Archive for Swimming

UA SWIM Slightly Misses Top Ten Finish at Metro Championships; Stahel ‘12 Eyeing Fifth State Title

Stahel '12 Apeears on the verge of another state title.

On Friday evening, members of the Ursuline Academy Swim Team competed in the Metro Championships at the University of New Orleans Aquatic Center. Participation in this meet is an honor bestowed upon the best of the best swimmers in the Great New Orleans Metropolitan Area. In order to qualify to participate, a swimmer had to achieve a fast enough time in one of the previous swim meets during the season. The most interesting fact about the Metro Meet is that the time needed to participate is actually better (lower) than the  time needed to participate in the LHSAA State Meet. Therefore, some team members who are on the State Team are not eligible to participate in the Metro Meet. This fact shows you how competitive the local swim community truly is.

We have the following results for you from the 2010 Metro Meet:

• Katie Stahel ‘12 finished Runner-Up in the 200 Free and the 500 Free
• Megan Schmidt ‘13 finished 11th in the 200 Individual Medley
• The UA 4×400 Relay finished 7th

Overall, the swim team finished in 11th place out of 22 teams. After watching the competition and seeing out team members compete so well, and following a strong finish at the 2010 District Meet, we are excited about Coach Gardner and Ursuline Swimming’s chances at the LHSAA State Swim Meet. Junior Katie Stahel ‘12 appears on the brink of capturing her fifth individual state title. Go Katie!

Ursu-online staff

The Feel Good Story of 2010; Renee Bonnaffons ‘13 Saves Best for Last

We are Proud of You, Renee!

During our time covering the many happenings on State St., we have had the opportunity to witness history making events, hilarious events, sad events, astonishing events, snow events, and much more. However, on Thursday night, we witnessed one of the truly great athletic moments of the school year. We wanted to share the moment with you, our faithful readers.

During the course of the season, swimmers attempt to qualify for the LHSAA State Meet. In order to qualify, a swimmer must complete her event in a time faster than the state qualifying time. Earlier this year, we mentioned that sophomore Renee Bonnaffons ’13 had a chance to qualify in the 100 Breaststroke. Many of us went to the University of New Orleans to watch Bonnaffons ’13 qualify and in the toughest of moments, we watched the sophomore be turned away by less than a second. We held out hope that she would qualify at a later event, unfortunately, that never happened.

Fast forward to the last meet of the season…. The 2010 District Swim Meet. Bonnaffons ’13 is swimming to help her team win a district title. As the meet progresses, it becomes clear that a victory is not going to take place. In the second to last event, Bonnaffons ’13 is given her last opportunity to swim for the 2010 season. With an encouraging, “SWIM AS FAST AS YOU CAN” from Assistant Coach Casey Brennan ’10, Bonnaffons ’13 took to the starting blocks.

During the event, Bonnaffons ’13 was joined by Emily MacLaren ’14. MacLaren ’14 is a freshman who has qualified for the state meet and the team was hoping that she would win this event for the team. With attention on MacLaren’s quest for victory, attention slipped away from Bonnaffons ’13. However, Bonnaffons ’13 knew what was at stake. If she could swim her best race of the year, she would qualify for the UA State Meet Team.

When the race was approaching conclusion, MacLaren ’14 finished first. There was excitement, however, not as much as one would expect. What was going on? UA fans were looking at the large scoreboard and realized that Bonnaffons ’13 had a chance to qualify. Yelling began and excitement levels grew. When Bonnaffons ’13 touched the wall to end the race, the sophomore had qualified for the state meet in her final race.

Coach Brennan ’13 raced to the other side of the pool while Head Coach John Gardner smiled from ear to ear with his fist pumped into the air. Her teammates raced to be the first one to congratulate the sophomore. The district title was not a possibility, but we had seen something almost as good…or in some of our opinions, just as good.

If you could have been there and witnessed the moment, it was truly the Feel Good Moment of the Year. Congratulations, Renee.

