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Hello, Pearce Swimmers and families!
Mustangs Swim Strong at State! We sent a handful of fast swimmers to the State Championship in Austin and they did not disappoint! Senior co-captain Adam Bull won two gold medals – one in the 500 freestyle and one in the 200 IM, where he three-peated as state champion. “It was a great way to end my high school career,” said Bull. Also making an appearance on the medal stand was freshman, Blake Maczka, who brought home the bronze medal in the 500 free. Senior Jaziel Saucedo, competing in his first State meet, finished strong, taking fifth place in the 200 IM and seventh in the 100 butterfly. Bull, Maczka, and Saucedo were joined by junior Hayden Wallace in the 400 free relay. Originally seeded eleventh, the boys swam a fast preliminary round and an even faster final, touching fourth. Freshman Sarah McNair, the lone Mustang in the girls competition, swam a personal best in the 500 freestyle and finished fifth. With so many fast individual swims, plus the relay, the Pearce boys finished fifth in the team standings, earning a UIL banner. “That was awesome,” said Bull. “We hadn’t gotten a banner since I’ve been here, so it was great accomplishing that with my teammates and friends.” “The State meet was a great end to the season,” said Mustang Coach Dan Hafner. “I am extremely proud of the kids who swam at the meet, especially since they all made the championship final (top 8). And I’m happy the seniors were able to go out with a UIL banner.” Great Regional Meet, Now On to State! Our Mustangs travelled south to Mansfield for the Region 4-4A Swim Championships on Friday and Saturday. “We had a great meet,” reported Mustang Coach Dan Hafner. “I’m really proud of how well the kids swam this weekend.” Senior co-captain Adam Bull won the 200 IM and the 500 freestyle and will be advancing to the State Championship in both events. In addition, Adam was named the Region’s Swimmer of the Year for the second year in a row. Congratulations, Adam! Other individual medal winners – senior Jaziel Saucedo, second place in the 100 butterfly and third in the 200 IM; freshman Blake Maczka, second in the 500 freestyle and third in the 200 freestyle; and freshman Sarah McNair, second in the 500 freestyle. The relay teams also brought home some hardware – sophomores Clare Mills and Carolyn San Soucie, and freshmen McNair and Erika Casales touched third in the 200 freestyle. The team of Bull, Saucedo, junior Hayden Wallace, and sophomore Scott Lin got the silver medal in the 200 free relay, and Bull, Saucedo, Wallace, and Maczka also won silver in the 400 free relay. Others competing in Saturday’s finals and racking up points for the Mustangs were junior Aaron Waters; sophomores Kevin Chou, Asher Mendez, and Ashley Pham; and freshmen Bethany Bell. Rounding out the regional team was Will Calame, Aren Christensen, Savannah Johnson, Jorge Quiros Masis, and Kiana Valenti. Great job, one and all!! In team standings, Pearce girls were fifth and the boys finished third. Coach Hafner was named Region 4-4A Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. Congratulations, Coach! The first place finishers in each event and relay for each region advance to the State Championship. The next eight fastest swimmers (or relay teams) in each event from across the state will also be “called up” to State. The call-up list will be published on Tuesday. Unofficially, PHS individual medalists and boys 400 free relay are likely to be called up to State. Call-ups will be posted on the UIL Swimming page, and we will let you know as soon as we find out! GO MUSTANGS!!! Mustang Boys 2nd at District, Girls 3rd – Nineteen swimmers move on to Regional Meet Although Pearce swimmers were disappointed at missing the district crown, there were plenty of fast swims at the District meet in Rockwall on Saturday. This was the last District meet for our seniors. Adam Bull claimed two gold medals (200 IM and 500 free) – he was also named Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet for the fourth year. Austin Buonasera and Jaziel Saucedo each claimed some hardware of their own – Buonasera won gold in the 100 free and bronze in the 50 free, while Saucedo claimed the gold in the 100 butterfly and silver in the 