Athletes of the Week!

Congratulations to this week's Athletes of the Week:  Nick Fraser and Miles Nygard, who are both sophomores at Appleton West!  Both guys have been dropping time at meets and both guys have been working extremely hard in practice, especially this past week during Christmas break.  In addition to swimming, Nick is a member of the football and baseball teams at West.  He also plays league basketball.  Miles likes to hang out with his friends when he is away from the pool.

Congratulations, guys!  I am proud of you!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

Athletes of the Week!

Congratulations to this week's Athletes of the Week:  Hunter Bartolo and Ben Hendel!  Both of these guys are incredible team players who show up to race each and every time they are behind the block. They both do a great job being role models on the team--they train hard and inspire their teammates to train hard, too. Hunter and Ben are both juniors at Appleton West.  Outside of the pool, they are both members of the National Honor Society and they both play in the band.**

Way to go, guys!  I am proud of you!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki


**I didn't realize how much these two had in common until I wrote this post. : )

AW-K vs. Neenah Recap!

 Hi Team,

Well, last night shaped up to be quite a night for AW-K Swimming and Diving!  The guys did a great job taking on the defending Conference and Sectional champions, Neenah.  There were a big bunch of excellent swims and dives last night, and we have a lot to be proud of.  Despite coming off three days out of the water due to the snowstorm, there were still a whole bunch of best times last night; 17 best times, to be exact.  All three divers scored season-high 6-dive scores, as well.

 (Owen)

We ended up losing to Neenah, but we definitely put up a fight.  We took home lots of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishes.

 (Hannan)

 (Hannan)

It was completely awesome seeing so many people wearing AW-K clothing in the stands last night! Thank you for showing up and supporting the team.  I know the guys love having people there to support them!

 (Nick)

 (Miles)

(Ben)

 (Billy)

(Dylan)

 (Jackson)

 (Hunter)

(Max)

Here is the complete list of everyone who scored points last night:

JV 200 Medley Relay (A):  Carter, Caleb, Miles, Nick:  3^rd Place

Varsity 200 Medley Relay (A): Hannan, Dylan, Justin, Chad:  3^rd Place
Varsity 200 Free:  Ben T. 3^rd place, Justin 4^th place
Varsity 200 IM: Hannan 2^nd Place, Dylan 4^th Place, Hunter 5^th Place
JV 50 Free:  Connor 3^rd Place, Brady 5^th Place
Varsity 50 Free: Ben H 2^nd Place, Jacob 4^th Place, Chad 5^th Place
Diving:  Nick 2^nd Place, Carson 3^rd place, Grant 4^th place
Varsity 100 Fly:  Hannan 2^nd Place, Ben T 3^rd Place

JV 100 Free:  Nick 2^nd Place, Miles 4^th place

Varsity 100 Free:  Ben H. 2^nd place, Jacob 3^rd place

Varsity 500 Free:  Isaac 4^th place

JV 200 Free Relay (A):  Nick, Miles, Caleb, Conner 1^st Place
Varsity 200 Free Relay (A): Ben H., Ben T., Chad, Jacob 2^nd Place
Varsity 200 Free Relay (B): Hannan, Dylan, Trevor, Justin 3^rd Place
JV 100 Back: Ian 1^st Place, Carter 2^nd Place
Varsity 100 Back: Trevor 2^nd Place, Billy 4^th Place
JV 100 Breast:  Caleb 1^st Place, Jack 4^th Place
Varsity 100 Breast: Dylan 2^nd Place, Brady 3^rd Place
JV 400 Free Relay (A): Miles, Jackson, Ian, Jack 3^rd Place
Varsity 400 Free Relay (A): Ben H., Ben T., Chad, Jacob 2^nd Place

Final Score:


Varsity: Neenah 116, AW-K 68
JV: Neenah 91, AW-K 40

We head into our Christmas break practice schedule next Monday.  We will swim from 5:30-7:30 pm on Monday, and then on Tuesday through Friday, we will swim from 8-10 am.  All swimmers are expected to be at practice if they are in town.  Our next meet is a Varsity-only invite at Ashwaubenon on January 7th, and then we are home for Parents Night vs. Appleton North/East on January 10th.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Years!!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

Dual vs. ONL Recap

Hi Team!

Wow!  How fun was last Tuesday night's dual against Oshkosh North-Lourdes?!?  It was so great to see each and every member of AW-K step up and compete to take home a big FVA win!  Both the Varsity and the JV teams won!

