Motivated by the announcement earlier in the week that USA
Swimming had named them as a Bronze Medal Team for the third
straight year, eight athletes represented the Morgan Hill Swim Club
earlier this month at the Pacific Swimming Junior Olympics
Championships held at the Fiscalini International Swim Center in
San Jose. Out of 980 swimmers representing 67 teams at the meet,
the Morgan Hill team came home with 24th place, racking up 81
points while breaking 14 team records in the process.
Motivated by the announcement earlier in the week that USA Swimming had named them as a Bronze Medal Team for the third straight year, eight athletes represented the Morgan Hill Swim Club earlier this month at the Pacific Swimming Junior Olympics Championships held at the Fiscalini International Swim Center in San Jose.
Out of 980 swimmers representing 67 teams at the meet, the Morgan Hill team came home with 24th place, racking up 81 points while breaking 14 team records in the process.
Kortney Kay got things off to a fast start in the girls 9-10 division, with four Top 10 placings, including a new team record of 5:22.70, finishing second in the 400 meter free. Kay also set another team record (originally set in 1987) with a 2:54.10 third place finish in the 200 meter individual medley.
Cleve Gurney and Ryan McCombs made their championship rookie debuts in the boys 9-10 division, with Gurney finishing 26th in the 50 meter backstroke, and McCombs getting his first Q-time, finishing 11th in the 100 meter backstroke at 1:26.15.
In the girls 11-12 division, Katie Rick helped her teammates with six Top 10 placings, while setting six new team records. One of those records was originally set in 1985, and was broken by her fourth-place finish in the 200 meter individual medley with a time of 2:40.73. She also finished third in the 400 meter individual medley with another team record of 5:34.48.
Alisa Pinarbasi qualified for six events in the highly competitive 14-14 girls division, and placed as high as 11th in the 800 meter freestyle with a new personal best time of 9:25.59.
Teammate Mike Wu came home with six Top 10 finishes, setting five new team records in the process.
In addition to breaking a record set in 1989, with a second place finish of 2:04.01 in the 200 meter freestyle, Wu finished third in the 200 meter butterfly, setting a new record of 2:21.31.
Also in the 13-14 boys division, Steven Rick finished in the Top 10 three times, including a new team record second place finish in the 200 meter breaststroke of 2:40.62, and a fourth place in the 800 meter freestyle at 9:28.73.
The senior swimmer on the squad was Missy Miller, who competed in seven events in the girls 15-16 bracket. She placed as high as 15th, setting a new personal best with a 2:54.11 in the 200 meter butterfly.
After competing at the Far Westerns long course championships in Concord this weekend, they return home to end the season by again hosting the Coast Valley Aquatics League Championship Meet Aug. 5-7 at the Aquatics Center.