200 IM. Other medalists were junior Aaron Waters (second in the 100 backstroke); sophomores Madeleine Marcos (first in the 500 free and second in the 200), Clare Mills (second in the 100 backstroke), and Carolyn San Soucie (third in the 100 breaststroke); and freshmen Blake Maczka (second in the 200 and 500 freestyle events), and Sarah McNair (second in the 500 free and third in the 200). In addition to these swimmers, the following individuals also qualified for regionals : juniors Jorge Quiros Masis, Kiana Valenti, and Hayden Wallace; sophomores Kevin Chou, Aren Christensen, Scott Lin, and Asher Mendez; and freshmen Bethany Bell, Will Calame, and Erika Casales. It was a true team effort, with additional points scored by juniors Roman Gruszecki and Savannah Johnson, sophomores Ashley Pham and Yunpang Zhang, and freshman Alex Olazaran. Juniors Remy Leibow, Hannah McPeak, and Cara Supan, sophomore Rey Villano, and freshman Sarah Park rounded out the District team. Relay teams finished second and third, and all six relays will move on to regionals. “We had some good swims at this meet, with quite a few kids qualifying for regionals,” said Coach Dan Hafner. “We will now shift our focus to the regional meet on February 10-11 in Mansfield. Our kids will be rested for that meet, and I look forward to seeing some faster times.” Mustangs End Regular Season, Head to District Pearce swim team brought their regular season (and their winter break) to an end on Tuesday, January 3rd, in Frisco. The W belonged to Wakeland, but PHS swimmers still scored some top times. Individual first place swims were recorded by freshman Sarah McNair (200 IM and 100 backstroke); sophomores Kevin Chou (100 breaststroke), Madeleine Marcos (200 and 500 freestyle), and Carolyn San Soucie (100 butterfly); and senior Adam Bull (100 butterfly and 100 backstroke). Other individual “top three” finishers were freshmen Erika Casales and Blake Maczka, sophomore Scott Lin, junior Hayden Wallace, and seniors Austin Buonasera and Jaziel Saucedo. In the relays, Pearce boys (Bull, Maczka, Saucedo, Wallace) won the medley relay, but ended up second in both the freestyle relays. Mustang girls relay team (Casales, Marcos, McNair, San Soucie) won both the 200 and 400 freestyle. Many other swimmers contributed points, including freshmen Bethany Bell, Will Calame, and Alex Olazaran; sophomores Aren Christensen, Rey Villano, and Yunpeng Zhang; juniors Roman Gruszecki, Savannah Johnson, Jorge Quiros Masis, Seth Trovada, and Aaron Waters. Next stop is the District meet in Rockwall on January 28th, where Pearce is the defending champion. Swim fast, Mustangs!! Mustangs Reclaim City Champs Trophy Despite a strong roster, the Mustang swimmers have not captured the coveted RISD “City Champs” trophy for the past three years, but that changed on Friday night, December 16th, 2011. The Mustangs showed up in force and proceeded to dominate the meet – finishing 1st and 2nd in the boys 200 IM (Saucedo and Lin), the girls 100 butterfly (Casales and San Soucie), the boys 100 butterfly (Saucedo and Lin again), and the boys 100 freestyle (Buonasera and Wallace); 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the boys 200 freestyle (Bull, Maczka, and Chou); and even 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the 400 meter freestyle (Bull, Mendez, Calame, and Waters). And when they didn’t sweep the medals, there were many individual top three finishes : freshman Erica Casales (2nd in the 200 freestyle), freshman Blake Maczka (1st in the 100 backstroke), freshman Sarah McNair (1st in the 200 and 400 free), sophomore Madeleine Marcos (1st in the 100 freestyle and 2nd in the 100 backstroke), sophomore Clare Mills (3rd in the 100 backstroke), sophomore Carolyn San Soucie (3rd in the 100 breaststroke), junior Asher Mendez (2nd in the 100 breaststroke), junior Hayden Wallace (3rd in the 50 freestyle), and senior Austin Buonasera (1st in the 50 freestyle). And beyond these medal winners, many other team members helped rack up the points by scoring in the top 12 in their events. Others who scored points to secure the win, and were not mentioned above, were freshmen Bethany Bell, Alex Olazaran, and Sarah Park; sophomores Aren Christensen, Ashley Pham, Rey Villano, and Yunpeng Zhang; juniors Roman Gruszecki, Erin