This summer both Coach DeRoos and Coach VandeWege will be running summer diving. This summer diving is for established divers within the program but if you are someone new who would like to start diving, please contact me and we will see what we can work out.
Coach DeRoos will be here 8-10:00 am for 6 weeks on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. These will run on the weeks of June 9, June 16, June 23, July 7, July 14, and July 21. ****Please note, due to home age group meets there will be no diving on Thursdays, June 19 and 26, and July 17. Cost is $10/week.
Coach VandeWege will be here from 6:30-8:00 pm for 6 weeks on Mondays and Wednesdays. These will run June 9-25 and July 7-23. There is also a possibility if there is enough interest to run another set from July 28-August 6. The cost will be $20 for each three week session.
If you would like to come to any or all of these, let me know via email or phone what times and dates (sessions) you plan on attending so our coaches know how many and who to expect.
Thanks
ET
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The nitty gritty is done now lets have some fun
Since my initial registering, etc. I took some time to set the site up and get it looking presentable. Hopefully you will agree that it looks pretty good for someone with no skill in the area. Blogger makes it pretty easy to set it up.
I would love to have you guys comment on what you see and offer any suggestions.
Now for a little recap on what we've been able to accomplish and how I feel about our progress in our first 6 years of being a program:
We started out with a bang in our first winter age group season. Lots of kids and lots of learning took place by both the kids and the coaches. We represented Hamilton well and had a lot of fun.
As we progressed over the next couple of age group seasons our swimmers definitely took off. Our kids got a lot faster and we learned how to compete.
Then we had the opportunity to start with middle school girls and middle school boys swimming and diving teams. Coach DeRoos came on as diving coach and I had the opportunity to head up the swim coaching for middle school. We had a great time that year and ended up being pretty competitive for a first year middle school team. The girls showed a lot of talent during their season against very tough competition. We also had several divers who placed well at the end of season invite. The boys team got crazy fast. They went gangbusters and really swam well. I think a lot of people were wondering where our middle schools boys came from.
The second year of middle school swimming continued on the same trend as the first.
Then came our first season of varsity swimming. In spring of 2005 we had approval from the board to start a varsity swimming and diving program. Our girls forged the way in the fall of 2005. We had some rough moments in that first season but we also had a remarkable group of young ladies. We finished for a tie for fourth in our conference with Jade Evink breaking two conference records in the 100 fly and 100 back. We also qualified two swimmers and our medley relay to the state meet. Crystal Jager and Jade Evink were the first individual qualifiers for Hamilton. Jade went on to finish 9th in the 1oo back to score Hamilton's first points at a state meet.
The boys picked up where the girls left off the end of November. They had a stellar season and swam and dove very well. The season ended with a runner-up finish in our conference and having one swimmer and one diver qualify for the state meet. Jordan Moses qualified for state in the 100 back and Shane DeVries qualified for the state competition through regionals. No points were scored but it was a great experience.
Our second season came in the fall of 2006. The girls were on a mission to win the conference. They did not dissapoint. They went undefeated in duals and then won the conference meet by over 100 points. They set conference records in the 200 Medley Relay, the 200 IM, the 100 Fly, and the 100 Back. Qualified to the state meet were the 200 Medley Relay, Crystal Jager in the 200 IM and 100 Breast, and Jade Evink in the 100 Fly and 100 Back. The 200 Medley Relay finished in 14th place and Jade finished 5th in the 100 Back.
Our boys second season was a hammerfest full of timedrops and improvement. Not to be outdone by the girls and their conference victory, the boys finished at 10 and 1 in duals and won the conference meet at their home pool to take home the conference title. We had a lot more state qualifiers this year despite the tightening of the qualifying standards by the MHSAA...needless to say our boys got a lot faster. Mark Mesbergen qualified in the 200 IM, Jordan Moses, Ethan Hagen, and Jack Lepird qualified in the 50 Free, Brandon Helmkamp qualified in diving, Jordan Moses and Ethan Hagen qualified in the 100 Free, David VanOss qualified in the 500 Free, Jordan Moses and Jack Lepird qualified in the 100 Back, and the 200 and 400 Free Relays qualilfied. Unfortunately, fate was against as we failed to qualify any swims to Saturday. However, we had a good experience and learned a lot from this years trip to the state meet.
