Girls: Fourth Place (245 points scored) Saturday morning the Katfish traveled to Purdue University in West Lafayette to compete in the annual North Central Conference Swim Meet. After almost a month without a meet and a practice-filled winter break, the Katfish were ready to see their hard work pay off and race! Our girls team finished in Fourth place, while scoring 245 points, and snagging 11 podium finishes (8 individual, 3 relays). The boys squad finished in Eighth place, scoring 128 points, and reaching the podium 6 times (4 individual, 2 relays). Top girls individual performers include: Milla Hawkins with a First place finish in the 100 Breaststroke (1:15.05) and a Second place finish in the 100 Freestyle (56.01). Aubrey Simmons set a new NCC Record with her First place finish in the 100 Butterfly (57.19). Morgan Rakestraw brought home a pair of Fourth place finishes in the 200 IM (2:32.49) and 100 Butterfly (1:10.11). Alyssa Frederick earned a Fifth place finish in the 200 Freestyle (2:17.68) and a Seventh place finish in the 500 Freestyle (6:10.18). Maddie Armstrong raced for an Eighth place finish in the 200 IM (2:44.25). Top girls relay performances include: Alyssa Frederick, Milla Hawkins, Aubrey Simmons, and Morgan Rakestraw with a Second place finish in the 200 Medley Relay (2:01.12). Morgan Rakestraw, Alyssa Frederick, Milla Hawkins, and Aubrey Simmons with a Second place finish in the 200 Free Relay (1:48.54). Taylor Belzer, Matilda Stout, Grace Lake, and Maddie Armstrong with an Eighth place finish in the 400 Free Relay (4:50.85). Overall, I’m pleased with our performance Saturday afternoon. We had some excellent swims with plenty of time drops across the board and athletes pushing themselves to the brink. Each swimmer had a goal or two going into the meet, and many of them were able to rise to the occasion. Time Drop Shout Outs: Mikaia Buckner (-12.47), Rylan Early (-10.17), and Ethan Lytle (-12.72) in the 200 Free. Bryce Brassard (-13.21) and Ethan Landrum (-41.56) in the 200 IM. Jose Callvio (-9.42) in the 100 Butterfly. Izzy DeWeese (-4.89) and Ethan Landrum (-4.87) in the 100 Free. Ethan Lytle (-21.68) in the 500 Free. Allie Cothern (-9.82), Jose Callvio (-5.79), and Hayden Moore (-5.39) in the 100 Back. In addition to dropping time, I simply asked our athletes to get out there and race - regardless of their heat… reminding them of the coveted “heat winner” t-shirt they’d receive. Our Katfish certainly took that challenge head-on, winning 15 total heats! I’m excited to see how our young squads handle this busy two-week stretch of meets & practices. The Katfish are back at it again on Tuesday, January 9th at Lewis Cass! Go Katfish! Coach Whiteman