Though the District Championship Remains Off-Campus, Ursuline Swimming Made Everyone Smile by the End of the Meet 

Regardlessof outcome, 2010 District Meet Was Special

On Thursday evening, the Ursuline Academy Varsity Swim Team competed in the 2010 District Meet which was held in the Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of New Orleans. Ursuline Academy was joined by Cabrini High School, McGehee School, Academy of the Sacred Heart and Grace King High School. Heading into the meet, most people / fans were expecting another great showdown between the last two District Champions (Ursuline 2008 and Cabrini 2009). By the halfway point of the meet, it would be clear that another school was going to join the discussion of which team would win the title in 2010.

Time to swim

The first event of the District Meet is the:

200y Medley Relay

For scoring purposes, the schools who finish in the first seven (7) spots, therefore, the seven fastest times, will be awarded points. If a team finishes 8^th of below, that team will not be awarded points. Ursuline Academy entered two (2) teams in this event. UA Team A consisted of Katie Stahel ’12, Megan Schmidt ’13, Emily MacLaren ’14, and Baileigh Fuxan’15 while UA Team B consisted of Joy Comboy ’14, Christiane Petitbon ’15, Krista Liljeberg ’14, and Camille Tiemann ’14. Cabrini High School entered one team in the event while Academy of the Sacred Heart entered two teams. Right off the bat, UA jumped into first place when UA Team A finished in first place. The team led by four-time state champion Katie Stahel ’12 captured 40pts for the first place finish. Academy of the Sacred Heart finished in second place almost five seconds behind UA’stime. The second place finish resulted in 34pts for ASH. Cabrini’s sixth place finish was awarded 26 pts. Fortunately for Cabrini, and unfortunate for UA and ASH, neither our Lions nor the Cardinals (ASH) were able to capitalize on the two team advantage when ASH’s second team finished in 8^th place while UA’s Team B finished in 9^th place. Had UA’s Team B finished in 7^th place, UA would have been awarded an additional 24pts. McGehee School finished fourth in the first relay.

After Event 1  UA 40   ASH 34    McG  30   CAB 26

Please not that the girl swimmers compete in odd numbered events and the even numbered events are for the boy swimmers.

200y Freestyle
UA is pleased with its start to the meet. So far we have had one event and one victory. Now, given that our four-time state champion is on her way to the blocks (starting point of the pool) for one of her best events, we could be in good shape.
Please note that individual events are scored differently than relay events. Therefore, the winner will be awarded 20pts and not 40pts. In individual events, the top 16 finishers (the swimmers with the sixteen fastest times), will be awarded points on a range from 20pts for 1^st place and 1pt for 16^th place.

 According to our pre-meet expectation sheet (it is not called an expectation sheet but it does offer you an idea of how fast a swimmer will swim in each event), Stahel ’12 is seeded as the top swimmer. According to our calculations, 24 swimmers will participate in this event. As the event progresses, we are eagerly awaiting the final heat (stage 3 of the race). Good News! Stahel ’12 has finished 2.5 seconds in front of Cabrini’s top swimmer (in this event). Stahel ’12 has picked up 20pts for UA, while Team Captain Sarah Mobley ’11 finished in 12^th place (5pts) and sophomore Marcelle Meyer ’13 finished in 13^th place (4pts). Therefore, UA has picked up 29pts in this event for a grand total of 69 after two events. The bad news is that ASH placed all four of its swimmers in the Top 16 resulting in points for each swimmer (grand total for this event was 49pts). Cabrini placed two of its four swimmers in the Top 16 for a total of 27pts.

After Event 3   ASH  79    UA  69   CAB 53  McG  36

Side Note:  After two events, has the pre-High School students helped ASH’s performance? Well all we can say is that of the four swimmers, two of the four were listed as 7^th graders including the 5^th place swimmer who picked up 14pts for her team. So, the numbers do not lie…. ASH’s pre-High School students have given the team an early lead in the District Meet.

 200y Individual Medley

 In Event 5, a swimmer is asked to swim four laps of the pool using a freestyle, a breaststroke, a butterfly, and a backstroke. In this event, UA put its success in the hands of sophomore Megan Schmidt ’13. The pre-race talk had expected a close finish and sure enough that is exactly what happened when Schmidt ’13 finished in 2^nd place only .8 seconds behind the swimmer from McGehee School. Schmidt ’13 earned our Lions 17pts in its quest to regain the district title. Eighth grader Baileigh Fuxan ’15 finished in third place capturing 16pts for our team. So between Schmidt ’13 and Fuxan ’15, Coach Gardner’s UA Swim Team had gained an additional 33pts. Emily Alimia ’13 finished in tenth place for 7pts increasing the UA total to 40pts for the event and 109 for the meet.

