personal website/blog at http://www.davidcromwell.net/ … you won’t be disappointed.

6 days until PSAC’s!!

PSAC Pysch Sheet

The 2008 PSAC Championships are just 8 days away (including today). The official pysch sheet was just sent to each team. Here is how we stack up in our events.

(keep in mind that scratches at the meet will determine final seedings)

DAY 1
Kelly Grieneisen 1000 free (27th)

DAY 2
200 Freestyle Relay (11th)
Kelly Grieneisen ~ 500 free (27th)
Stephanie Kudrick ~ 200 im (24th)*
Amanda Palmer ~ 200 im (32nd)
Amanda Terray ~ 50 freestyle (16th)
Stephanie Kudrick ~ 50 freestyle (38th)*
400 Medley Relay (9th)

DAY 3
200 Medley Relay (9th)
Amanda Palmer ~ 400 im (14th)
Kelly Grieneisen ~ 200 freestyle (17th)
Stephanie Kudrick ~ 100 breaststroke (18th)
Amanda Terray ~ 100 backstroke (2nd)
800 Freestyle Relay (10th)

DAY 4
Amanda Terray ~ 200 backstroke (2nd)
Stephanie Kudrick ~ 200 breaststroke (21st)
Amanda Palmer ~ 200 butterfly (14th)
400 Freestyle Relay (11th)

*Stephanie will be scratching either the 200 im or the 50 free.

Top Times

The latest top times list for our conference has been posted.

The link is located under the PSAC logo to the right.
(the men's list has been included for the avid swim fan)

Here's a list of LHU Swimmers ranked in the top 25.

Amanda Terray ~ 50 freestyle (18th)
Amanda Terray ~ 100 freestyle (24th)
Kelly Grieneisen ~ 1650 freestyle (18th)
Amanda Terray ~ 100 backstroke (2nd)
Amanda Terray ~ 200 backstroke (3rd)
Stephanie Kudrick ~ 100 breaststroke (21st)
Stephanie Kudrick ~ 200 breaststroke (23rd)
Amanda Palmer ~ 200 butterfly (16th)
Ashley Lightcap ~ 200 butterfly (20th)
Amanda Palmer ~ 400im (19th)

Set of the Week

We don't have too many weeks left in the season, but I wanted to share a set that we did with Amanda Palmer.

One of the events Amanda will be swimming at PSAC's is the 400 im.

50 ez choice
2 x 25 TO - FAST
75 BD from AO (work BO)
25 ez
300 pull (#1 & 8 BE 3, #2 & 7 BE 5, #3 & 6 BE 3-5, #4 & 5 BE 5-7)
75 BU to AO (:5 rest)
25 AO (:10 rest)

We did this 8 times through...im/rev im order.
The pull was freestyle.
TO = Turnover (12.5 streamline kick/12.5 swim)
BD = Build down
AO = All out
BO = Break out
BE = Breath Every (we went by 50)
BU = Build up

Next week I will share another set that sticks out as (to quote the famous Coach Pat) "real nice."

Welcome

Although it's "late" in the season to get this started, as they say "better late than never."

We are on the verge of attending the competitive PSAC championships (2/21-24) and for the first time in LHU Swimming history the NCAA national championships (3/12-15).

The easiest way to catch up on the season is to list all the great statistical highlights we've accomplished so far.

SCHOOL RECORDS
(only final performance)
Terray 100 backstroke 57.62
Terray 200 backstroke 2:08.66

NEW All Time Top 5 Performers
(only final performance)
Terray 50 freestyle 25.05 (5th)
Terray 100 freestyle 55.11 (5th)
Terray 100 backstroke 57.62 (1st)
Terray 200 backstroke 2:08.66 (1st)
Grieneisen 1000 freestyle (1650 split) 11:20.83 (4th)
Grieneisen 1650 freestyle 18:44.93 (2nd)
Kudrick 100 breaststroke 1:10.90 (5th)
Kudrick 200 breaststroke 2:34.79 (3rd)
Kudrick 200 IM 2:18.82 (4th)
Palmer 400 IM 4:54.40 (3rd)
Samanka 1650 freestyle 19:51.66 (5th)

Known Lifetime Best Performances
(first year swimmers only)
Compton 50 freestyle 28.17…Previous best - 28.59
Sweeney 100 freestyle 58.60…Previous best - 58.80
Terray 200 backstroke 2:08.66…Previous best - 2:09.99
Walizer 50 freestyle 28.83…Previous best - 29.87
Walizer 100 freestyle 1:03.81…Previous best - 1:05.46
Williams 100 freestyle 57.31…Previous best - 57.36

Best Times as a College Swimmer
(returners only…not counting events swum for the first time)
(many of these are lifetime bests)
Fountaine 500 freestyle 5:47.34…Previous best - 6:05.94
Fountaine 1000 freestyle 12:19.33…Previous best - 12:36.64
Fountaine 1650 freestyle 21.00.28…Previous best - 21:26.74
Fountaine 200 breaststroke 2:52.90…Previous best - 2:59.61
Lightcap 100 freestyle 1:01.33…Previous best - 1:01.74
Lightcap 200 IM 2:27.02…Previous best - 2:28.58
Lightcap 50 freestyle 28.52…Previous best - 28.79
Lightcap 200 freestyle 2:08.46…Previous best - 2:09.93
Palmer 100 butterfly 1:06.47…Previous best - 1:07.63
Palmer 400 IM 4:54.40…Previous best - 4:57.75
Palmer 100 freestyle 1:00.70…Previous best - 1:01.91
Samanka 100 freestyle 1:01.01…Previous best - 1:01.55
Samanka 1000 freestyle 12:07.37…Previous best - 12:29.90
Samanka 200 freestyle 2:08.90…Previous best - 2:09.71
Samanka 500 freestyle 5:43.44…Previous best - 5:44.49
Samanka 1650 freestyle 19:51.66…Previous best - 19.59.95
Samanka 400 IM 5:11.75…Previous best - 5:15.18
Wilbur 50 freestyle 27.86…Previous best - 28.15
Wilbur 100 freestyle 59.78…Previous best - 1:01.55
Wilbur 200 freestyle 2:15.49…Previous best - 2:25.86
Wilbur 500 freestyle 6:23.16…Previous best - 6:44.32
Wilbur 100 backstroke 1:13.63…Previous best - 1:15.04
Wilbur 200 backstroke 2:41.38…Previous best - 2:51.91

Best Relay Splits as a College Swimmer
(returners only…not counting events swum for the first time)
Samanka 50 butterfly 30.53…Previous best - 38.27
Palmer 100 freestyle 1:00.53…Previous best - 1:01.03
Palmer 200 freestyle 2:10.17…Previous best - 2:15.22
Wilbur 50 freestyle 27.11…Previous best - 27.99
Wilbur 100 freestyle 59.34…Previous best - 1:00.90
Lightcap 100 freestyle 1:01.22…Previous best - 1:01.83
Lightcap 200 freestyle 2:13.23…Previous best - 2:15.33
Lightcap 50 freestyle 28.22…Previous best - 28.57
Fountaine 100 freestyle 1:02.93…Previous best - 1:06.72
Fountaine 200 freestyle 2:14.55…Previous best - 2:23.33
Fountaine 50 breaststroke 37.79…Previous best - 38.20