Marlins Finish 3rd at California - Nevada State Champs!

The Marlins achieved another goal for the season with a third place finish at the California – Nevada Sectional Championships held in Santa Clarita July 21^st – 26^th. This was one of the largest sectionals in history, with over 1200 athletes from over 150 teams in attendance. The highlight of the meet was our young guns from the senior and pre-senior group and our greatest exhibition of team spirit we have seen from a sectional team.

On the girls side, Sophie Weber continued her great summer with 6 best times, a new short course National time standard in the 100 back, a new Junior National time standard in the 400 IM and 3 top 16 finishes. Mikaela Macklin had a strong meet as she prepared for the Nationals next week, finishing in 6^th in the 200 breast and 9^th in the 100 breast.  Gabby Rossbach had a great meet with 4 best times and a 5^th place finish in the 200 fly with a new Gold standard. Mikayla Winkler swam well with 4 best times, an 11^th place finish in the 200 free and some spectacular relay performances. Other girls with 3 or more best times included Hannah Bensman (3 bt’s), Katelyn Burson (4 bt’s), Hannah Calton (6 bt’s) and Lauren Fitzgerald (5 bt’s). Quincy Christian also finished in the top 24 in three events.

On the guys side, Ryan Pickett led the charge scoring 89 points for the team and swimming 6 best times. Andy Cunningham was spectacular in practices this summer and got his reward with 5 best times and a new Junior National/ Silver standard in the 200 back. All told, Andy improved 41 seconds in his 5 races! Grayson Whitten, another animal  in training, had the meet of his life with 5 best times and a new Junior National/ Silver cut in the 200 fly. Weston Landre went a perfect 6 for 6, achieved a new Junior National/ silver cut in the 200 back and a new bronze cut in the 200 free. Weston improved an amazing 14 seconds across his6 events! Brandon Mills became one of the first pre-seniors to achieve a bronze standard with an 8 second drop in his 200 breast in addition to 3 other best times. Adam Banks became the first pre-senior to make a final at the Sectionals with a 21^st place finish in the 200 back along with 4 best times. Ryan Studebaker swam 2 bt’s and Josh Choi made 3 top 16 finals including a 7^th place finish in the 400 I.M. Luke Keffer had a nice first sectionals with good drops in the 50 and 100 free.

The Marlins also came together for some strong relays, with the ladies finishing in 3^rd place in 400 medley relay (Weber, Macklin, Clifford, Winkler) and 4^th in the 800 free relay (Winkler, Macklin, Weber, Clifford). Also of note was our “B” 800 free relay (Rossbach, Calton, Fitzgerald, Christian) that finished in 17^th place scoring 18 points for the team!

We could not have been as successful as we were without the help of chaperones Sarah Shaw and Julie Cunningham. Thank you both!