News and Events

02/15/10- IHSAA State Championships    

          Our girls traveled to Indianapolis last weekend to participate in the IHSAA state championships and performed like the true champions they are.  The highlight of the weekend for the team was the 200 Free Relay which was able to drop some more time off of an impressive sectional performance to go a time of 1:40.47.  Unfortunately with the strength of women's swimming in Indiana we just missed making it to the finals by 0.03 of a second.  Then Dani Radosevich who had the bad luck of only one race between her relay swim and the 100 Back added about 0.5 seconds to her sectional time.  She swam the race with a lot of heart and attacked the whole race.  She was just not able to generate quite as much power as she had the week before going out in her first 50 about .4 seconds slower than sectionals.  This was because she had just swum in the relay less than five minutes before.   Hopefully next year she will get more time to recover before she has to swim the 100 back.  To end the meet our 400 Free relay team was just about 1 second off what they had swum the previous week and they finished the same as their seed place of 23.  The best news is that the majority of our state team will return again next year to give it another try at one of the fastest and deepest state championship meets in the country.  While many of the girls are continuing on with Valpo Swim Club in their fall championship meets the team will officially return to the pool right after spring break for our summer season.  SEE YOU ALL THEN. 

02/06/10- IHSAA Sectional Championships

      Once again our girl's did not fail to show the true champions they are at the Sectional Championship this past weekend.  The weekend was nothing short of amazing.  Overall as a team the percentage of lifetime best times during the course of the meet was just shy of 100%.  Throughout the entire weekend there were only four swims (out of 66 total) that were not lifetime best performances and each of those swims were easily within striking distance to a lifetime best performance.  That makes our final percentage of lifetime best times at the meet at 94%.  As a coaching staff we are elated that each of their girls were able to see the benefits of their amazing tenacity and work ethic that was the cornerstone of our team this season.  It was a magical weekend that each girl will be able to remember for years to come. 

     I realize that after each meet I spend time discussing some of our most impressive performances, but this meet was different.  Each of the girls had an amazing performance at the meet and each showed that fighting spirit that epitomizes the Lady Viking Swimming and Diving Team.  Therefore, I will simply let the statistics speak for themselves and show each of you the improvement that each swimmer had throughout the course of this season. I figured that the best way to do this was by listing the previous lifetime best performances at the start of the season and at the end.  However before we do this I would be remiss in not giving kudos to our amazing divers who continued to demonstrate the dominance of our diving program with yet another sectional finish of 1st by Jeanne Nolan, 2nd by Kahleah El-Naggar, and 5th by Amanda Sorenson.  Awesome job divers!

01/23/10- JV DAC Championships

        The JV DAC is traditionally the final meet of the season for our girl's who will not be participating in the IHSAA Sectional meet in two weeks.  That means that for our newest participants this meet is for all the marbles.  Our JV team did not fail to impress all those who came to watch, treating the spectators with an AWESOME performance !!!  It seemed like every time one of our Lady Vikings hit the water they dropped time and we are not talking about small time drops either.  This years JV team was very different than those that we have had in the past.  Basically they were almost all new to the sport way back in September.  Yesterday they demonstrated just how far they have come and furthermore what hard work and determination will do to achieve your dreams.  Our goal for the meet was simple, be proud of what you have accomplished this season.  I can say without a doubt that each girl that swam in yesterday's meet can hold their head up high about how well they were able to swim.

      This meet was not characterized by small time drops, instead in many cases the time differential between their previous best was shockingly huge.  Some of the swims of the meet for the Lady Vikings were turned in by Natalie Wirsing who dropped an amazing 10 seconds off her previous best in the 200 IM and 4 seconds off her best in the 100 Back.  Ryan Thomas also added some eye popping time drops in all four of her events.  She dropped over thee seconds off her 200 Free time with a 2:25, over 2 seconds in her 50 Free with a time of 28.1, and 6 seconds off her 100 Free with a 1:05.1.   Brianna Konrad Also dropped over ten seconds off her time in the 100 Free with a time of 1:08 and two seconds in the 50 Free with a time of 31.  Lindsay Davis added to the party by dropping 5 seconds off her 100 Free (1:27), and 3 seconds off her 50 Back times.  Lexi Bluhm's 100 Breaststroke time of 1:32 was a full 4 seconds off her previous best time. Katie Lichtenburger's final time yesterday in the 500 Free of 6:36 is a full minute faster than her previous lifetime best time from last season.  And finally last but by no means least Kaylynn Billish dropped over 2 seconds off her best in the 50 free and  her 100 Fly.  AWESOME JOB GIRLS!