Heminokeky, Savannah Johnson, Jorge Quiros Masis, Cara Supan, Seth Trovada, and Kiana Valenti. In the relays, the team of Casales/Marcos/McNair/SanSoucie finished 1st in the 400 freestyle and 2nd in the 200 freestyle. The boys team of Bull/Buonasera/Maczka/Saucedo was 1st in the 200 medley relay and the team of Buonasera/Chou/Lin/Wallace was 1st in the 200 freestyle. And to top off the night, Coach Hafner balanced his two boys 400 relay teams resulting in a Pearce vs Pearce race to the finish. In the end it was Bull/Chou/Mendez/Saucedo out-touching Lin/Maczka/Wallace/Waters for the 1-2 finish, both finishing more than 15 seconds ahead of the third place team. Pearce girls claimed the #1 spot, with 341 points versus the second place ladies from Berkner at 307. Pearce boys finished 1st with 487 points versus the second place Berkner team at 364. Pearce won the meet with a combined point total of 828 points. Congratulations, Mustangs!!! North Texas 4A TISCA Meet On December 9-10, thirteen Mustang qualifiers travelled to Frisco for this very competitive meet. Over 50 other schools were in attendance, with a 6+ hour prelim session on Friday and finals on Saturday. Those who made the championship or consolation final heats finished as follows. Freshman Erika Casales was 15th in the 500 freestyle and 13th in the 100 butterfly. Freshman Blake Maczka was 3rd in the 200 free and 2nd in the 500. Freshman Sarah McNair was 12th in the 200 free and 6th in the 500. Sophomore Madeleine Marcos was 5th in the 200 free and 3rd in the 500. Senior captain Adam Bull was 1st in both the 200 IM and the 500 free, setting new meet and pool records in both. Senior captain Austin Buonasera was 12th in the 100 free. Senior Jaziel Saucedo was 3rd in the 200 IM and 4th in the 100 butterfly. In the relays, the medley team of Buonasera/Maczka/Mendez/Saucedo finished 15th. In the 200 free relay, Bull/Buonasera/Lin/Wallace tied for 5th. And in the 400 free relays, the girls team of Casales/Marcos/McNair/SanSoucie were 10th, while the boys team of Bull/Maczka/Saucedo/Wallace touched 4th. In the overall scoring, the girls came in 9th and the boys were 5th. Congratulations to our TISCA qualifiers for a great meet!! Jesuit/Ursuline Meet Just after Thanksgiving, the Mustangs hosted Jesuit and Ursuline at the Pearce pool. Individual medal winners were freshman Sarah McNair, 1st in the 400 meter free and 2nd in the 200 IM; freshman Blake Maczka, 2nd in the 400 meter free and the 100 back; sophomore Madeleine Marcos, 1st in the 200 free and 100 back; junior Hayden Wallace, 3rd in the 200 free; senior captain Austin Buonasera, 2nd in the 50 and 100 meter free; senior Jaziel Saucedo, 1st in the 400 meter free and 2nd in the 200 free; and senior captain Adam Bull, 1st in the 50 free and 100 butterfly. In the relays, the girls medley team of Johnson/Park/Pham/Supan claimed third. In the boys medley relay, Bull/Buonasera/Maczka/Saucedo finished second. The girls team of Marcos/McNair/Mills/SanSoucie finished second in the 200 free relay and third in the 400. In the boys 200 free relay, Bull/Buonasera/Lin/Wallace touched second. In the boys 400 free relay, the team of Lin/Maczka/Saucedo/Wallace were also second. Special thanks to those parents who volunteered to help for this meet. Meet operations went quite smoothly this time! Texarkana Meet The team travelled to Texarkana on November 18-19 for the TISCA Invitational. The Mustangs took a full bus, with a total of 23 swimmers attending the meet. Day one was prelims and day two was finals. This travel meet was a great chance for teambuilding, as well as competing against some fast swimmers from eight other schools. The highlights of the results were two first place, meet record-setting finishes by senior Jaziel Saucedo in the 200 IM and freshman Blake Maczka in the 500 free. Congratulations, gentlemen! Other medal winners in individual events were Maczka, 3rd in the 200 free; freshman Sarah McNair, 2nd in the 500 free; freshman Erika Casales, 3rd in the 500 free; sophomore Scott Lin, 3rd in the 200 IM; junior Hayden Wallace, 2nd in the 50 free; Saucedo, 3rd in the 100 butterfly; and senior captain Adam Bull, 2nd in both the 200 free and 100 butterfly. In the relays, the boys 200 medley touched 2nd. Overall, the girls finished 4th for