Friday, September 27, 2013

Neenah Invite!

Hi Swim & Dive Families,

I thought I'd post a few reminders about tomorrow's big Neenah Invite.  The invite starts at 10 am.  The girls need to be on deck at 8 am.   Some of you signed up to start volunteering as early as 7:30 am.  I know this info is on the tab to the right, but sometimes it helps to have it posted here, too.
Anyway, here's the list of volunteers for tomorrow:

Timers:
Lane 1:
Lane 2: Joyce Conn &
Lane 3:  Rodriguez & Rodriguez
Lane 4: Chris Hugo &
Lane 5: Chris & Kari Resch
Lane 6: Nancy Otto & Lyman Otto
Lane 7: Steve Beyer & Tim Stingle
Lane 8:

It looks like we still need 6 more timers.  Please let me know if you can help.  
There will be a timer meeting at 9:40 in the pool lobby.

Concessions Volunteers:
7:30-10:00 am
Ben & Shelly Christian
Sheila Eisch
Stingle
Hermans

10:00-12:30pm:
Salm
Marquardt
Beyer
Anderson
Kelly Otto
Janet Coons

12:30-3:00pm:
Rick & Lori Waters
Barb Penn
John & Sue Larson

Thanks, in advance, for all of your help. We couldn't run this meet without you!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Meet Recap: NHS vs Berlin/Green Lake

 Hi Swim & Dive Families!

Tuesday night our NHS swimmers and divers hosted Berlin/Green Lake.


 It was another big win for the Rockets.
On a night where there were plenty of big swims on both the JV and the Varsity, one of the highlights had to be watching our divers swim the 200 free relay.  They were darn-right fabulous!
Way to go, ladies, on another big conference win!

We'd also like to send a big thank you to this week's meal team:  Beth Beyer, Jeanne Hugo, Kari Resch, Tina Harvath, Jane Hart-Stingle, and Beth Krause.  The meal was completely delicious--we all loved it!  Thanks!!

Noodle Party!


Hey Swimmers & Divers!
Come load up on carbs before Saturday's big Invite!
Noodle Party at Lindsey's house (121 Ashbrooke Place)
Friday night, right after practice until 9:30 pm
Hosted by Kiki Rice and Lindsey Coons
Kiki & Lindsey will provide an assortment of noodles and sauces.

Here's what everybody else should bring:

Seniors:  desserts
Juniors:  bread or bread sticks
Sophomores:  snack foods
Freshmen:  fruit or vegetables

Hope to see you there!






Athletes of the Week!

Hi Swim & Dive Families!

Once again, it is time to recognize this week's Athletes of the Week:  Shelby Larson, Leeah Eisch, and Rachel Ruzicka!  All three of these ladies had a super fantastic week in and out of the pool.



Way to go, ladies!  We are proud of you!

Friday, September 20, 2013

Circuit Challenge

The first Wednesday half day practice of each season is Circuit Challenge day.  Each lane is assigned a stroke and distance, and the girls have to work their way through the lanes as many times as they can in an hour.  As an added bonus, at the end of each lane the girls need to hop out and do 10 push ups before they can move to the next lane. Congratulations to this year's overall champion, Hannah Sisto, and to Rachel Resch, Lauren Penn, Laura Setton, and Emily Martis who came in right behind her.  Be sure to ask your daughter how many push ups she did on Wednesday--you will be amazed!  Great job, ladies!

Recap: NHS vs. OLN

Hi Swim & Dive Families!

We are off to a fantastic 2-0 conference start!  Tuesday night the Varsity beat Oshkosh North/Lourdes by a score of 121-64, and the JV won by a score of 128-33!
There were plenty of great swims and a handful of new best times.
It was fun to see different relay lineups this week.  We are always looking for the very best combination of four for each relay.
Congratulations, swimmers and divers, on another fantastic dual meet!  Special thanks to this week's meal team of Maureen Bourland, Lori Waters, Judy Salm, Mary Setton, Jayne Latreille, and Deb Spanbauer who served the girls yummy mac-and-cheese for dinner.  The girls loved it!!