    As a coaching staff we are very proud of what our JV Squad was able to accomplish yesterday afternoon.  It is now time to be reflective about the season.  Look behind at the long journey that we all just finished and be proud of what each and every girl has accomplished.  You are all amazing girls and we can not wait until this spring when we can once again start to train for the summer season.   Now enjoy some well deserved rest.

01/20/10- Michigan City Dual Meet

     The Michigan City dual meet was the final meet of the regular season for the girls team.  It was also our senior night ceremony for our beloved seniors.  I figured it is only fitting to forgo the regular description of events last night in order to talk about how much the senior class has brought to our wonderful team.

     Ella Meyer is one of those swimmers who defies the odds in swimming. In a sport dominated by athletes who seem to have been swimming since they were born, Ella has been swimming for three years.  In that short period of time she has been able to be a sectional finalist, and make it onto our state team. Hopefully this year our 200 Free Relay will make it to the state meet and she can add state finalist to her resume.  This is an amazing feat for a girl with relatively little swimming experience in comparison to the rest of the girls in our state.  While Ella has brought some beneficial talent in the sprint events to our team this is only a small fraction of her contributions to our family.    Time after time Ella has provided the team with the much needed comic relief the girls strive for throughout the season.  Swimming can be a very difficult sport both mentally and physically during training sessions. Ella was one of those girls that helped to keep the sport fun, not just for her but for the rest of the team as well.  She came to practice with a smile on her face and a song in her heart on the majority of days throughout the season.  Ella's cheerful spirit, smile, big heart, her desire to achieve, and her amazing talent will be sorely missed next season. 

     Molly Guffin is our other senior that will be leaving us this season. In the last four years Molly has been a major contributor for us in many different areas.  She predominantly swam the 200IM and 100 Back for us and has been a sectional finalist each of her four seasons with us. She has also been a state team member the last two seasons.  But like Ella, Molly's accomplishments in the pool are subjugated by her behavior on the pool deck and in life.  Molly is one of those eternally optimistic people that so many of us strive to become.   Nothing exemplifies this more than the difficulties she has had to endure this entire season.  Last spring Molly began her training for her senior season in earnest with an intensity and desire that was exemplary to the rest of the team.  As a coaching staff we were excited to see what Molly was going to be capable of this season.  Unfortunately early in the fall Molly tripped while walking down from the weight room and tore some ligaments in her ankle.  The injury was bad enough to effect her training and her swimming, but not bad enough to sideline her for the remainder of the season.  Following the injury Molly was visibly frustrated, but rather than hang up her goggles she shifted her focus to the entire team and the legacy she would leave behind as team captain.  She also continued to work through the pain of a torn ligament in her ankle and do all that she could.  Little by little she has been dropping time and she now is very close to her season best performances from previous seasons.  Molly's never say die attitude, her huge heart, and her compassionate ear to the girls on the team will be her biggest legacies. 

     Both Molly and Ella have provided a young team with the ultimate example for our girls to follow in the years to come.  They have helped our young team grow and become the amazing veterans we have seen in the last few meets of the season.  Their legacy will continue to give guidance to this team for years to come.  Thank you Seniors.       

01/16/10- DAC Championship Meet

      Every year the DAC Championship meet demonstrates why our conference is one of the premier conferences in the state of Indiana. Once again this year we were all treated to some amazing swims and even more amazing team performances to position our small part of the state well in a run against the rest of the state next month.  Throughout the course of the meet the Lady Viking swimmers were able to weather the onslaught of powerful swimmers and teams to finish a strong fourth place. 

     As a coaching staff we decided that we would set a lofty goal for the girls with a smiley quotient goal of  20. This basically means that out of 36 total swims yesterday afternoon 20 of them must be at or better than their season best performances.  The final tally at the meet was 20.5.  We were extremely excited that the girls were once again able to rise to the lofty goals we determined for them at the meet. 