On to 2007. Our third season. The girls once again had an outstanding year...far exceeding everyone's expectations. The finished 9 and 3 in dual meets, 5 and 0 in the conference, and won an exciting conference meet to win their second straight conference title. The addition of Division 3 at the state level opened a lot of doors for our girls and that they took full advantage of. Following is a list of state qualifiers and finishes:
200 Medley Relay - Jade Evink, Crystal Jager, Caitlin Lohr, Emily LaPorta - 2nd Place
200 Free - Manda Schierbeek - 9th, Brittni Ritter - 10th
200 IM - Crystal Jager - dns, Caitlin Lohr - dns
50 Free - Caitlin Lohr - 3rd, Madalynn Kempkers - 12th, Emily LaPorta - 24th
Diving - Jessica Naber - 10th
100 Fly - Jade Evink - 7th, Caitlin Lohr - 18th, Crystal Jager - 20th
100 Free - Brittni Ritter - DQ - 5th place time
500 Free - Manda Schierbeek - 11th, Madalynn Kempkers - dns
200 Free Relay - Caitlin Lohr, Brittni Ritter, Madalynn Kempkers, Emily LaPorta - State Champs
100 Back - Jade Evink - 2nd
100 Breast - Crystal Jager - 3rd
400 Free Relay - Brittni Ritter, Madalynn Kempkers, Jade Evink, Crystal Jager - 6th
The team went on to take home the 4th place trophy missing 3rd by only two points. I was fortunate enough to be selected for DIII Girls Swim Coach of the Year. Jade Evink was selected by the Hamilton HS coaching staff as Senior Athlete. Jade also signed a National Letter of Intent to swim on scholarship at DI Oakland University. We lose a great senior class after this year but we have a bunch of talented freshman coming in so we are excited to see where we can go.
The 2007-2008 season for our boys was just as exciting. The boys finished the season with a 10 and 1 record. Their only loss was to Grandville by 8 points. They finished at 4 and 0 in conference duals and won the conference meet by 140 points to win their second straight conference title. For the boys the addition of the third division at the state level was great. Below are the state meet qualifiers and their finishes:
200 Medley Relay - Jordan Moses, Maison DeJonge, Jack Lepird, Daniel Ruffner - 6th
200 Free - David VanOss - 9th, Austin Breuker - 24th, Jordan Moses - dns
200 IM - Mark Mesbergen - 10th, Jordan Moses - dns
50 Free - Jordan Moses - 5th, Jack Lepird - 6th
Diving - Brandon Helmkamp - 29th
100 Fly - Jordan Moses - dns
100 Free - Jack Lepird - 7th, Jordan Moses - dns, David VanOss - dns
500 Free - David VanOss - 6th, Jordan Moses - dns
200 FR - 26th
100 Back - Jordan Moses - 2nd, Jack Lepird - dns
100 Breast - Mark Mesbergen - 7th
400 Free Relay - Jack Lepird, David VanOss, Mark Mesbergen, Jordan Moses - 4th
The boys finished in 6th place, just 1.5 points out of 5th and 8 points out of 4th. Many good things happened at this years state meet and many lessons were learned from things that didn't go great. We are very excited to see what next year will bring.
The summer season is about to get underway and we are fired up and ready to go!!! We are looking forward to getting some more "hammer down" swimming in and seeing how fast we can go.
Great job to all of our athletes and lets continue to strive to see how great we can become.
Check the links on the right hand side of the page to see some cool stuff including a link to my Windows Live space with files including team records, a record progression for both boys and girls, and results from our past conference meets.
piece
ET
I would love to have you guys comment on what you see and offer any suggestions.
Now for a little recap on what we've been able to accomplish and how I feel about our progress in our first 6 years of being a program:
We started out with a bang in our first winter age group season. Lots of kids and lots of learning took place by both the kids and the coaches. We represented Hamilton well and had a lot of fun.
As we progressed over the next couple of age group seasons our swimmers definitely took off. Our kids got a lot faster and we learned how to compete.
Then we had the opportunity to start with middle school girls and middle school boys swimming and diving teams. Coach DeRoos came on as diving coach and I had the opportunity to head up the swim coaching for middle school. We had a great time that year and ended up being pretty competitive for a first year middle school team. The girls showed a lot of talent during their season against very tough competition. We also had several divers who placed well at the end of season invite. The boys team got crazy fast. They went gangbusters and really swam well. I think a lot of people were wondering where our middle schools boys came from.
The second year of middle school swimming continued on the same trend as the first.
Then came our first season of varsity swimming. In spring of 2005 we had approval from the board to start a varsity swimming and diving program. Our girls forged the way in the fall of 2005. We had some rough moments in that first season but we also had a remarkable group of young ladies. We finished for a tie for fourth in our conference with Jade Evink breaking two conference records in the 100 fly and 100 back. We also qualified two swimmers and our medley relay to the state meet. Crystal Jager and Jade Evink were the first individual qualifiers for Hamilton. Jade went on to finish 9th in the 1oo back to score Hamilton's first points at a state meet.
The boys picked up where the girls left off the end of November. They had a stellar season and swam and dove very well. The season ended with a runner-up finish in our conference and having one swimmer and one diver qualify for the state meet. Jordan Moses qualified for state in the 100 back and Shane DeVries qualified for the state competition through regionals. No points were scored but it was a great experience.