Next up:  Berlin/Green Lake at 5:30 on Tuesday night at NHS.  Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Fundraiser Orders Due Friday!


Hi!

Just a reminder that all fundraiser order forms and money are due this Friday, September 20th.  All checks need to be made out to Neenah High School.  If you choose not to participate in the fundraiser, your $50 buyout check, made out to Neenah High School, is also due on Friday.


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Congratulations, Ladies!

Way to go, Varsity Swimmers and Divers on winning Friday night's Terror Relays!  
You were all fantastic, & we are very proud of you!


**Like last year, the divers had already left for a meet in Eau Claire when the meet finished, so they are not pictured.  Their first place finish certainly added to our victory!  Great job, ladies!


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Meet Recap: NHS vs. Appleton East

 Hi Swim & Dive Families,

It was absolutely wonderful seeing all of you at our dual vs. Appleton East last night!
 It was also great having our divers with us--it's not the same without them!
It was fun watching the swimmers watch the divers.  For our new swimmers and our freshmen, it was the first meet that included diving (they loved it!).
 I am incredibly proud to say that NHS won every single JV & Varsity event last night, except for the Varsity 500 free.  That's a whole lot of fast swimming and great dives!
 Of course, the night was also special because it was Parents Night.  NHS Swim & Dive parents are simply the best.  You guys do so much for the team.
 I know it meant a lot to the girls to have you there last night (and at every meet!).
 I'd also like to say a big thank you to all of the parents who provided and served our pre-meet meal--it was delicious!
 Finally, thank you to all the parents who helped run the meet--those who timed, worked the table, and announced our divers.  We really appreciated all of your help!
 We are off to a great start!  Our next meet is against Oshkosh North/Lourdes and will take place at the Oshkosh YMCA.
 Hope to see all of you there!
 Dual meet season is the best!

PS  I'd also like to shout out to Cindy Cunningham who coordinated the parent/fan shirt order.  Everyone looked awesome in their new shirts last night.  Thanks, Cindy!!

All You Need to Know About High School Meets/Scoring/Qualifying for State

Hi Swim and Dive Families!

I've had a few questions about how meets are scored and how a swimmer qualifies for the High School State meet.  Hopefully this article will clear up any confusion (adapted from this awesome article).
(Greysen and Hazel standing on the podium at last year's State meet)

If you are new to high school swimming, you may find it a bit confusing. It's unlike USA Swimming or Y Swimming club meets. High school swim is a competitive team sport, structured like the collegiate sport. Points from each event are added together for each team to determine the meet scores.
Here's an overview of what to expect and how to enjoy the high school season.

Dual Meets
The high school season consists of a number of dual meets against teams in our conference. Meet programs that list each swimmer competing by event are not always available. The visiting teams typically do not turn in a lineup until they arrive at the meet and there is not enough time to print spectator copies. More often than not the lineup for both teams must be adjusted after arriving at the pool due to illnesses and other eligibility issues. Technically the lineup can be changed by either team up until the start of the previous event.

For dual meets, each team enters up to three swimmers in each individual event and three relay teams in each relay event. Most events have a JV heat followed by a Varsity heat. In some cases there will be an exhibition heat prior to the JV heat. Most dual meets run two hours or less.

Swimmers may enter a maximum of four events, no more than two of which can be individual events. Swimmers are selected by the coach for each event or relay based on their times and the coach's goals for that meet. Depending on the meet, swimmers may have the opportunity to swim "off events" to mix things up and have some fun. For these more relaxed meets, relay teams may be scrambled as well.

