Stingray ss Spotlight - Gold River Stingrays

S t i n g r a ys Spotlight
Swimmers Splash
MINI RAYS: You’re all superstars! The day before we greeted the Glen Oaks Sea
Lions, our 14 Mini Rays dove in with confidence and gusto. Right before our eyes,
they’ve morphed from animated Goldfish to fledgling Gold & Black Stingrays. We can
all learn from their innocent exuberance – in search of adventurous FUN!
STINGRAYS:
On Saturday the
weather gods were smiling down on us
yet again as 175 Glen Oaks swimmers
joined 116 of us giants to set up Camp
Competition. Our teams are both the
smallest in Comstock -- only 90 more
Sea Lion participants. But we made it
clear from the get-go that this difference was not a big deal, especially from
our home tents. After Coach Jeff welcomed a long-term friend, the Sea Lions’
Head Coach Roxanne Mefford, he thanked our own amazing parental
Starting Lineup and led a raucous “We Believe”! Both teams were touch &
impressed by a beautiful duet of The Star-Spangled Banner. Thanks, girls!
Then we Stingrays took a commanding [aka “comfortable”] lead in the medley relays …
… and never looked back! At the conclusion, we’d accrued 462 points & the Sea Lions 366. CONGRATS!!
June 20, 2014
Volume 1, Issue 9
Inside this issue:
Swimmer Splash
(Cont)
2
Coaches Corner
3
Parents
Perspective
4
Volunteers
Viewpoint
4
Athletes
Academics
5
Quips & Quotes
5
Upcoming Events 6
June Birthdays
6
… setting TWO new Comstock Conference
NATALIE TAGGART contributed in a big way …
records!
Applause erupted not once -- but twice -– as it was announced that Talented Taggart had churned out two NCSL, Comstock
& Gold River 9-10 girls’ records: 15.24 in the 25 back & 13.71 in the 25 fly. We’ve been racing the clock all summer for
Personal Bests, and these two times were literally For the Record Books! Listen up, Teammates: Natalie attributes her firedup success to give-it-all-you’ve-got morning practice sessions. Will you be the next to experience a Gold River team record?
We BELIEVE it’s going to happen
Partly as the result of last season’s super close Glen Oaks dual -- the last two free relays telling
the ultimate tale -- we knew these events would likely be deciding factors again. From wellseeded starters to anchors, in the medley relays we took eight of 11 races and in the free relays
six of 10. To sum up these stupendous relay performances: READY, WILLING & ABLE!
Our 2014 emphasis -- FUN, SPORTSMANSHIP, PERSONAL BESTS, LIVELY
TEAMMATES & GOAL-SETTING -- is really paying off! Who didn’t have F-U-N? Our PB
bell was ringing off the hook, great tunes were blasting, and seconds fell from the clock. For
this meet only, let’s give placement credit where credit is due. The following Stingrays STUNG
with all first-place finishes: 6-&-under Zayden Carpenter, 7-8 Brady Calkins, 9-10 Natalie
Taggart, 11-12s Jacob Koptiske & McKenna Purdy and 13-14s Mia Leisten & Ethan Lindgren.
Those STINGERS with firsts & seconds or all second places were: 7-8 Matthew Bone, 9-10s Zackary Davis & Adrian Jin, 1112 Max Leisten, 13-14s Marc D’Mello & Jeffrey Pimenta and 15-18s Jason Feldkamp & Rachel Isaacs.
Continuing to STING Sea Lions with firsts, seconds & thirds or any combination thereof were: 9-10s Victoria Cao, Ryan
D’Mello & Anelise Twining, 11-12s James Hu & Connor Polli, 13-14 Kristen Ramos and 15-18s Chasen Anthony & David
Cocker.
Several other STINGRAYS were touched out in meeting the stringent first/second/third criteria listed above. Our Team &
Individual Results: www.goldriverstingrays.org. The downloaded improved times are staggering, and those Pictures Speak
a Thousand Words. You’ll see what we’re talking about!
Okay. Now for the PERSONAL BESTS, clearly one of our most important objectives. This week our PBs were more like
PB&Js – Personal Bests with Jelly on top! No wonder our bell sounded like a San Francisco trolley car! You Sought &
Brought 166 Personal-Best Times. To put this total into perspective, against the Piranhas we scored 127. Even more
astounding? In Elk Grove 57 Stingrays recorded one or more PBs. Last Saturday – drum roll – 92 of us accomplished this
feat. Fist Pumps & High Fives!
2
Coaches Corner
Merriam-Webster defines P-R-O-U-D as “pleased or satisfied with others’ achievements or qualities.” Yep we are! All of your
training is coming to fruition, and we hope you feel the same upward trajectory that we do. For the older age groups, our
introduction of USRPT has totally increased your Race Pace. Exactly what we’ve been striving to achieve. Just for more
FUN, take a peek at National Geographic’s video of Stingrays in the wild – among the main predators of Sea Lions. Far from
being 100 million years old, we do remain graceful & potentially lethal.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/stingray
Our Stingrays Gold Standard this summer
PRIDE. Glen Oaks’ Coach Roxanne even
Utilizing fly-over starts, in some cases if our
exiting the pool, many of you then followed
season is sportsman-like conduct. Another source of
remarked on our automatic left & right handshakes.