Things should be looking great for the Lions, right? We have one two events, and placed swimmers in second and third place in the third event. Here comes the scenario we warned you about earlier in the review.

In Event 5, the Academy of the Sacred Heart did not place in the Top 3, however, ASH did place all four of its swimmers in the Top 8 (5^th, 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th places respectively) for a total of 50pts. Therefore, even though UA finished in 2^nd and 3^rd in this event, the team lost a total of 10pts in the standing. Are you noticing the trend? With ASH’s large team, they will be able to enter four girls in all events and even if they can not place in the Top 3, a very respectable mid-range finish is going to be extremely beneficial to the team. Do you see it now? We can not ask the UA swimmers to do any more than they are already doing (they are swimming superbly) and we are LOSING points in the overall standing (ok, not really losing but instead falling further and further behind ASH’s first place score).    

After Event 5   ASH  129    UA  109   CAB 68  McG  56

50y Freestyle

Event 7, swimmers are asked to swim one lap. Therefore, they swim to the end of the pool, turn around, and swim back to the start of race. The Top 16 swimmers will be awarded points. In this event, Cabrini showed its first sign of dominance when the Crescents captured each of the top three spots for a total of 53 pts. Sophomore Renee Bonnaffons ’13 captured fourth place and 15pts for UA while Camille Tiemann’ 14^th place finish netted UA 3pts for a grand total of 18pts in this event. How did ASH do in this event? Three of its four swimmers placed in the Top 16 for a total of 18pts.

After Event 7   ASH  147    UA  127   CAB 121  McG  59

 Side Note: Did you notice how quickly Cabrini has closed the gap between 2^nd and 3^rd place? Here we go …. We have ourselves a competition!

 100y Butterfly

Needing to chop away at ASH’s 20pts lead and to hold off a charging Crescent team, Coach Gardner sent two of his UA All State Team members (Stahel ’12 and Schmidt ’13) to the blocks for Event 9. With two stars ready to shine, UA picked up the much needed points. Stahel ’12 finished in second place (17pts) while Schmidt ’13 finished in 5^th (14pts). First Place went to a swimmer from Country Day and given that the Cajuns are not in our district, her performance did play a role in the district score. Krista Liljeberg’s 13^th place finished (3pts) gave UA 34pts in Event 9.

ASH placed all four of its swimmers in the Top 16 (3^rd, 10^th, 12^th, and 14^th) for a total of 31pts.

After Event 9   ASH  178    UA  162   CAB 130  McG  71

Side Note: In this event, the pre-High School swimmers advantage helped ASH when its 10^th Place (7pts) was obtained by a 7^th grader. 

100y Freestyle

 Cabrini once again made its move in a Freestyle event when it placed three of its four swimmers in the Top 7 for a total of 48 pts including a first place finish. Ursuline’s Camille Tiemann ’14 took 8^th place (11pts) and sophomore Chelsea Miguez ’13 added 1pt for her 16^th place finish. ASH’s four swimmers collected 34pts to add to its overall lead.

After Event 11   ASH  212    CAB  178   UA 174  McG  106

 Side Note: For the first time in the 2010 District Meet, UA had fallen to 3^rd Place

 It was now time for the longest event of the evening.

500y Freestyle

Katie Stahel ’12 is a past State Champion in the 500y Free. However, during this year’s District Meet, Coach Gardner opted to use Katie in other events to maximize the team’s point total. Gardner could make this move because he knew he had another strong 500y Free swimmer: Emily MacLaren ’14. Sure enough, MacLaren ’14 would deliver big for the Lions when she captured a 2^nd Place finish (17pts) less than .3 seconds behind the winning swimmer from McGehee School. Marcelle Meyer ’13 finished in seventh (6pts). The bad news for UA was that both the Academy of the Sacred Heart and Cabrini High School performed well in this event. ASH placed all four of its swimmers in the Top Ten (3^rd ,5^th ,8^th ,10^th ) for a total of 48pts and Cabrini (4^th, 7^th, 9^th, 14^th) captured 39pts.