the meet and the boys finished 3rd, with a combined team rank of 3rd. And speaking of team score, staff and patrons of the Olive Garden in Texarkana also gave our team high marks for manners and conduct. Thank you, swimmers and parents! Pearce Swimmers Fall to Plano East Mustang swimmers travelled to Plano last week and continued their trend of promising individual swims, but the W still eludes them so far this season. Freshman Sarah McNair continued her strong start with the team, touching first in the 200 IM and third in the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Madeline Marcos finished first in the 200 freestyle and second in the 100 backstroke. Senior captain Adam Bull was first in the 200 IM and third in the 100 breaststroke. Beyond the medal-winners, this was a good developmental meet, with many other swimmers contributing to the point total : freshmen Bethany Bell, Will Calame, and Alex Olazaran; sophomores Scott Lin, Asher Mendez, Ashley Pham, Rey Villano, and YunPeng Zhang; and juniors Savannah Johnson, Jorge Quiros-Masis, Cara Supan, Seth Trovada and Aaron Waters. Large Clan of Scots Outnumber Mustang Herd Pearce came up short on Tuesday in Highland Park, where the Mustangs found themselves outnumbered two- or three-to-one in each event and first place finishes were difficult to come by. While the Scots racked up the points, PHS swimmers continued to rack up swims that signal good things to come. Other second place finishes were logged by senior captain Austin Buonasera in the 100 freestyle, sophomore Madeleine Marcos in the 200 freestyle and the 100 backstroke, freshman Sarah McNair in the 500 freestyle, and junior Aaron Waters in the 100 backstroke. Waters also finished third in the 200 IM, junior Hayden Wallace claimed third in both the 50 and 100 freestyle, and freshman Erika Casales, in her first outing with the team, was third in the 100 breaststroke. Next up, Plano East on Wednesday, November 2nd. Swim fast, Mustangs!! Mustang Swimmers Show Promise in Rockwall Meet OCTOBER NEWS Coming up: Team homecoming breakfast is being planned for Friday, October 14th. Have your swimmer check the facebook page for more details. Final payment for the Texarkana trip is due. Total cost is $100 – if you paid a deposit of $40 in September, please send $60 now. You can mail it to Beth at 7620 Pennyburn Drive, Dallas 75248 OR you can have your swimmer give it to Coach Hafner at school. Our first away meet, versus Rockwall and Rockwall Heath will be on Wednesday, October 19th. The team will travel there by bus. Warm up is at 6 pm and the meet begins at 7 pm. Traffic can be quite slow at that time of day, so plan accordingly. The Rockwall Aquatic Center is located at 1205 T L Townsend Drive in Rockwall. As usual, Coach Hafner will post the meet entries list on his door as we get closer to the meet – this list shows who will be attending the meet and what events they are swimming. Looks like another exciting year for the Pearce Mustang Swimmers!! UPCOMING PARENT MEETING Welcome to the Pearce Swim Team! Hours worked at the PHS Mum Store : Working at the mum store is fun! Be sure to sign in and credit your hours to the swim team – profits from the store are distributed to all teams, based on hours worked. Homecoming is 5+ weeks away – plenty of time to rack up some hours at the Mum Store! I will ask for you to volunteer your time for our team activities, such as : Monthly team breakfasts : these are usually the morning of a swim meet, and the team eats together in the natatorium lobby from 8:30-9:45. I need an overall coordinator for this activity AND plenty of volunteers to supply food for each breakfast! Home meets : we are hosting one meet at home this year (Jesuit/Ursuline) and will likely co-host two meets with RHS (RHS meet and City Champs). We need volunteers to officiate, work the timing console, run concessions, and time the swimmers. We will take your spiritwear orders. Each athlete is required to purchase the mandatory package, which covers the cost of the team swimsuit, swim caps (as needed), and breakfast supplies. Other optional items are available. For a sneak peek at the order form, check the LINKS/FORMS tab. See you on September 6th! Pearce Swim Team News – AUGUST
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