Armada Senior Group Shines at the Armada Senior Meet

Forty-two lifetime Best's out of fifty-two swims - not bad for this tired group. With a heavy workload over the past few weeks and quite a few complaints of being a little bit tired, the Armada Senior group represented the team well at our first "Hosted Senior Meet" at the new facility.

A big thanks to the parents that helped so much in making this a great meet for everyone who participated and the kids who were there to help make it run so smoothly. Also a thanks to the swimmers from Don's group that came to pitch in - your help and dedication make it obvious how much you care about "The Armada" - you were great.

On the guys side, I think they shocked themselves with some of the swims by how much they dropped, but hard work and attention to detail will pay off. Emmett Poon again was remarkable with six best times and finishing with a great battle with Daniel in the 1650 at the end of the meet.

Daniel Mendoza had two breakout swims from a long slump and some nagging injuries with an especially good 1650 and a very strong 500 free. With his now consistent attendance and a new fire, Jeff Morelos went six USA swimming times out of six swims. Henry Shieh showed that he was more than a breaststroker with best times in 5 out of 6 swims and an especially strong finish in the 200 IM and 500 free. Jaye Chang's 200 free stood out among his 3 lifetime bests at the meet and Tim Wang (with 100% attendance) blew everyone away with his 51.66 100 free a three second drop! His 200 back and 200 IM were also very strong.

On the girls end and speaking of first Senior meet! Alyssa Shew (the pride of Coach Don) stepped up big time with great 100 and 200 breaststrokes and a best time in the IM to boot. Stephanie Zuniga swam like a pro and went 4 for 4 on best times in her grueling schedule of the 500,1000 and 1650 freestyles and the 400 IM. Again, her great work ethic has been the key. Kiersten Shew got better as the meet went on and posted some great times and in her best stroke (backstroke) she dropped two seconds in the 100 with a 1:03 ! Madeline Chavira went a lifetime best in the 100 fly while Colleen Jacobsen swam a personal best in her 200 back.

We also led the meet in Cheers and spirit - great job to all. Also, watching some great swims out of the National group was great for all of us.

Armada finishes 8th at the SCS 2008 Junior Olympics

Armada swimmers in team uniform at the 2008 SCS Summer JOs

A very strong effort, by so many of the Armada Senior group and Gold group team members helped the team crack into the top 8 teams at the Junior Olympics in Mission Viejo earlier this month. With a lot of team spirit, a genuine commitment to team, and some very fast swimming the Armada got the job done. Every team member played a vital part in the team's success by accumulating a ton of best times. It was a fitting conclusion to a very special summer.

The 13-14 girls were led by Nikki Chang who finaled in four of her 6 events and was in the consolation in a fifth. Her top two swims were her phenomenal 2nd place finish in the 100 free with a 1:01.85 and her huge drop in the 800, posting 9:40.73 ( a 7 second drop) for 8th. She finished 7th in both the 200 and 400 freestyles and 11th in the 50.

The girls relays did well - the team of Kiersten Shew, Madeline Chavira, Heather Pedersen and Nicole Chang finished 11th in the 200 free Relay, 10th in the 400 free relay, 9th in the 800 free relay, and 11th in the 400 Medley Relay, while the team of Colleen Jacobsen, Chang, Shew and Pedersen finished 14th in the 200 Medley Relay.

The very strong 13-14 Boys were led by Jaye Chang who finished 7th in the 50 Free (26.38), 8th in the 800 free with a great 9:32.66, 15th in the 100 back and 16th in the 100 free. Danny Lam won the consolation heats in the 200 fly and 200 back while capturing 6th in the 100 butterfly. He also swam in the consolations of the 200 IM and 100 Back. Henry Shieh finished 6th in the 100 Breast and 8th in the 200 breast, while finishing 16th in the 200 IM. Emmett Poon finished 8th in the 1500 Free with a phenomenal 18:29, 13th in the 800 free and 14th in the 400 free.

The boys relay teams of Shieh, Poon, Lam and Chang captured 4th in the 200, 6th in the 400 and 6th in the 800 free relays, while grabbing 5th in the 200 Medley Relay and 7th in the 400 Medley Relay.

Jessica Marsh led the 15 and Up girls with two especially good swims in the 200 Free (2:06.69) and the 400 Free (4:24.82) and a Junior National cut, placing second in both. She also took 4th in the 50 free, 10th in the 100 back and 15th in the 100 butterfly. Lauren von Lawn took 3rd in the 1500 free with a very nice 18:25 and 15th in the 800 with a lifetime best in 9:41.22. Sandrine Urias led the team in spirit and grabbed an 11th place in the 200 breast while Lisa Perdue went lifetime bests in the 200 Fly and 800 free, Michelle Louie (yes she swam this summer) had three great swims in the fly , the 800 and 1500 freestyles. Tina Wang went a personal best in the 200 back and Stephanie Zuniga swam like a champ in her first ever JO's in the 800 and 1500 free's

The girls took 12th in the 400 relays (medley and free), 14th in the 200 Medley relay and 16th in the 200 free relay.

The 15-18 Boys charged forward with Brennan Jacobsen two 4th places in a very nice 400 IM (4:45) and the 200 fly. He also slammed down a 7th in the 400 free and 15th in the 100 fly. Matthew Chong swam a great 200 Breast making a sectional cut and a 6th place finish with a nice 2:35.87. He finished 14th in the hundred and made big drops in the 200 and 400 IM's. Daniel Mendoza posted a lifetime best in the 800 free, Shane Ostrowski did the same in the 800 free, the 400 IM, and scored with a 13th place finish in the mile! Other best times a good swims were put in by Tim Wang, Jeff Morelos and Huero Vidal.

The boys finished 7th in the 400 and 11th in the 200 medley relays, 9th in the 800 free relay and 10th in the 200 free relays. Relay swimmers included: Brennan Jacobsen, Shane Ostrowski, Jeff Morelos, Matt Chong and Huero Vidal.

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