     The key to achieving our goals for the meet were the performances turned in by all of our swimmers who were participating in their first ever DAC championship.  Every one of these rookies was able to get at least one lifetime best time during the meet.  Leading the impressive performances by our youngest or newest members was freshman Sydney Perry who was able to drop 2 seconds off her lifetime best time in the 200 Free  (2:07) and an amazing 9 seconds off her time in the 500 Free (5:41).  Not to be outdone fellow freshman Kaitlyn Steffus also achieved two lifetime best times in the 100 Fly (1:02) and the 500 free (5:28).  Marissa Cain who is not only new to the team but she is new to the sport as this is her first season, was able to add two lifetime best performaces to the mix as well in the 100 Free (1:04) and the 100 Back (1:12).  Sam Bertram who as a Junior has been bidding her time and waiting for her opportunity at a varsity spot was not going to be outdone by the rest of the rookies as she was able to achieve a lifetime best performance in the 100 Breast (1:23).  Gabby Healy, another newcomer to our sport, was also able to achieve a lifetime best performance in the 100 Breaststroke by dropping almost two seconds off her previous lifetime best performance. 

     The veterans of our team also had a very strong meet  by turning in season best performances in each of the three relays during the meet.  Each relay dropped a little over a second off their season best performances to go a 2:02 in the medley, a 1:42 in the 200 Free relay and a 3:48 in the 400 Free really.  Basia Niziolek once again proved that she loves to swim and race on the relays by turning in two amazing splits of 24.6 in the 200 Free and 55.6 in the 400 Free relays.  The 100 freestyle split was a lifetime best performance for Basia.  Ella Meyer was also able to achieve two lifetime best performances in the 50 Back and 100 Free during the meet as well.  Our next meet is the final dual meet of the season against Michigan City this coming Tuesday at 6:00PM.  It will also be the first meet we will be showcasing our brand new Daktronics full color alpha numeric scoreboard.  Please come on out to cheer on our beloved seniors in their final home meet. 

01/09/10- Highland Invite

     The girls managed to hold their own against the toughest teams in Northwest Indiana at the Highland Invite.  There were some impressive swims and the girls showed a lot of heart in their fifth place overall finish at the meet.   Most impressive was the number of come from behind touch outs that we we able to get at the meet.  Of those touch outs the most impressive was turned in by Lauren Lafferty when she was able to catch up to a girl with almost a body length lead in the final 25 of her 200IM.  Our girls have proven that they are ready to race and that is exactly what we want them to be ready to do during the championship season. 

     The drive to race and outperform their competition was nice to see on Saturday, but more impressive was the number of season best performances in the meet.   Riley Carter was not only able to achieve two lifetime best times in her 200IM and 100 Breast but she achieved her season goals in the process.  Now she has to reevaluate where she wants to be at the end of the season.  This is always a great problem to have.  Sydney Perry was also able to achieve a lifetime best time in the 200 Free.  Also contributing to the impressive performances at the meet were Basia Niziolek with her season best 50 Free, Kaitlyn Steffus With her season best 100 Fly,  Allie Lamberson 50 Free, Molly Guffin 100 Back and 200 IM, Marissa Cain in the 100 Back, and finally Sam Bertram in the 100 Breast (ties her lifetime best).  The Portage dual meet this Tuesday is next on the slate for the Lady Vikings.   

01/06/10- Merrillville Dual Meet

     The main goal the coaching staff had for the girls last evening was to pay attention to the details.  As a team a large amount of time has been spent working on those details at various practices throughout the season.  We have had workouts with a definitive emphasis on pacing, starts, breathing patterns, stroke efficiency, correct stroke rates, great turns and so on.  Likewise we have had meets where we have stressed certain parts of a smart race.  Now as we get ready for the championship season which opens next Saturday at The DAC meet we needed to start putting all of the pieces together, and that was the stress for the meet last evening.  We can say we are very pleased and highly optimistic about what the championship season will bring.

     The team was also able last evening to swim in some events that they do not get a chance to swim very often and we had some impressive results.  Leading the pack last evening was Riley Carter who turned in two season best performances in the 200 Free and the 100 Fly.  Ryan Thomas was able to get a season and lifetime best performance by over three seconds in the 200 Free as well.  Sam Bertram was able to tie a lifetime best in the 100 Breaststroke. Danielle Radosevich had a season best performance in the 100 Free and Katie Lichtenberger was able to achieve a lifetime best performance by almost 5 seconds in the 500 Fr.  The team will return to the pool this Saturday at the highly competitive Highland Invite to continue honing our skills in preparation for yet another amazing championship run.   