Here's a recap of those who scored points:

JV 200 MR:  Jackson, Caleb, Miles, Nick -- 1st place
Varsity 200 MR(A): Hannan, Dylan, Ben T, Jacob -1st place
Varsity 200 MR (B): Trevor, Brady, Justin, Chad --2nd place
JV 200 Free: Ian --3rd place
Varsity 200 Free: Justin --2nd place, Kenny --4th place, Max--5th place
Varsity 200 IM: Hannan--2nd place, Trevor--3rd place
JV 50 Free: Nick--5th place
Varsity 50 Free: Jacob--1st place, Ben T and Chad--(tie) 2nd place
Diving: Nick--3rd place, Carson--5th place
Varsity 100 Fly: Ben T--2nd place, Dylan--3rd place
JV 100 Free: Nick--2nd place, Miles--4th place
Varsity 100 Free: Jacob--1st place, Chad--2nd place, Billy--4th place
Varsity 500 Free:  Kenny--2nd place, Max--3rd place
JV 200 FR (A): Caleb, Miles, Nick, Conner--1st place
JV 200 FR (B): Ian, Jackson, Carter, Preston--3rd place
Varsity 200 FR (A): Ben T, Hannan, Chad, Jacob --1st place
Varsity 200 FR (B): Dylan, Billy, Max, Justin--2nd place
JV 100 Back: Carter--1st place, Ian--2nd place, Jackson--3rd place
Varsity 100 Back: Hannan--1st place, Trevor--2nd place, Owen--4th place
JV 100 Breast: Caleb--1st place, Preston--2nd place
Varsity 100 Breast: Dylan--1st place, Brady--2nd place, Isaac--4th place
Varsity 400 FR (A): Justin, Billy, Max, Trevor--2nd place,
Varsity 400 FR (B): Owen, Kenny, Isaac, Brady--3rd place

Final Scores:

Varsity:  AW-K 111, ONL 74
JV: AW-K 57, ONL 41

Way to go, guys!

Next up is our dual against Neenah on Tuesday night.  The meet starts at 5:30.  We hope to see a big bunch of AW-K fans in the stands!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

Thank You, Meal Team #1!

 Hi Team!

Last night was our first big team meal, and it was a HUGE success!  The guys LOVE team meals--they are definitely one of the highlights of their week!  Yesterday was an example of how when fantastic people are put in charge with no instructions (sorry!!), they can still do fabulous things. Thank you, Kimberly Carl, LeeAnn Fraser, Dana Reese, and Becky Malcomson for making it look like you spent weeks planning for the meal.   In all seriousness, I apologize to the first meal team for the lack of communication.  I'm going to blame it on having Terror Relays brain.  Hopefuly the information I added to the end of this post will help future meal teams avoid confusion.

Okay.  I know it looks like the guys are not having a good time in this picture, but I'm pretty sure they were just less-than-thrilled that I interrupted their dinner to make them take a picture.  : )

Our next team dinner is on Monday, December 19th.  There is still one slot open if you want to help out.  The link to sign up is right here: (http://signup.com/go/8Lo7xb).  We will also have team dinners on January 9th, 16th, and 23rd.  The link for those meals will go up soon.   Once you've signed up for a meal, please feel free to use the team Facebook page to set up who brings what (Appleton West-Kimberly Boys Swimming).  You should get the names of the members of your group through the sign-up link on the Friday before your meal.  We held last night's meal in the pool lobby, but it was pretty squishy.  The guys have requested that future meals be held in the cafeteria.  Stop by the pool and one of the managers will show you where to go if you don't know how to get there.  Please plan on having your meal set up by 6 pm.  

Here are the details:
Numbers:  30 athletes + 3 coaches

Past Team Meals (but you can plan anything you want!):
Pasta and red sauce and garlic bread
Meatballs in brown gravy with potatoes
Taco bar
Lasagna
Subs

There is usually some kind of dessert.  Most groups brought milk and water as the beverage.  Please plan on providing plates, cups, utensils, and napkins.  

Please let me know if you have any questions.  Thanks, again, for supporting the team! 

With AW-K Pride,

Vicki

Athlete of the Week!

Congratulations to this week's Athlete of the Week, Max Alberts!  Max is off to a great start as a member of the varsity team!  He set a PR in his 50 free at Friday night's Terror Relays as a member of the 200 FR.  Max is always one of the first guys on deck helping move lane lines and getting the pool ready for practice each day.  Max is a junior at Appleton West.  Thanks for being a leader in the water and out! Way to go, Max!

Terror Relays Recap!

Hi Team!

