Mason Manta Rays Begin Twelfth Season with Intrasquad Swim Meet
More than 230 Manta Ray swimmers kicked off the 2014-2015 swimming season with the 12th Annual Manta Rays Intrasquad Swim Meet. The meet ran smoothly thanks to our great parent volunteers and the swimmers lit up the water with 747 best times and 17 new meet records!
“We have over 300 swimmers on the team this year including our 19 & older adult Masters team,” said Head Coach Ken Heis, “and our annual intrasquad meet is a great opportunity for both the swimmers and our parent volunteers to kick off the season.”
The Mason Manta Rays, a City of Mason USA Swimming team, will host the three-day Mason Fall Invitational November 7-9, 2014 and the Southwest Regional Championships February 19-22, 2015. These meets will bring thousands of swimmers, parents and officials to the City of Mason’s Mason Community Center. In addition to entry fees helping to raise funds for the City, the High School Swim Boosters operate a concession stand. Many of the local businesses also reap the rewards of hosting these big meets because these swimmers have such huge appetites.
With more than 300 total swimmers on the team ranging in age from 6 years-old to 18, plus a growing adult Masters, the Mason Manta Rays have become one of the biggest and strongest teams in Southwest Ohio. “We have swimmers in the pool at the Mason Community Center from 5:30 in the morning till 9:00 at night,” said Heis.
This type of commitment by the Mason swimmers and coaches is required to build a program that has grown from 110 swimmers to over 300 over the past decade. The team has placed very high in the state and is nationally ranked in the Top 100 of over 3000 teams in the nation. The team has set its goals higher in 2014-2015. “While it’s exciting to think about what our 10, 11 and 12 year-olds will do when they are 16, 17 and 18, but we are very excited to see how many swimmers we can qualify for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials for the Olympic Games in Rio,” said Heis.
Running a top USA swim program also requires a big commitment from parents. In addition to paying the annual fees to the City of Mason, parents volunteer an average of approximately 30 hours per year with some parents putting in a lot more. “Our parents time, run the timing board, officiate, sell t-shirts, organize events, manage the web site, yell and scream for their kids, clean up the bathrooms, take pictures, direct traffic and never say no,” said Geoff Thatcher, a parent with three swimmers on the Mason Manta Rays.
The team currently has three swimmers qualified to tryout for the USA Olympic team at the 2016 Olympic Trials in Omaha.
Dani Barbiea, Zoe Thatcher,& Sydney Lofquist
MEET RECORDS BROKEN:
1 Bacher, Taylor M ‑ Female ‑ Age: 7 ‑ ID#: 120106TAYMBACH ‑ DOB: 12/1/2006
#17 Girls 7‑8 25 Breast Finals 23.73 22.35 (1) 20
Meet Records: 22.35Y
#25 Girls 7‑8 25 Free Finals 16.32 16.35 (1) 20
Meet Records: 16.35Y
2 Chaney, Adam C ‑ Male ‑ Age: 12 ‑ ID#: 032702ADACCHAN ‑ DOB: 3/27/2002
#6 Boys 11‑12 50 Fly Finals 29.95 27.76 (1) 20
Meet Records: 27.76Y
#14 Boys 11‑12 50 Back Finals 28.46 28.50 (1) 20
Meet Records: 28.50Y
#30 Boys 11‑12 50 Free Finals 25.38 25.24 (1) 20
Meet Records: 25.24Y
#38 Boys 11‑12 100 IM Finals 1:07.44 1:05.05 (1) 20
Meet Records: 1:05.05Y
3 Devyak, Eli J ‑ Male ‑ Age: 10 ‑ ID#: 112903ELIJDEVY ‑ DOB: 11/29/2003
#4 Boys 9‑10 50 Fly Finals 31.50 31.72 (1) 20
Meet Records: 31.72Y
4 Enrico, Keith T ‑ Male ‑ Age: 14 ‑ ID#: 022000KEITENRI ‑ DOB: 2/20/2000
Boys 13-14 50 Fly 26.55
#16 Boys 13‑14 50 Back Finals 27.91 27.78 (1) 20
Meet Records: 27.78Y
#40 Boys 13‑14 100 IM Finals 1:04.54 1:00.34 (1) 20
Meet Records: 1:00.34Y
5 Hodge, Cooper P ‑ Male ‑ Age: 17 ‑ ID#: 091797COOPHODG ‑ DOB: 9/17/1997
#8 Boys 13&O 50 Fly Finals 24.73 23.69 (1) 20
Meet Records: 23.69Y
#16 Boys 15&O 50 Back Finals 23.96 24.75 (1) 20
Meet Records: 24.75Y
6 Hove, Justin C ‑ Male ‑ Age: 17 ‑ ID#: 050297JUSCHOVE ‑ DOB: 5/2/1997
#40 Boys 15&O 100 IM Finals 57.08 54.57 (1) 20
Meet Records: 54.57Y
7 Kansakar, Puran B ‑ Male ‑ Age: 14 ‑ ID#: 061700PURBKANS ‑ DOB: 6/17/2000
#24 Boys 13‑14 50 Breast Finals 30.87 30.30 (1) 20
Meet Records: 30.30Y
8 Lofquist, Sydney M ‑ Female ‑ Age: 17 ‑ ID#: 090697SYDMLOFQ ‑ DOB: 9/6/1997
#39 Girls 15&O 100 IM Finals 1:02.16 1:00.70 (1) 20
Meet Records: 1:00.70Y
9 Whiteley, Hannah ‑ Female ‑ Age: 17 ‑ ID#: 090297HAN*WHIT ‑ DOB: 9/2/1997
#15 Girls 15&O 50 Back Finals 25.06 26.22 (1) 20
Meet Records: 26.22Y
10 Yu, Emily J ‑ Female ‑ Age: 12 ‑ ID#: 031002EMIJYU** ‑ DOB: 3/10/2002
#37 Girls 11‑12 100 IM Finals 1:05.93 1:05.81 (1) 20
Meet Records: 1:05.81Y
Total Individual Records: 17
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