12/31/09- Lafayette Jefferson Dual Meet

     It was apparent that the intense training we have done during the Christmas break in order to make our final preparations for the championship season made it difficult for our girls to continue their run of impressive time drops.  By the time all was said and done at the end of our win against Lafayette Jefferson we managed to score nine total smilies for the meet.  This is just a little over 15% of the swims at lifetime or season best times.  Even though the times in this meet did not continue the parade of impressive performances we have had recently, there is still one awesome aspect we can take away from this meet. Very few swims added greater than 1-2% from pervious season best times. This is a very difficult thing to do during this, one of the most intense training mesocycles of the entire year.  

     While the performance in this meet may be a little lower than we have come to expect this season, it is still very impressive we have not dropped below 20% before this point in the season.  A lot of that can easily be attributed to the amazing work ethic the girls have demonstrated thus far this season.  If they keep up this intense desire to work to their best every day, championship season should be exciting.

     The most impressive swims of the meet were turned in by Kaitlyn Steffus who was able to get three season best performances in the 100 Back, 200 Free, and 50 Free. Danielle Radosevich also managed to drop time in two of her four events for the meet.  She received season best time performances in both the 50 Back on the 200 Medley Relay and the 100 Fly.    Lauren Lafferty was able to drop over five seconds off of her time in the 400 Free at the meet.  Molly Guffin was also able to shave off almost a full second off her season best performance in the 100 Back.   Great Job girls. :)

12/18/09- Chesterton JV Dual Meet

     The Junior varsity team was able to continue on the momentum built by our varsity girls last evening in a loss to Chesterton.  The newly developed smiley quotient that the girls seem to have fully embraced was once again used to determine the success of the meet.  Our goal was to get more than 16 smiley faces at the meet to get over 50% season best times.  Throughout the course of the meet we were able to get 19.5 smilies for their swims.   

    The most impressive performances of the meet were turned in by Lexi Bluhm, Lindsey Davis, Ryan Thomas, Brianna Konrad, Katie Lichtenberger, Elisabeth Parroquin, and Natalie Wirsing who each dropped time in at least one half of their swims.  Huge time drops for the meet were achieved by Katie Lichtenberger who dropped almost 10 second off of her 400 Free. Ryan Thomas dropped over five seconds off her 100 Free time. Brianna Konrad dropped over 4seconds off her 100 Back as well as her 100 Free, and finally Lindsey Davis dropped a combined 8 seconds in two of her events last evening (100Fr and 100Bk).  We would also like to give a big tip of the goggles to our diver relay last evening for their impressive performance in the 200 free relay.  Awesome job last night girls.  Now we all get a much needed break from meets to concentrate on our training. 

12/16/09- Chesterton Dual Meet

     As a coaching staff we once again decided to challenge the team last evening with a lofty goal of 50% of their swims at season or lifetime best times.   In order to add some variety we developed the smiley quotient and to reach our goal we needed to get at least 24 smiley faces total.  We awarded a full smiley face for any swim that was a season or lifetime best performance, 3/4 of a smiley face for any swim that were within 2 tenths of their time, and 1/2 a smiley face that were within 0.5 second of their time.  As I stated before our goal was to get at least 50% or 24 smiley faces total and the final tally was 24.25 Smiley faces for the meet. Therefore, yet again the girls were able to meet our team goal and perform above and beyond our expectations.

     There were many strong performances turned in by the girls last night, but some of the most impressive were performed by our freestyle swimmers.  Leading the way were lifetime best performances by Justine Johnson and Sydney Perry who each dropped almost 3 seconds off their previous best performances in the 500 Free. Sam Bertram also achieved a lifetime best time in the 100 Breast besting her previous mark set at last year's JV DAC by over a second.  Allie Lamberson also was within 0.01 second of her lifetime mark (55.43) set at last years sectional finals in the 100 Free.  Danielle Radosevich was able to turn in two season best performances in the 200 Free (2:02.1) and the 100 Back (1:01.1).  Jill Ridder also continued her streak of season best performances with a time of 1:16 in the 100 Breaststroke. Finally, Our 200 Freeststyle relay posted a season best time (1:43) that was just over three seconds off of the state qualifying time of  1:40.8.