After Event 13   ASH  260    CAB  217   UA 197  McG  126

By this point in the meet, reality began to set in for the UA fans. The hope of reclaiming the district title was fading fast. Though it was possible to still win, the Lions would need ASH to have nothing short of horrible performances in the last four events and have the same type of performance from Cabrini. Realizing that the title was not coming home to State St., the focus turned to “Can we catch Cabrini?” and “Lets finish strong”. That was a great way to view the remainder of the meet. Lets send a signal to everyone that Ursuline battles until the last lap has been completed.

500y Freestyle Relay

 Well the good news was that two of the last four races would be relays which meant that the event would have double scoring (40pts to the winner). Cabrini captured first place (40pts) with ASH finishing close behind in second (36pts). Ursuline’s TEAM A finished in the 5^th spot (28pts) and was comprised of Renee Bonnaffons ’13, Sarah Mobley ’11, Kate Hickham ’14, and Camille Tiemann ’14.

After Event 15   ASH  294    CAB  257   UA 225  McG  152

 Side Note: We apologize for forgetting to write down the results from Event 17. We will now move on to Event 19.

100y Breaststroke

With second place in sight, Ursuline did its best to pass Cabrini High School in the final totals. In this event, Emily MacLaren ’14 did her part by finishing first (20pts) and Renee Bonnaffons took fifth (14pts) with a state-qualifying time and in her last race as an Ursuline Academy swimmer, Team Captain Sarah Mobley ’11 earned the team 9pts.

After Event 19   ASH  382    CAB  303   UA ???  McG  ???

 400y Freestyle Relay

In the final race of the evening, and ASH having secured its District Championship, attention turned to Ursuline Academy and Cabrini High School. The two schools were thought to have two of the better teams in the event. Therefore, both schools would score points. Before the race began, we did a little math and realized that even if Ursuline finished first, they would be five points shot of passing Cabrini. Therefore, with the Top 3 decided (ASH, Cabrini, and UA), the relays team competed for pride and bragging rights. In great fashion, our UA team won the last event of the evening when Emily MacLaren ’14 held off a late charge from Cabrini’s fastest swimmer.

2010 DISTRICT STANDINGS

CHAMPION – Academy of the Sacred Heart

RUNNER-UP – Cabrini High School

3^rd PLACE —– Ursuline Academy

SiouXI -- Big Night!

Hello Ursuline !

We thought you may enjoy seeing a few pictures from the Senior Night which was held on October 28th at the University of New Orleans Aquatic Center. On this night, Coach Gardner and Coach Brennan honored their five seniors and thanked each of them for their hard work and loyalty to the program. During the scheduled break of the 2010 District Meet, each player was presented flowers by High School Principal John Gabriel while Head Coach John Gardner offered a few kind words and compliments.

On behalf of the entire Ursuline Academy family, we would like to congratulate Hannah Hubley ‘11, Mallory Schafer ‘11, Gabby Eden ‘11, Gabby Roussell ‘11, and Team Captain Sarah Mobley ‘11 and thank them for their commitment to Ursuline Academy.

On her way to the State Meet

Congratulations, Baileigh!

Hello Ursuline

We thought you might like to know that the UA Swim Team is having a great season. Have you been to a meet? If not, why have you not come to one? Well, the good news is that you still have an opportunity to see our swim team compete. On Thursday, Coach Gardner will lead the team to UNO for the District Meet against Cabrini High School, Sacred Heart, and McGehee School. This is going to be a very close meet and our Lions will give their all to regain the district championship.

Info:  October 28th  7:00pm at UNO.

Also, in case you missed it, UA has competed in many meets this year and the purpose of the meets is to allow the swimmers multiple opportunities to qualify for the LHSAA State Meet. So far, so good for UA. Congratulations to freshman Baileigh Fuxan ‘15 for qualifying in three events:

1. 200 freestyle
2. 50 freestyle
3. 200 individual medley

Baileigh will join four-time state champion Katie Stahel ‘12, Megan Schmidt ‘13, Emily MacLaren ‘14, and Krista Liljeberg ‘14 as representatives of UA. Our swimmer still have an opportunity to qualify for the meet during the District Meet. Therefore, we are holding out hope that Renee Bonnaffons ‘13, and Marcelle Meyer ‘13 can punch  

Freshman Becomes Newest Member of Team to Compete at State Meet

Congratulations, Krista.