Our second season came in the fall of 2006. The girls were on a mission to win the conference. They did not dissapoint. They went undefeated in duals and then won the conference meet by over 100 points. They set conference records in the 200 Medley Relay, the 200 IM, the 100 Fly, and the 100 Back. Qualified to the state meet were the 200 Medley Relay, Crystal Jager in the 200 IM and 100 Breast, and Jade Evink in the 100 Fly and 100 Back. The 200 Medley Relay finished in 14th place and Jade finished 5th in the 100 Back.
Our boys second season was a hammerfest full of timedrops and improvement. Not to be outdone by the girls and their conference victory, the boys finished at 10 and 1 in duals and won the conference meet at their home pool to take home the conference title. We had a lot more state qualifiers this year despite the tightening of the qualifying standards by the MHSAA...needless to say our boys got a lot faster. Mark Mesbergen qualified in the 200 IM, Jordan Moses, Ethan Hagen, and Jack Lepird qualified in the 50 Free, Brandon Helmkamp qualified in diving, Jordan Moses and Ethan Hagen qualified in the 100 Free, David VanOss qualified in the 500 Free, Jordan Moses and Jack Lepird qualified in the 100 Back, and the 200 and 400 Free Relays qualilfied. Unfortunately, fate was against as we failed to qualify any swims to Saturday. However, we had a good experience and learned a lot from this years trip to the state meet.
On to 2007. Our third season. The girls once again had an outstanding year...far exceeding everyone's expectations. The finished 9 and 3 in dual meets, 5 and 0 in the conference, and won an exciting conference meet to win their second straight conference title. The addition of Division 3 at the state level opened a lot of doors for our girls and that they took full advantage of. Following is a list of state qualifiers and finishes:
200 Medley Relay - Jade Evink, Crystal Jager, Caitlin Lohr, Emily LaPorta - 2nd Place
200 Free - Manda Schierbeek - 9th, Brittni Ritter - 10th
200 IM - Crystal Jager - dns, Caitlin Lohr - dns
50 Free - Caitlin Lohr - 3rd, Madalynn Kempkers - 12th, Emily LaPorta - 24th
Diving - Jessica Naber - 10th
100 Fly - Jade Evink - 7th, Caitlin Lohr - 18th, Crystal Jager - 20th
100 Free - Brittni Ritter - DQ - 5th place time
500 Free - Manda Schierbeek - 11th, Madalynn Kempkers - dns
200 Free Relay - Caitlin Lohr, Brittni Ritter, Madalynn Kempkers, Emily LaPorta - State Champs
100 Back - Jade Evink - 2nd
100 Breast - Crystal Jager - 3rd
400 Free Relay - Brittni Ritter, Madalynn Kempkers, Jade Evink, Crystal Jager - 6th
The team went on to take home the 4th place trophy missing 3rd by only two points. I was fortunate enough to be selected for DIII Girls Swim Coach of the Year. Jade Evink was selected by the Hamilton HS coaching staff as Senior Athlete. Jade also signed a National Letter of Intent to swim on scholarship at DI Oakland University. We lose a great senior class after this year but we have a bunch of talented freshman coming in so we are excited to see where we can go.
The 2007-2008 season for our boys was just as exciting. The boys finished the season with a 10 and 1 record. Their only loss was to Grandville by 8 points. They finished at 4 and 0 in conference duals and won the conference meet by 140 points to win their second straight conference title. For the boys the addition of the third division at the state level was great. Below are the state meet qualifiers and their finishes:
200 Medley Relay - Jordan Moses, Maison DeJonge, Jack Lepird, Daniel Ruffner - 6th
200 Free - David VanOss - 9th, Austin Breuker - 24th, Jordan Moses - dns
200 IM - Mark Mesbergen - 10th, Jordan Moses - dns
50 Free - Jordan Moses - 5th, Jack Lepird - 6th
Diving - Brandon Helmkamp - 29th
100 Fly - Jordan Moses - dns
100 Free - Jack Lepird - 7th, Jordan Moses - dns, David VanOss - dns
500 Free - David VanOss - 6th, Jordan Moses - dns
200 FR - 26th
100 Back - Jordan Moses - 2nd, Jack Lepird - dns
100 Breast - Mark Mesbergen - 7th
400 Free Relay - Jack Lepird, David VanOss, Mark Mesbergen, Jordan Moses - 4th
The boys finished in 6th place, just 1.5 points out of 5th and 8 points out of 4th. Many good things happened at this years state meet and many lessons were learned from things that didn't go great. We are very excited to see what next year will bring.
The summer season is about to get underway and we are fired up and ready to go!!! We are looking forward to getting some more "hammer down" swimming in and seeing how fast we can go.
Great job to all of our athletes and lets continue to strive to see how great we can become.
Check the links on the right hand side of the page to see some cool stuff including a link to my Windows Live space with files including team records, a record progression for both boys and girls, and results from our past conference meets.
piece
ET
Well...here we are.
I have been meaning to get something up and going for our swimming program for some time now, and finally I took the step and did it. The hope for this is to be able to post practice schedules, news about the teams, and meet results.
Here goes nothin'.
Here goes nothin'.
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