District Preview: 14 Golden Eagle Swimmers to Compete at Championships
Eight Tyrone, one Bellwood, and five Bishop Guilfolye swimmers will represent the Tyrone Swim Team at Districts on March 3rd and 4th at the Natatorium.
“Based on seeding, I’d be disappointed if our swimmers didn’t [place on the] podium,” said Head Coach Tom Getz.
Tyrone swimmers are seeded in the top eight in 13 events. Click the link below for a complete list of events and seed times:
Bishop Guilfoyle’s Fiona McConnell goes into the meet third best in the 100 breast with a time of 1:17.49. She’s also placed sixth in the 50 free with a 28.28 time.
“I really want to get a 1:15 in my breaststroke. I hope as a team we drop time and move up [seed positions],” said freshman McConnell.
Mae Decker is seeded fifth in the 100 back with a time of 1:08.86. She’s only .80 seconds away from the swimmer in the fourth seed. Freshman M. Decker is ranked at sixth place in the 200 IM with a 2:33.56 seed time.
“I hope the team places highly and we drop time. I want to do my best to win races. I expect lots of team spirit and to have fun,” said M. Decker.
Anastasia Slobodnik is placed sixth in the 100 breast behind McConnell. Her time of 1:18.99 is close behind the fifth seed with a .19 second difference.
Tyrone freshman Cate Baran is seeded 13th in the 100 free among 24 other competing swimmers with a 1:04.70 time. She also is 20th in the 50 free.
Altogether, the girls represent Tyrone in both the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay. The team is ranked fourth in the medley and ninth in the 200 free.
“We should definitely be higher than past [years]. There’s gonna be some tough and tight races, like always. As long as swimmers drop time, the rest will take care of itself,” said Getz.
On the boys side, Jacob Decker is placed third in the 100 back, .27 seconds away from second place, with a 1:02.89 time. He also has a time of 25.00 seconds in the 50 free with a seed of fourth place.
“I hope to hit top three in [at least] one of my events. We all have worked hard this year, [so we should have swimmers] in the top six,” said J. Decker.
Junior Blake Slobodnik is ranked fourth in the 500 free, the only event requiring qualification at Districts. In the 200 free, he is placed fifth with a 2:04.19 seed time.
Bishop Guilfoyle freshman Matt Lenze has two sixth place seeds in both the 100 fly (1:03.58) and 100 breast (1:10.21).
“I hope the team can get on the podium a lot. I expect that everyone does their best and has fun,” said Lenze.
Senior Austin Quinn is ranked eighth in the 100 free with a time of 57.52. He also will compete in the 50 free with a 26.18 time.
Sophomore Carter Maceno is placed 13th in the 200 free with a 2:28.95 time.
Bishop Guilfoyle French exchange student Jules Collet is seeded 14th in the 200 IM, trailing behind 12th with a .09 second difference.
Bellwood’s Brendan Kowalski is placed 14th in the 50 free among 34 other swimmers with a 26.04.
Bryce Bauer is ranked 18th in his individual events, both the 50 (26.29) and 100 free (1:00.77).\
Matt Beam has a 1:26.56 time in the 100 back.
In the 100 breast, freshman Nick Delbaggio has a seed time of 1:24.95.
The relay event to watch for Tyrone is the 200 medley relay, where the team of J. Decker, Lenze, B. Slobodnik, and Quinn are seeded third in the event. There is a four second difference between the team and the first seed. This group of boys is also two seconds away from breaking Tyrone’s medley record.
“I hope our team breaks the school record in the 200 medley,” said J. Decker.
In the 200 free relay, Lenze, B. Slobodnik, J. Decker, and Kowalski are placed sixth with a .05 second difference from fifth seed.
The team of Collet, Bauer, Kowalski, and Maceno will compete in the 400 free relay. The relay is placed fifth out of nine other teams.
“Our swimmers should prepare for fast races for Districts,” said Getz.
The meet begins at 2:00 pm on Friday. The swimmers competing are as follows:
Tyrone: Cate Baran, Mae Decker, Jacob Decker, Austin Quinn, Carter Maceno, Bryce Bauer, Matt Beam, and Nick DelBaggio
Bellwood: Brendan Kowalski
Bishop Guilfoyle: Anastasia Slobodnik, Fiona McConnell, Matt Lenze, Blake Slobodnik, and Jules Collet
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