Friday night will definitely go down as one of my all-time favorite meets.  There were so many special moments, both in the pool and on deck.  I loved watching everyone compete, but what made the night extra special was so much more than what we accomplished in the pool.  I'm a big fan of lists, so I thought I'd give you my Top Ten list from Friday night.  Here we go:

Top Ten Best Moments From Last Night's Terror Relays

10. AW-K aprons in the concessions stand!
9. Turning the corner and seeing all the guys standing in the hallway ready for our team meeting before the meet, and seeing the joy on your faces when I told you I brought you Gummy Bears!
8. Everyone joining in to sing the Star Spangled Banner!  (It sounded so pretty!!!)
7. Having divers to cheer for!

6. Seeing so many AW-K guys up on the podium!
5. Having so many girl team members (and their moms!) there to help out!
4. Flipping the pool in 6 minutes!
3. Watching the older guys make sure the new guys got to their relays!
2. Chad's birthday celebration!
1. Beating everyone in the FVA except for Neenah!

Here's the breakdown of how we did:

Diving:  4th place (Nick, Carson, Grant)

100 Free Relay: 12th place (Jack, Ian, Carter, Preston)

200 Medley: 6th (Hannan, Dylan, Ben Todd, Ben Hendel)

500 Crescendo: 8th (Chad, Jacob, Hunter, Kenny)
400 Free Relay: 5th (Jacob, Ben Todd, Chad, Ben Hendel)

200 Breast/Fly Relay: 3rd (Brady, Ben Todd, Dylan, Ben Hendel)

400 Medley Relay: 5th (Hannan, Dylan, Justin, Jacob)

300 IM Relay: 7th (Justin, Hunter, Hannan)
200 Free Relay: 9th (Billy, Nick, Kenny, Max)
100 Medley Relay: 12th (Owen, Caleb, Conner, Jackson)

All photos were taken by fabulous freshman swimmer, Sophie Hirst.  I try to have my photographers get pictures of everybody, but sometimes that doesn't happen.  Don't worry--there will be PLENTY of pictures of everybody by the time the season ends.

I'd like to close this post by thanking everyone who helped make Friday night such a success.  I know I am lucky to have so many people who are willing to step in and contribute to the success of the program.  I'd like to make a special shout-out to Nancy Hendel who organized all the timers and ran the concessions stand. Concessions is one of those things that no one really wants to do, but Nancy did it because she loves the team.  Thank you, also, for bringing AW-K aprons for the workers to wear!  I'm positive we are the only team that has special aprons to wear in the concessions stand!! Nancy also provided pizza and milk for the guys to enjoy on Thursday night after they completed the meet set up.  I'm pretty sure that was the fastest meet set up in the history of meet set-ups. You are the best, Nancy--thank you so much!  I'd also like to thank girls team mom, Susan Harper, who helped set up and take down the coach and officials meal.  I hate asking parents to do that job because they end up missing the whole meet.  Thanks, Susan, for going above and beyond!  Whether you donated food, timed, sold hot dogs, posted results sheets, took pictures, sang the Star Spangled Banner, or just helped in unknown ways, please know that I appreciate you!  Friday night ran like a dream.  That would not have happened without every single one of you who stepped up to help.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I love coaching this team!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki


Final Standings:

1. Neenah 248
2. Baypost 230
3. Ashwaubenon 198
4. Stevens Point 196
5. Manitowoc 164
6. Appleton West-Kimberly 140
7. Oshkosh West 138
8. Brillion Valders Chilton 124
8. Wisconsin Rapids 124
10. Oshkosh North-Lourdes 118
11. Watertown 100
12. Fond du Lac 54
13. Berlin/Green Lake 18
14. Two Rivers 16

Upcoming December Meets

Hi Team,

Things are going to start rolling this week!  On Friday we will host our big Terror Relay Invite, and then next Tuesday we begin our FVA dual meet season!  Here's what you need to know about our December meets:

Friday, December 9th--Terror Relay Invite. All swimmers need to be on deck, ready to help out, at 3:00 pm.  West swimmers and divers will be excused at 2:50.  Warm ups start at 3:30.  The meet starts at 5:00 with the diving competition.  The whole invite is made up of relays, so the format will be different than what you're probably used to.  All swimmers will swim in at least one relay.  Each swimmer is allowed a max of 3 events.  In an effort to get everyone into the lineup, I had to limit entries.  Very few athletes will be swimming 3 events.  There will be awards after each event for the top 6 relays.

We have plenty of timers ready to go, but we are still looking for a couple of people to help with concessions.  Please let me know ASAP if you're willing to help.  I'm also in need of a large pasta salad.  If you signed up to bring food, please drop it off at the pool by 4:00 pm.  Thank you!!

