State Bound!

 Hi Team!

Please join me in wishing Hannah Beckwith, Rebecca Norum, Taylor Sunke, and Meghan Harper good luck as they head down to Madison to represent AW-K at the State meet on Saturday!

All four girls worked extremely hard this season to get to State.  I couldn't be more proud of them! They will compete together in the 200 Free Relay, and Rebecca will also swim the 200 Free.

Way to go, ladies!  I'm so excited for you, and I can't wait to watch you compete on Saturday!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

Sectional Highlights!

 Hi Team!

Holy cow!  Saturday's Sectional meet was completely awesome, wasn't it??!!??  Our thirteen AW-K Superheroes showed up ready to compete, for sure!

 I absolutely loved every moment of Saturday (except all the ripped tech suits!)!

The girls did a first-rate job of representing themselves and the program--I couldn't be more proud of them!

I knew going into Saturday that we were ready.  The girls trained well all week, and judging by how loud and energy-filled Friday afternoon's practice was, I could tell they were tapered!

Even knowing that, I was completely shocked and wonderfully surprised by what all 13 girls were able to accomplish.  The girls had 15 (!!!!) best times on Saturday!

Our fantastic Medley Relay team of Fabi Ehresmann, Amanda Harper, Lexee Funk, and Alexa Van Lannen, started things off on a high note with their 7th place finish.  They dropped 5.51 seconds from last week's Conference meet!

Rebecca Norum followed that by smashing her PR in the 200 Free.  She went a 1:55.75 (5.41 seconds better than her season PR) and qualified for the State meet!  She also took 1.14 seconds off her 50 Free, finishing in 25.34 for 7th place.  Her splits in the 200 (24.29) and 400 (53.16) Free Relays were also best times.  What a meet she had!

Taylor Sunke also had a meet full of best times!  Her 25.34 50 Free was .40 faster than at Conference! She also took 1.05 off her 100 Free time with her 57.76 finish!!  

 Meghan Harper went 4/4 on best times, too!  She took 3rd in the 50 free with her 25.03 (.56 drop)! She also took 5th place in the 100 Free by dropped a whopping 1.17 and went 54.91!

Anna Armstrong continued her string of lowering her best times by dropping another .74 off her 100 Free.  She went a 1:01.04!

 Alexa Van Laanen dropped another .32 to finish 26.85 in the 50 Free!

 Lexee Funk dropped an astonishing 11.26 seconds off her PR to finish the 500 Free in 5:56.75!

The 200 Free Relay team of Meghan Harper, Taylor Sunke, Hannah Beckwith, and Rebecca Norum dropped 5.33 seconds in the 200 FR to take 4th place and earn a trip to the State meet!  Way to go, ladies!!  This same group of amazing athletes dropped 4.71 seconds off the 400 Free Relay to finish in 6th place!

 I was pretty sure they qualified for State immediately after the race!

Nicole del Plaine smashed her PR two weeks in a row! She finished her 100 Back in 1:12.84, down 1.15 seconds!

Our breaststrokers both stepped up and dropped huge chunks of time, too!  Amanda Harper dropped 2.43 seconds to finish in 1:15.74!  She also had a PR on her 50 breast in the Medley Relay with a 33.70 split.

 Gabby LeCaptain dropped 1.94 in a week to finish with a time of 1:18.13!!

Needless-to-say, it was a joyous bus ride back to Appleton West, made even sweeter because Gabby's mom got us cookies!  (Thanks, Elizabeth!!)

All season I stressed the importance of each and every girl to the team.  We truly are a team filled with superheroes.  I loved watching the girls raise each other up on Saturday.  I loved watching them cheer for each other.  I loved seeing their faces after they swam.  Whether or not they got best times on Saturday or at some other point this season, each girl contributed to Saturday's success.  I am so proud to coach AW-K!  Congratulations, Sectional team!

On to State!!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

Congratulations, Hannah!

Hi Team,

Please join me in congratulating our very own superhero, Hannah Beckwith, as she gets ready to officially commit to swim at University of South Dakota!  Hannah selected USD after visiting several DI programs around the country.  Signing with a DI school is a huge accomplishment!  It truly is the culmination of years of dedication to the sport of swimming.  The entire team couldn't be more proud of Hannah for making her DI dreams come true!  We know she will have an amazing swim career as a USD Coyote!

Hannah will officially sign her offer from University of South Dakota on Wednesday at 3:45 in the Early American room at Appleton West High School.  All current and former teammates (both high school and club) are encouraged to come and congratulate Hannah!  Way to go, Hannah!!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

You're Invited!