Congratulations to freshman Krista Liljeberg ‘14 for qualifying for the 2010 LHSAA State Swim Meet which will take place in November. Through her hard work and determination, Liljeberg ‘14 has become the latest member of Coach Gardner’s team to secure at spot at the biggest swim meet of the year.

Liljeberg ‘14 secured herself a spot on the team with an impressive performance at the Chalmette Swim Meet last Thursday. Her time was fast enough to qualify in the 100m Fly.

Liljeberg ‘14 now joins a very strong state team consisting of four-time state champion Katie Stahel ‘12, Megan Schmit ‘13, Emily MacLaren ‘12, and Baileigh Fuxan ‘15.

Congratulations to all of our swimmers and good luck to those who are attempting tio qualify in their final attempts of the season.

UA SWIM Battles Throughout Meet; Bonnaffons ‘13 Turned Away by Fraction of a Second

Bonnaffons '12 Moments Before the 100 Fly

On Saturday afternoon, friends of Ursuline Swimming joined the team at the University of New Orleans Aquatic Center for a cluster meet. A cluster meet is a very large meet with many schools competing against each other regardless of the school’ size / classification. Today’s meet was rumored to have had a total of 363 swimmers (combination of boys and girls). When the meet ended, our Lions had captured 4th place… a very respectable showing given the competition (most of which UA will not compete against in district nor state).

There were many stories to report on during the meet. As you probably already guessed, swimming phenom Katie Stahel ‘12 dominated her competition as we have all come to expect. Stahel ‘12 continues to improve leaving us all to believe that her 5th state title is on its way. 5th? Lets go for the 6th and 7th too, Katie. Good Luck!

The story that gained the most attention prior to the meet centered around four (4) UA swimmers that were within striking distance of obtaining a spot on the US State Team (the team that will compete at the LHSAA State Championships in late November). Sophomore Renee Bonnaffons ‘13 had everyone on the edge of their seats or standing on their tippy-toes as she competed in the 100 Breaststroke. In order to make her first trip to the state meet and to secure herself a spot on the UA State Team, Bonnaffons ‘13 needed to swim the length of the pool four times in under 1:26.22. As she reached the 75m mark, and turned toward the finish line (25m to go), everyone looked up to the large scoreboard and you could read the words on the lips of each UA fan in attendance: “Come on, Renee…. go“. As Bonnaffons ‘13 approached the finish, the fans began to lean toward the blocks almost in an attempt to help push the sophomore to the state meet. When Bonnaffons ‘13 touched the wall (to stop the official clock), the UA fans erupted. They erupted in disbelief that Renee’s time was not registering on the scoreboard. It was truly unbelievable… we were all wanting the time, and no one could give it to us. Knowing that Bonnaffons ‘13 had delivered her personal best, the comments began, “I think she go it” and “I know she got it” and the pessimistic, “I think she just missed it“. When the official time was finally released, Bonnaffons ‘13 finished with a 1:26.99 ….. .77 of 1 second (3/4 of 1 second) behind the the state qualifying time.  As devastating as the realization was, the fans quickly turned to the positive, forward-looking approached and said, “Next week, she is in. Renee is going to state“. We second that comment and wish Renee well and look forward to seeing her on the 2010 UA State Team.

Our 4-time State Champion -- Stahel '12

With the excitement surrounding Bonnaffon’s ‘13 quest for a spot on the State Team, we must not overlook the progress made by other members of the team. Marcelle Meyer ‘13 inched a few seconds closer to joining the state team in the 500 Free. With three or possibly four meets left, the sophomore may qualify! We will keep you posted. Emily MacLaren ‘14 and Megan Schmidt ‘13 have qualified for the State Team and with their performances today have also qualified for the Metro Meet (which ironically, is tougher to qualify for than the State Meet). We also believe that Team Captain Sarah Mobley ‘11 and sophomore Megan Mineo ‘13 have a good chance of possibly qualifying at the next meet.

Keep checking back throughout the remainder of the season to keep up with UA SWIM. They are arguably the best thing to hit water..since fish.  