Stingrays were unable to thank their opponents before
and tapped their shoulders: “Nice race!” Good job, GR!
On Saturday the largest club registered in Nor Cal Swim League, Johnson Ranch, is heading our way. Because the
Barracudas are well over 350 swimmers strong, as of this preliminary date, they are sending 180 of their team members to
participate. Come with the expectation of welcoming them into our very own Pool Party Palace. Home is Where Our Heart
Is! It’ll be a Battle for Bests – mostly our own. Let’s aim for shooting our 166 high straight up into the sky. That’s our only
limit!
3
PARENTS PERSPECTIVE
Sweet Victory! It can’t be denied. Feels good. But our priorities are in the right place, and your children are profiting from both this
meet’s win & our other “losses.” We’ve heard from many of you that the kids are popping up in the mornings raring to go. Do you have
anything to do with these wonders? As hosts, your own upbeat, laughing, sing-songy, bee-bopping attitudes add so much to the FUN,
provide comfort & propel your children to reach their maximum potential. PBs are flying high, there’s no stopping us now, and there’ll
be plenty more to come. Your real families [not our GR family] can look forward to even more loving gaiety. How do we thank you
enough for who you are & what you do?
Tiffany: Parent & Prez
USA Swimming, always an excellent resource, has an article under the tab Education for Parents entitled Parenting Your Children:
Developing Talent. http://usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=2208&itemid=3863&mid=11880. You’ll note this one is
“Borrowed from Tennis.” Every sport, parent & child!
Volunteers Viewpoint
You’ve got it all goin’ on! Even when technical problems occur, they’re quickly detected & solved. Fantastic! Every one of your positions
is integral to a well-run meet and tangibly happy, memorable family atmosphere. Find yourselves here hard at work and seemingly
loving every SECOND [no pun intended]:
There would be no back, breast, fly, free – or DQs! -- without all of you executing your jobs with care & precision!
4
Athletes Academics
This past week, on very short introductory notice, three Stingrays heeded the call and are being commended for their Above &
Beyond scholastic achievements. Kudos for School & Pool go to:
9-10 Victoria Cao received the Principal’s Award of Excellence, maintaining straight A’s in the GATE program, at
Mather Heights Elementary School.
9-10 Tyler Vargas is another of our amazing swimmers who earned all A’s and was named to the Honor Roll at
Capital Christian Elementary School.
11-12 Emma Kelly was acknowledged with the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary [PBVM], the equivalent of a
straight-A student on the Principal’s Honor Role.
Many others of you are Top-Notch pupils. There’s still time for 2013-14 recognition by emailing Jan Float [email protected]. Next
season, dependent upon the numbers, we’ll probably list only NAMES, AGES & CATEGORIES of those Stingrays who accomplish
all A’s and one B on formal report cards, all positive academic & behavioral checkmarks and/or special honors. “Special honors”
include blue-ribboned science-fair projects, spelling bees, creative-writing stories, speaking/drawing/acting/choral or band -whatever you deem especially noteworthy. This is not designed as a competition … simply sharing and receiving of deserved
shout-outs. If you’d like such acknowledgement, please email Jan.
Quips & Quotes
Coach Stephanie was reminding & arranging all 6-&-unders and 7-8s of their order for their free
relays. Raising her voice above the fray, “You’re first, second, third & fourth.” Voices then
clamored simultaneously: “Where am I, Coach Stephanie?” “When do I swim?” “Which side of
the pool am I on?” “Do I go first or last?” “Can we switch?” She patiently answered each question
… usually from memory. Find her smiling face here on top of this pyramid at the ready bench.
“Ready, guys?” [Happy Birthday, Saint Stephanie!]
Board Presidents Jeff & Tiffany Nauretz emailed during Rio de Janeiro’s World Cup: “Someone should pay our team
and Coach Jeff royalties. This is going on live in Brazil now: ‘Ghana’s defense looks shaky. USA keeping the pressure
on. Chants of I Believe We Will Win are echoing throughout the stadium.’” Brazilian currency is called the “Real”
[pronounced “ray-all”]. Don’t expect any “Real” BIG BUCKS to come pouring in soon!
Remaining June Meets:
21st Johnson Ranch [home]
28th Folsom [away]
29th Johnson Ranch Invitational [away/optional]
Remaining June Fun:
21st [Champs T Shirt Design Contest Deadline]
27th Fun Friday
Remaining Mini Rays June Meet:
20th
Our full calendar for July & then August’s Meet of Champs is on the Web.
5
Upcoming Events
This Saturday, the 21st, is our deadline for submitting T Shirt Designs, one of which will be chosen to wear at Champs. This is
already a crazily imaginative contest; you’re making it really tough on the judges!
Last Monday …
… Olympics Day at the River Cats’ game was baseball Picture Perfect. Our
Stingrays & parents in attendance had a great time, met Olympians &
Paralympians, caught a foul ball and scored lots of swag from Digger!
June Birthdays
Happy Birthday to our Stingrays:
Abdulla James
Bish Bailey
Day Alec
Farley Sienna
Fischer Calvin
Fischer Henry
Goett Alexandria
Hussey Grace
Kronbetter Luke
Pearce Claire
Lewis Reese
Makin Hailee
Sriram Anirudh
Rehrer Tyler
Rucker Megan
Sanders David
Schmidt Iris
Twining Luke
6