2016 Sectional Team!

Hi Team!

The Sectional team is ready to go!  Come cheer us on tomorrow at the Neenah High School pool!! The meet starts at noon, and the doors will open at 11:00 am for spectators.  There will be people waiting in line for the doors to open at 11, so if you want a seat in the stands, please plan on arriving early.  Purchasing a ticket does not guarantee you a seat in the stands.  Last year there were three rows of people sitting on the floor in front of the stands.

The entire Sectional team has worked extremely hard to get ready for tomorrow.  I just know there will be all kinds of great swims!  We hope to see a big bunch of AW-K fans in the stands!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

Varsity Conference Highlights!

Hi Team!

It was another great day for AW-K Swimming & Diving!  The Varsity girls took 4th place in the FVA, behind Neenah, North, and Fond du Lac.  There were so many excellent swims today!  I can hardly wait to see what happens next week at Sectionals!  I am so proud of the way the team competed today!  Here are our Top 8 Finishers:

200 MR A Relay:  Taylor Sunke, Hannah Beckwith, Rebecca Norum, and Meghan Harper,  6th Place

200 MR B Relay: Fabi Ehresmann, Amanda Harper, Lexee Funk, and Alexa Van Laanen, 8th Place

 200 Free: Rebecca Norum, 6th Place

200 IM: Hannah Beckwith, 8th Place

 50 Free:  Meghan Harper, 5th Place

 100 Free:  Meghan Harper, 5th Place

200 Free Relay:  Meghan Harper (sorry you got cut off a bit, Meghan!), Taylor Sunke, Hannah Beckwith, Rebecca Norum:  5th Place

400 Free Relay:  Amanda Harper, Fabi Ehresmann, Gabby LeCaptain, Haley Westphal, 8th Place

Thank you to everyone who came out to cheer us on today, especially all of our JV ladies! 

Congratulations, Ladies!  I am so proud to be your coach!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

A Few More Thank Yous!

Hi Team,

Once again I am a little behind on saying thank yous to a few people who have really gone above and beyond for our team in the past couple of weeks.

The last two team meals were both led by the amazing Amanda Roth, and both nights were a HUGE hit with the girls!  On Monday, October 10th, Pete Schueppert, Gina Anderson, and Amy Sunke joined Mandy and provided a delicious lasagna dinner.  The girls (and both coaches!) loved this meal! Thank you, Pete, Gina, Amy and Mandy--your meal was super yummy!

On Monday, October 17th, Amanda, Cassie Lee, and Jody Karrmann whipped up a fantastic breakfast-as-dinner meal that was super delicious!  Amanda flipped dozens of pancakes for the team, and I'm pretty sure they disappeared way faster than it took to make them!  Thank you, Amanda, Cassie, and Jody for providing such a fun meal!

I'd also like to thank Jody Karrmann for picking up and delivering the re-done Nike shirts and for setting up our fantastically fun time in the Kimberly hot chocolate stand.  I'd like to give a big shout out to Judy Norum, Stacey Dollevoet, Maria Van Laanen, and Susan Harper for coming out to help Jody and I make and sell all kinds of hot chocolate.  I'm pretty sure we sold hot chocolate to every single person at the game that night, but this group made it a fun night!

Finally, I'd like to say a big thank all of the AW-K family and friends who stayed after last Tuesday night's meet against North so that we could celebrate our Seniors.  It was so great to see all of you in the stands supporting our graduates!  Thank you, also, to our fantastic juniors who did such a nice job organizing the gifts and speeches for our seniors!

The support from our parents and friends has been amazing this year! Whether you have timed, prepared meals, helped clean up after a meet, served hot chocolate, or cleaned Lambeau (or all of the above), please know you made a difference this season.  Thank you for giving so much of your time and energy to help AW-K Swimming & Diving succeed!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki

Congratulations, Fabulous JV Ladies!

 Hi Team!

How fun was Monday night's JV Conference??!!??  It was awesome to see so many of you get best times!  Almost everyone got at least 1 best time, and many of the girls got multiple PR's!  I love when hard work pays off!

 It was also fun to see so many of our team up there on the podium!  We had so many top 8 finishers!

 Our relays all dropped big chunks of time, too!

 As always, the ducks were a huge hit!

I hope when you look back on this season you remember just how much you have accomplished. Each and every one of you made a difference this year.

 I am so proud of this group of ladies.  I can't imagine this year without you!

Congratulations on a fantastic season, ladies!  You represented AW-K so well and you made me so proud!

Thanks for the memories!!  I miss you already!

With AW-K Pride,

Coach Vicki