Sailors Rule the Pool!

Sailor Swimming raced toward a third place finish at the National Catholic High School Swim Meet. The meet was held at Villanova and LaSalle Universities in Philadelphia. Mount de Sales finished behind Notre Dame Prep and Spalding.

“It really says something about the competition in the IAAM, that at a national meet, the top three teams are from this conference,” said head coach Courtney Gahagan.

Saturday Preliminaries:

  Sailor Swimmers woke up at 6:00 to caravan over to Villanova. 19 of the 26 girls on the team swam at prelims. With support from Sister Amelia and Sister Mary Celeste, the swim team excelled in prelims. Sisters Amanda and Laura Gretz (‘13, ‘15) were placed in lanes next to each other in 50 freestyle; they tied with a time of 28.33.

“I was hoping that I would beat Amanda because she was winning during the first lap, and I thought I had caught up to her on the second lap. I looked up at the scoreboard, and we just started laughing,” said freshman Laura Gretz.



Sunday Finals:

  On Sunday morning, Sailor Swimming packed up and travelled over to LaSalle University. The swim team was prepared to achieve a top 3 finish after their performance in prelims. With a top 10 finish in almost every event, the Sailors reached their goal.

Notable performances at finals include:

•    200 medley relay–2nd place: Allie Caulfield, Cassie Jordan, Kristen Vargas, Katie Nevin 1:53.36

•    200 IM–1st place: Kristen Vargas 2:10.28

•    100 Fly-7th place: Cassie Jordan 1:01.89

•    100 free–5th place: Allie Caulfield 55.86

•    500 free–9th place: Anna Minnick 5:32.93

•    200 freestyle relay–2nd place: Katie Nevin, Kelly Long, Cassie Jordan, Kristen Vargas 1:43.00

•    100 back–6th place: Allie Caulfield 1:03.80; 8th place: Kellen McDonald 1:04.40

•    100 breaststroke–2nd place: Cassie Jordan 1:08.28; 4th place: Kristen Vargas: 1:08.74

•    400 freestyle relay–4th place: Kelly Long, Alyson Schmid, Kellen McDonald, Allie Caulfield 3:53.87

“When I touched the wall and looked to both sides and didn’t see anyone, I was overwhelmed. I saw the 1 next to my name on the score board and thought ‘It’s amazing what God can do through a little 5 foot flat girl like me.’ But most of all, it was a successful trip knowing that all my swims were for Sailor swimming, and Sailor Swimming alone. That’s what it’s all about in Sailor Swimming, your team. ” said sophomore and National Catholic 200 IM champion Kristen Vargas.

B. Lappe '12