CATS Medley Relay Captures State Title

The CATS Aquatic 13-14 Boys captured first place in the Medley Relay for the second year in a row at the State Age Group Championship Meet held March 11-13 at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Brenden Bolman (Grayslake), Weilly Tong (Vernon Hills), Atticus Rush (Libertyville) and Matt Harrington (Green Oaks) swam to a finish of 3:43.77, breaking the CATS record set last year by the 2010 State Champion 400 Medley Relay team. Bolman, Tong, Rush, and Harrington also finished 3rd place in the 400 Freestyle Relay, again setting a new CATS team record, narrowly missing a 2nd place finish by .08 seconds, according to Kelley Dickson, CATS aquatic publicity coordinator.

At the Speedo Champions Series Meet held in Waukesha, WI the 15 and over Boys placed 3rd in the Medley Relay and the Boys 800 Freestyle Relay placed 4th.

"CATS has had a very successful Championship season," said Dickson.

Swimmers from Grayslake, Libertyville, Vernon Hills, and Mundelein were recent medal winners at Championship level meets.

Other CATS swimmers who earned a medal at the State Age Group Championship meet include:

Boys 11-12

Jeffrey Zhang (Vernon Hills)- 8th, 100 Backstroke (1:03.82); 8th, 50 Backstroke (29.48)

Girls 13-14

Anna Gray (Grayslake)- 6th 50 Freestyle (24.60)

Boys 13-14

Matt Harrington (Green Oaks)- 6th, 50 Freestyle (22.60); 7th, 100 Freestyle (50.09)

Sean Stockwell (Gurnee)- 7th, 200 Butterfly ((2:05.21)


CATS Relays Make Splash at Championship Meet

2011 Speedo Champions Series Meet Results

The Boys 15 and over CATS Aquatic Medley Relay team of Alex Snarski (Green Oaks), Ben Snader (Libertyville), Connor Black (Mundelein), and Kevin Lenz (Vernon Hills) swam to a 3rd place finish in the highly competitive Speedo Champions Series Meet held March 11-13 in Waukesha, Wis.

The CATS Aquatic Boys 15 and over 800 Freestyle Relay team of: Kirk Dickson (Grayslake), Sean Mayfield (Grayslake), Black (Mundelein) and Snader (Libertyville) earned a 4th place finish.

At the Speedo Champions Series Meet, the CATS Aquatic Mens team captured 5th place and the team finished 8th overall among 54 teams hailing from13 states including: Utah, Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, New Mexico, South Dakota, North Dakota, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Arizona. Twelve swimmers from CATS earned qualifying times during the short course yard season in order to compete in this Prelim/Final meet.

CATS swimmers earning the opportunity to return for a swim in Finals include:

Kyle Aerne (Lake Villa)- 11th, 100 Breaststroke (59.55); 24th, 200 Individual Medley (2:02.08)

Connor Black (Mundelein)- 5th, 400 Individual Medley (4:03.25)

Kirk Dickson (Grayslake)- 22nd, 100 Backstroke (53.95); 21st, 200 Backstroke (1:57.93)

Zoe Eldridge (Libertyville)- 6th, 100 Butterfly (57.83); 24th, 50 Freestyle (25.30)

Michelle Garland (Grayslake)- 9th, 100 Breaststroke (1:06.68); 8th, 200 Breaststroke (2:24.75)

Kevin Lenz (Vernon Hills)- 5th, 100 Breast (58.60); 24th, 50 Freestyle (22.08)

Sean Mayfield (Grayslake)- 15th, 100 Butterfly (53.78)

Whitney Mitchell (Green Oaks)- 14th, 200 Breaststroke (2:27.60)

Lindsay Schultz (Hawthorn Woods)- 21st, 100 Freestyle (53.37)

Ben Snader (Libertyville)- 3rd, 100 Breaststroke (57.62); 10th, 200 Individual Medley (1:55.72); 3rd, 200 Breaststroke (2:05.08)

Alex Snarski (Green Oaks)- 17th, 100 Backstroke (52.80)