Tuesday, December 13th--Dual vs. Oshkosh North-Lourdes.  We will travel to the 20th Street YMCA (3303 W 20th Ave, Oshkosh, WI) to take on ONL.  This is the only dual meet of the season that starts at 6:00 pm instead of 5:30 pm.  We hope to see a big bunch of fans in the bleachers waving their pompoms!

Tuesday, December 20th--Dual vs. Neenah.  We will travel to Neenah High School (1275 Tullar Road, Neenah--the pool is on the side of the school off of Appleblossom).  This meet starts at 5:30 pm.  Diving will take place after the 50 free, instead of at the beginning of the meet.  Please plan on coming out to cheer us on!

Our team pictures will be on Thursday, December 15th at the start of practice.  All swimmers need to bring their team suits and warm ups to practice that day.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

PS If you have questions about how high school meets differ from club meets or you just want to see how high school meets are scored and how you can qualify for State, click (here).

Athlete of the Week!

Congratulations to Jacob Krueger on being named this week's Athlete of the Week!  Jacob swam four best times at last Saturday's Wildcat Invite and finished 6th in the 50 free and 8th in the 100 free. Jacob is a senior at Kimberly High School, where he also runs cross country and plays in the band. Jacob is an AW-K team captain.  Way to go, Jacob!

Thank You, Lambeau Clean Up Crew!!

To Everyone Who Helped Clean Up  Lambeau Last Night:

YOU COMPLETELY ROCK!!  For real--you guys win for best snowstorm clean-up crew, EVER!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for braving the weather and for shoveling up not only the garbage, but lots of heavy wet snow, too!

 The whole crew worked hard to get the job done.

I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty darn excited that we are done cleaning Lambeau**, but I am grateful for the opportunity to earn the money to pay for the new warm ups.  I'm also grateful that I got to work with so many incredible people each time.

Whether it was in the blazing hot sun, in the middle of a downpour, or through a blinding snowstorm, it was the people who made the experience fun.  Thank you for giving your time to our program.  We couldn't have done it without each and every one of you!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

**At least for this year.  :)

AW-K Volunteer Opportunities!

Hi Team,

Our fabulous parent rep, Nancy Hendel, is coordinating all of the volunteer signups this season.  I'd love to see each AW-K get involved in one way or another!  The first big opportunity to help out is right around the corner at December 9th's Terror Relays!  Terror Relays is our only hosted invite of the year, and it's definitely the meet where we need the most help.    She has also included links for two upcoming team dinners, including who has already signed up.  If your name appears on her list, she still wants you to sign up through the link so she can send you email reminders. It looks like she needs one more family to sign up for the December 19th meal.  Want to see where help is needed? Click on the links below!

Here is Nancy's message:

Please sign up for AW-K Terror Relay Concessions! 

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps: 
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/go/n2imUD
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on SignUp.com)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots - SignUp.com will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

Please sign up for Team Dinner Sign Up December 12, 2016! 

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps: 
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/go/c8bhqN
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on SignUp.com)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots - SignUp.com will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

I already have:

Kimberly Carl
LeeAnn Fraser
Becky Malcolmson
Dana Reese

Please sign up for Team Dinner Sign Up December 19, 2016! 

Here's how it works in 3 easy steps: 
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/go/8Lo7xb
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on SignUp.com)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots - SignUp.com will send you an automated confirmation and reminders. Easy!

Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and I can sign you up manually.

The people I have signed up already are:

Amy Alberts
Greg Hawley
The Paintings

Nancy Hendel

Wildcat Invite Recap

Hi Team!

Holy cow!!  How fun was today's meet??!!  There's nothing better than watching people surprise themselves with what they can accomplish!

We finished in 3rd place behind Neenah and Green Bay United.  Third place, guys!!!!

 I am so proud of how each and every one of you showed up to race today!

We had quite a few top 8 finishes:
200 MR (A) Hannan, Dylan, Ben Hendel, and Ben Todd--5th,
200 Free--Ben Hendel--2nd
200 IM--Hannan--8th
50 Free--Jacob--6th, Ben Todd--7th, Chad--8th
100 Free--Ben Hendel--4th, Jacob--8th
200 FR (A) Ben Todd, Hannan, Chad, Ben Hendel--5th
100 Back--Hannan--5th
100 Breast--Dylan--6th, Brady--8th

If this is what you can accomplish in less than 3 weeks, I can't wait to see what you guys do at the end of the season!

 You guys made me proud today!

We are off to a great start!  Thanks for an excellent first meet!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

Final Scores;

Neenah 502.5
Green Bay United 368.5
Appleton West-Kimberly 312
Oshkosh West 288
Manitowoc Lincoln 278
Oshkosh North Lourdes 188
Brillion-Valders-Chilton 177
Pulaski 114