A typical dual meet has three relay swim events and eight individual swim events, and a diving competition. . The order of the events for a dual meet is typically as follows:
  • 200 Yard Medley Relay
  • 200 Yard Freestyle
  • 200 Yard Individual Medley
  • 50 Yard Freestyle
  • Diving
10 Minute Warm-Up
  • 100 Yard Butterfly
  • 100 Yard Freestyle
  • 500 Yard Freestyle
  • 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
  • 100 Yard Backstroke
  • 100 Yard Breaststroke
  • 400 Yard Freestyle Relay
For dual meets (which have a maximum of three entries per team in typical six lane pools):
* Relays are scored: 8-4-2-0 — with only two relay teams being allowed to score for each team.
* Individual events are scored: 6-4-3-2-1-0.

Points from the diving competition are scored as an individual event; the point values are the same as an individual swim event. The exception being that Conference dual meets do not count diving points if one team does not have a dive program.

Unlike club meets, times swam at meets during the team season do not qualify a swimmer for state competition. State qualifying comes from winning your event at one of the 6 sectional meets, or finishing as one of the next fastest 18 swimmers in the state.

There are no ribbons or other awards at dual meets, just an opportunity for swimmers to better their times, help the team score points, and maybe even set a new record!

Conference, Sectional and State Meets

The Conference Meet is held at the end of the season.  This meet determines the Team Champion of the Conference. Additionally, swimmers earn first, second, and honorable mention All-Conference honors for each event based on their finish and receive medals for these top 3 finishers. The format is the same as a dual meet, but the number of teams participating means more heats and a longer meet. Each team gets a total of 27 entries for all individual events and two entries for each relay event.  In addition, there is a Junior Varsity Conference meet held before the Conference Meet.  We are allowed unlimited entries in the JV Conference meet.  Swimmers are allowed (and often do) compete in both the JV and Varsity Conference meets, but not in the same event.  There is a 4 event maximum (total for both meets).  

WIAA Sectional Meet - Each team gets a total of 18 entries for all individual events and one entry for each relay event. Medals are awarded to the top two swimmers in each event, plus any other state qualifiers.

WIAA State Meet - The state meet is held at the UW Madison aquatic facility; it is a great achievement to qualify for this meet celebrating the state's top swimmers.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Senior Wake Up

 Hi Swim & Dive Families!

Thought you might like to peek at a couple of pictures from last Friday morning's really early team breakfast.  This year's senior class was adamant that they wanted to bring back the Senior Wake Up, and they managed to pull it off without a hitch!  
Our swimmers only got about 5 hours of sleep between the end of the Pentathlon Meet and their early morning wake up, but most of them were completely smiley at Perkins. 
The seniors did an awesome job organizing this surprise.  I loved all the different ways each senior chose to dress the people they woke up.  My favorite had to be the way Alli O dressed Emily Martis:
 
We'd like to say a big thank you to all of the adults who donated their early morning hours to help pick up and drop off the team:  John Terlap, Chris Hugo, Maureen Bourland, Emma's fabulous Aunt, Ken Jackson, Renee Breister, Marie Houston, & Scott Spanbauer.  I know I say this all the time, but we literally could not have done this without your help--thank you!!

Hooray for fun team traditions!

Monday, September 2, 2013

Pentathlon Recap

Hi Swim & Dive Families!

Wasn't last week's Pentathlon Meet awesome?  We were excited to see so many fabulous NHS parents and fans in the stands at DC Everest!  The Pentathlon Meet is always a team favorite--every single girl swims a 50 of each stroke and a 100 IM--so there are lots of opportunities for fast swims.

This year, a NHS swimmer won every single event!  Congratulations to Rachel Resch, (50 fly & 50 free), Kiki Rice, (100 IM), Kate Hugo, (50 back), and Abby Hollub, (50 breast)!  We are so proud of you!
In addition, Rachel Resch set a new sophomore meet record with her 27.15 in the 50 fly.  Kiki Rice set a new freshman meet record with her 1:03.58 in the 100IM.  Amazing job, ladies!
 So many of the girls swam new best times, which is always fun!
Way to go on a fantastic meet, ladies!