UIL beefs up District 6-5A again

Coppell swimmers & divers will have their hands full next year, as UIL Athletics beefed up District 6-5A a second time with the addition of both Mansfield schools. The initial realignment for for the 08/09 and 09/10 seasons replaced the Carrollton schools with Southlake Carroll, a perennial top 10 State finisher. In addition, our Region (2) now covers most of the top teams from North Texas, including all North Texas schools that finished in the top 25 at the State Championships this year.

Keep in mind, only the 1st place finisher of the 8 regions automatically go to State. After that, the next 8 fastest finals times in each event regardless of region are invited to the State Championships. Region 2 should be well represented!

Next year's district meet will be held at Southlake Carroll 29-31JAN09. The Regional meet will be at Mansfield. The State Championships are 27-28FEB09.

District, Region, and Team Awards Announced

Belo Mansion made for a beautiful backdrop as coach Patrick Henry and company celebrated the team's accomplishments at Sunday's banquet. Coach Henry, in his first year as CHS swimming and diving coach, is recognized throughout the state for bringing the best out of his athletes. This year was no exception, as he announced a long list of All District and All Region awards.

In addition, eight athletes (4 girls & 4 guys), hand picked by the team, received special recognition for their achievements and contributions in four categories coveted by Coach Henry:

• MVP: Kelsey Fred (9), Nick Bass (12)
• Most Improved: Melanie Ruegg (11), Andrew Osborn (10)
• Hardest Worker: Maria Wald (10), Chris Bigelow (10)
• Cowboy Spirit: Jessica Myers (12), Chris Marshall (12)

The All District and All Region award winners are:

Ashlan Barta (11): 1st Team All-District 200 Free Relay and 400 Free Relay, 2nd Team All-District 50 Free. 1st Team All-Region 200 Free Relay and 400 Free Relay.

Grace Crampton (10): 1st Team All-District 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay, 2nd Team All-District 200 Free and 100 Fly. 1st Team All-Region 200 Medley Relay and 200 Free Relay.

Kelsey Fred (9): 1st Team All-District 200 Free, 500 Free, 200 Free Relay, and 400 Free Relay. 1st Team All-Region 200 Free Relay and 400 Free Relay. 2nd Team All-Region 200 Free and Honorable Mention 500 Free.

Katie Ische (12): 1st Team All-District 200 IM and 100 Back. 2nd Team All-Region 200 IM and Honorable Mention 100 Back.

Caitlin Koranda (9): 1st Team All District 100 Free, 100 Back, 200 Medley Relay, and 400 Free Relay. 1st Team All-Region 100 Back, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay, and Honorable Mention 200 IM.

Jessica Myers (12): 2nd Team All-District 200 Free and Honorable Mention All-District 500 Free.

Melanie Ruegg (11): 1st Team All-District 200 IM, 100 Back, 200 Medley Relay, and 200 Free Relay. 1st Team All-Region 200 IM, 100 Back, 200 Medley Relay, and 200 Free Relay.

Aimee West (11): 1st Team All-District 100 Fly, 100 Breast, 200 Medley Relay, and 400 Free Relay. 1st Team All-Region 100 Breast, 200 Medley Relay, and 400 Free Relay.

James Baker (12): 1st Team All-District 200 Free, 400 Free Relay, and Honorable Mention 100 Free. 1st Team All-Region 400 Free Relay. School Record 400 Free Relay

Nick Bass (12): 1st Team All-District 200 Free, 500 Free, 200 Free Relay, and 400 Free Relay. 1st Team All-Region 200 Free, 500 Free, 200 Free Relay, and 400 Free Relay. School Record 200 Free Relay and 400 Free Relay.

Chris Bigelow (10): 1st Team All-District 200 IM, 100 Breast, and 200 Medley Relay. 1st Team All-Region 100 Breast, 200 Medley Relay, and Honorable Mention 200 IM.

Scott Bigelow (12): 1st Team All-District 500 Free, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Free Relay, and 2nd Team All-District 200 Free. 1st Team All-Region 400 Free Relay and 2nd Team All-Region 500 Free. School Record 400 Free Relay

Robert Broun (9): 1st Team All-District Diving. 1st Team All-Region Diving.

Ryan Daly (11): Honorable Mention All-District 500 Free

Jacob Fenster (11): 1st Team All-District 100 Fly, 200 Medley Relay, an 200 Free Relay. 1st Team All-Region 200 Free Relay. School Record 200 Free Relay

Bobby Jiang (12): 1st Team All-District 200 IM and 2nd Team All-District 100 Back.

