2011 League Champions

League Champions 2011

As if winning 10 out of 12 regular Swim and Dive Meets, and the League Championship, was not enough to accomplish this season, the list of the CK Boys Swim and Dive Team state qualifications is a long one.

Senior Justin Glanda, February Sunkist Athlete of the Week, qualified in every event with many Division 1 times. To make his season even more exciting, after setting a pool record at Lahser in January, Glanda broke two League records on Saturday, swimming the 50 Free in 21.80 seconds, (adding to his seed time of 21.78!) and the 100 Free in an amazing 47.29 seconds.

The entire Junior class is going to the state championship. Alex Hogan got things started at the very first meet with his qualification in 100 Backstroke. Next, he earned a cut in the 200 IM. Drew Branigan also qualified for the 200 IM in January. Isaac Mooney earned his qualification at the league meet, so he will compete in this most strenuous event as well.

The 50 Free is such a quick race that it is difficult to swim faster, but no one told Stefan Withrow, so he improved his time and will go to the competition with the other juniors. Drew Branigan will compete in the 100 Breaststroke, also, after earning his second cut Saturday.

Qualifications are not limited to upperclassmen. Freshman Ben Schneider, and sophomore Matthew Liu started the trend earlier in the season, with cuts earned in four events by Ben, and in every event by Matthew. It was a sophomore, Russell Lee, who provided the team spark at Saturday's League Meet when he qualified in the 200 Freestyle event.

But there was a major explosion when senior captain Abishek Manjunathan achieved his 200 IM cut by dropping an impossible eleven seconds from his seed time. Teammates crowded to his lane as they saw Abishek's qualification become possible. Cheers, applause, jumping, and shouting throughout the building greeted him as he touched the wall.

The grueling training methods of Coach Tony Kurth have proven value now that the CK Boys Swim and Dive Team is the 2011 League of Independent Schools Champion. Team parents have seen more tired students than ever before. “Even protein drinks and vitamins don't seem to help the fatigue,” says parent Carolyn Branigan, team photographer. However, swimmers are not complaining. They see the championship rewards of the program. Not only did they win their league, swimmers have qualified to compete at the state championship in every single event.

Sophomore Matthew Liu will thrill CK spectators for two more years. Matthew will likely set his sights on Justin Glanda's records in the future. Danny Misra earned his state cut in the 500 Free. After Russell Lee's cut, Webster Burton was close, close, close, but will need to wait for next year to qualify, as he surely will. Kenta Araki, Mousa Ghannam, Austin Glover, Jonny Pang and Jeff Taylor all made great improvement in numerous events this year and will be inspired next year when they return.

Ben Schneider will represent the CK Freshman class at the State Meet in Holland March 11 and 12 when he chooses between qualifications in the 100 Breaststroke, the 200 IM, the 500 Free, and the 200 Free. He shouldn't expect to be alone next year, though. Nate Tattrie dropped seconds all over the deck on Saturday, and may ride to the state meet as a member of a relay team. Jack Ghannam, Will Libcke, Maxwell Pang, and Rohin Patel all joined Nate in major improvement of their respective times.

Jon Withrow qualified in the 100 Breaststroke at the second meet of the season, before asthma prevented him from practicing with the swimmers. Jon did not want to give in to his health challenge, so he began to practice diving, as a way to stay involved with the team. More than involved, Jon advanced to competitive in his new sport and finished with fantastic first year scores for his six dive list. Jon was the CK League Meet Second Half Hero when he swam all 20 laps of the 500 Freestyle event, never once stopping to use the breathing machine made available by Most Supportive Teammate, Freshman Will Libcke.

Finally, Senior Captian Alec Malstrom will attend this year's state championship as Captain Cheerleader. Alec competed in last year's state meet in the 100 Backstroke, but could not repeat this year. He is sorry to see his high school swimming career come to an end. “But I have been part of an incredibly successful season, with great teammates, and the best coach.” says Alec. “And, although I will not compete on the state team, I feel I have made an important contribution this year by improving the fashion choices of my teammates.”  JK