Today’s results:

Bonnaffons ‘13, Meyer ‘13, Mineo ‘13, and Mobley ‘11 All Within Striking Distance of Making UA State Team

Meyer '13 and Bonnaffons '13 Look to Join MacLaren '14 at State. GOOD LUCK!

Join us at 2:00pm on Saturday to support Ursuline Swimming. Your presence at the meet is a great way to show your support of Coach Gardner, Coach Brennan ‘10, and the entire program. During Saturday’s meet, four (4) swimmers will attempt to pencil-in their names for the state team. At the end of each season, swimmers who have achieved certain qualifying times are allowed to travel on the UA State Team to participate in the LHSAA State Swim Meet in late November. This is the greatest honor bestowed upon the team members: to go forth and represent UA on the biggest stage , or in this case, in the biggest pool of the swimming season.

Sophomores Renee Bonnaffons ‘13, Marcelle Meyer ‘13, and Megan Mineo ‘13 are mere seconds from securing their spots on the state team. In her final season, Team Captain Sarah Mobley ‘11 is looking to end her high school career at the state meet. We wish these swimmers and each member of the team good luck as they continue to prepare for the District Meet. Each of these swimmers swam her personal best at last night’s meet.  If they can qualify at Saturday’s meet, the Fantastic Four will join Katie Stahel ‘12, Megan Schmitt ‘13, Emily MacLaren ‘14, and Baileigh Fuxan ‘15 as members of the 2010 UA State Team.

Soon, Ursuline will compete against Cabrini High School (defending district champion), Academy of the Sacred Heart (long-time rival), and local powerhouse McGehee School for the right to hold the District Championship. This district meet is expected to be super close and we are very excited and optimistic about Ursuline Academy’s chances of victory.

Ursu-online staff

Meyer ‘13 and Bonnaffons ‘13 Look to Join MacLaren ‘14 at State. GOOD LUCK!

Getting Ready for District; Mark Your Calendars!

Hello Ursuline.

Recently, Coach Gardner and Coach Brennan ‘10 took Ursuline Swimming to the Elmwood Fitness Center to participate in the third swim meet of the season. The Elmwood meets tend to be fan-friendly because the venue offers fans the ability to get close to the action from a number of different locations. Also, with Elmwood being the only meet held in an outdoor setting, fans are able to relax an watch the meet while enjoying the nice evening breeze. True, the swimmers will respond, “The water is freezing”, but fans can then respond, “Stop comlaining. We like it here. You will need to swim in all conditions in order to win. Look over there, a reclining chair. I am going sit there“.

Second Meet of the Year Sees Multiple Swimmers Qualify for State; Overall Room for Improvement Prior to District Meet

Megan Schmidt '13 Has Established Herself As One of Coach Gardner's "Go To" Swimmers

On Thursday evening, Ursuline Swimming participated in its second meet within the past seven days. Over the weekend, the team swam in a relay meet at the University of New Orleans. Unlike that meet where swimmers were only allowed to swim in relay events, tonight’s meet at Newman School was a traditional meet with 21 events that offered competition in all of the major swimming categories.

During the meet, we were able to see all of Coach Gardner’s top swimmers. If the team has any chance of regaining its district title, the top swimmers will have to perform at the top of their game during the October District Meet. So far this year, those swimmers are showing signs that they are ready to lead the relatively young team back to the top of the standings. As we have come to not only expect but also to enjoy, Katie Stahel ‘12 was dominating in each of her events. Emily MacLaren ‘14 has joined with Megan Schmidt ‘13 to round out the team’s top three. There is a lot of hype and expectations  surrounding the addition of eighth grader Baleigh Fuxan ‘15. If these four can blend into a strong cohesive unit, and if additional solid swimmers such as Team Captain Sarah Mobley ‘11 and sophomore Marcelle Meyer ‘13 continue to deliver in key strategic positions during the meet, Coach Gardner and Ursuline Swimming will be alive and well during the District Meet. Add in our young talent of Camille Tiemann ‘14 and last year’s Most Improved Swimmer Renee Bonnaffons ‘13 and quickly this team appears to be solid from the top all the way down.

Here are the results from Meet 2  on September 16th, 2010:

Here ae some pictures from Meet 2 at Newman School.

Ursu-online staff