Chris Marshall (12): 1st Team All-District 100 Fly, 200 Medley Relay, 200 Free Relay, and 2nd Team All-District 50 Free. 1st Team All-Region 200 Free Relay and Honorable Mention All-Region 100 Fly. School Record 200 Free Relay

Andrew Osborn (10): 1st Team All-District 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay, and 400 Free Relay. 1st Team All Region 100 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, and 2nd Team All-Region 50 Free. School Record 200 Free Relay and 400 Free Relay

Congratulations to all for a job well done. Special thanks to John Daly, Jan Ruegg, and Judy Bigelow for making the event special. The team is taking a well deserved holiday, but will be back in the water after spring break preparing for next year.

Support your Cowboys at Regionals

It's time to support your 16 Cowboy swimmers and divers that move on to the regional competition this week, February 7-9. Regionals are split over three days and two venues. Diving will be held Thursday at the LISD Aquatics Center in The Colony beginning 1:30pm. Swimming prelims start 9:00am Friday, and swimming finals begin at 1:00pm Saturday. All swimming will be held at Loos Natatorium in Addison.

The fastest 8 swimmers or relay teams in Friday's preliminary events compete in Saturday's finals. First place in each finals event automatically advance to the State meet in Austin. Others may be called up to swim at the State meet based on their finals time. The list of athletes called up to swim at State will be available on the TISCA website.

Our District (6-5A) is one of the toughest in the Region (see Regional breakdown), meaning many of our swimmers are within reach of State (see the Psych Sheet for preliminary seeding). Bring a friend and let them hear your spirit. Go Cowboys!

For more information on the Regional meet, click on the title of this post.

Team sending 16 to Regionals!

A total of 16 swimmers and divers are going to Regionals after Friday's stunning District 6-5A performance at Lewisville IDS Aquatics Center in The Colony. Coach Henry had the team ready with almost all swimmers topping their career best times, many in dramatic fashion.

During the regular season, Varsity would be in the water at 6:30am every morning, even if they had a meet at 6:30pm that night. All that hard work is paying off, as they now have 28 opportunities at Regionals to qualify for State. District 6-5a is very competitive and considered the strongest in Region 2.

Overall the men's team finished third and women's team finished fourth. While the team brought home 32 medals (first -third place), special recognition goes to Nick Bass and Chris Bigelow for their first place finishes in the 500 Free and 100 Breast respectively!

The Cowboys who will move on to Regionals this weekend are listed below with their events and District finish. Click on the title of this post for the full meet results.

GIRLS
Ashlan Barta - 200 Free Relay(3), 400 Free Relay(3)
Grace Crampton - 200 Medley Relay(2), 200 Free Relay(3)
Kelsey Fred - 200 Free(3), 500 Free(4), 200 Free Relay(3), 400 Free Relay(3)
Katy Ische - 200 IM(5), 100 Back(4)
Caitlin Koranda - 200 Medley Relay(2), 100 Free(6), 100 Back(3), 400 Free Relay(3)
Melanie Ruegg - 200 Medley Relay(2), 200 IM(6), 200 Free Relay(3), 100 Back(2)
Amiee West - 200 Medley Relay(2), 100 Fly(6), 100 Breast(5), 400 Free Relay(3)

BOYS
James Baker - 200 Free(4), 400 Free Relay(3)
Nick Bass - 200 Free(2), 500 Free(1), 200 Free Relay(2), 400 Free Relay(3)
Chris Bigelow - 200 Medley Relay(2), 200 IM(4), 100 Breast(1)
Scott Bigelow - 200 Medley Relay(2), 500 Free(3), 400 Free Relay(3)
Robert Broun - 1 Mtr Diving(6)
Jacob Fenster - 200 Medley Relay(2), 100 Fly(5), 200 Free Relay(2)
Bobby Jiang - 200 IM(6)
Chris Marshall - 200 Medley Relay(2), 50 Free(7), 100 Fly(3), 200 Free Relay(2)
Andrew Osborn - 50 Free(6), 100 Free(5), 200 Free Relay(2), 400 Free Relay(3)

Get Ready for Districts!

This year's District Swimming competition will be held at the new LISD Aquatics Center in The Colony on Friday, 1 February. The team bus leaves at 1:15pm, warm-ups begin at 4:00pm, and the meet starts at 5:30pm. District Diving will be held Thursday, 31 January starting at 5:00pm.

To Fans and Families, please note Lewisville has two high school pools: LISD Natatorium in Flower Mound and LISD Aquatics Center in The Colony. We'll be at the Aquatics Center in The Colony. All District events are final (no prelims) and only the top six in each event move on to Regionals the following weekend. It's the moment of truth, so come loud and proud to support our Cowboy swimmers! Adult admission is $4, students are $3, and heat sheets are $2.

Updated Meet Schedule

Please note a couple of changes to our meet schedule. There is an additional home meet with Plano West on 11 December, and Districts have been split with Diving on Thursday, 31 January and swimming on Friday, 1 February. Click on the title for a printable hard copy of the revised schedule.