     The Varsity team will now enjoy a much needed respite to concentrate on the requisite training to prepare for yet another amazing championship run.  If the last stretch of amazing performances during this difficult time between Thanksgiving and Christmas break is any indication we are defiantly in for some FUN !!!!!!!!

12/11/09- Munster Dual Meet

      Once again our Lady Vikings exhibited amazing heart and tenacity in a loss to regional power Munster.   So far during this difficult stretch in our meet schedule as we swim four of the strongest teams in the area, the girls have continually demonstrated the ability to put it all on the line and race with some of the top swimmers.  Last evening was no exception to this.  The day after the Crown Point meet the girls were all feeling a little tired and were wary to enter yet another intense meet, but when it came time for the meet it was like flipping a switch and they were ready to race.  This mental maturity is rarely seen in a young squad like we have this season. 

      As a team we were just over the goal of greater than 50% season or lifetime best times during the meet with 36 of 67 swims.   Leading the pack of time drops was Danielle Radosevich who bested her top season performance in both the 200IM (2:36 drop of 3 seconds)  and the 100 Back (1:08 drop of .75Seconds).  Justine Johnson also was able to get season best and nearly lifetime best performances in both the 200 Free and 400 Free.  Not to be denied were veteran captains Jill Ridder and Ella Meyer who each dropped about two seconds off their season best times in the 100 Breaststroke and 100 Back respectively.  Other time drops during the meet were achieved by Marissa Cain, Molly Guffin, Lauren Lafferty, Allie Lamberson, and Kaitlyn Steffus. 

     The time drops previously listed only include those achieved during individual events.  In relay events Kaylynn Billish, Lexi Bluhm, Gabby Healy, Katie Lichtenberger, Elisabeth Parroquin, and Sydney Perry were all able to drop some time.  All in all 16 of 21 swimmers were able to get at least one season best performance last night.  That is a daunting task during this portion of the season.  The coaching staff could not have been more pleased with the effort put forth by the girls.   Now we just need to keep this momentum rolling as we enter probably the most difficult challenge yet against our neighbors to the North, Chesterton.  Keep Smilin' :)           

12/09/09- Crown Point Dual Meet

     The Lady Viking Swimmers had yet another strong showing in a near loss against conference rival Crown Point.  While the team fell a little short on points to get a team win the heart and fight they exhibited was exemplary.  Every year the stretch of meets between Thanksgiving and Christmas presents one of the biggest tests of stamina both mentally and physically for our girls.  The girls swim each meet tired as we enter a difficult training mesocycle getting ready for the final push to the championship season.  So far the team this year has passed each assessment during this period with flying colors. Last night was yet another prime example of the teams tenacity and guts.

      One of the big things we have been focusing on during our practices in the early part of December has in part been devoted to learn how to swim tired.  Learn how to finish a race even when they feel like there is nothing left. Late last week the girls started to really believe that they could swim fast when tired. This is yet another integral piece of the puzzle to a successful championship season.  The mental game in this sport is everything.  Believe  in your abilities and it is amazing what you can achieve. 

     The stand out swimmer of the meet last evening was freshman Kaitlyn Steffus setting three lifetime best performances during the course of the meet.  Kaitlyn managed to drop almost 9 seconds off her pervious best 400 Fr performance with a time of 4:49. Not only was this a fast time but she swam a well paced race and finished with some authority.  Her other two lifetime best performances were done in the 100 Fly where she dropped about a second to get a time of 1:10 and her 100 Free in the final relay dropping 2 seconds to get a time of 1:03.  Danielle Radosevich also added to the time drops with two season best performances in the 200IM and the 100 Back.

     On another note we want to acknowledge Basia Niziolek for what we called the lion heart award last evening.  Basia demonstrated that heart and tenacity will help carry you through a difficult race.  On more than one occasion last evening Basia found herself having to hang on with a Crown Point swimmer closing in on her.  Basia managed to dig down deep and find another gear to stave off the impending threat.  While it was not always pretty she proves just how far belief can carry a swimmer.  

     While we did not get above the 50% of season or life time best performances we were striving for as a team we still feel that last nights meet was one of our best racing performances to date this season.  Just Believe in youself. Please make sure to check out the results page to look at the copious other good swims from last evening.