If you drove by the park June 17th or 18th you would have thought the circus was in town. Fourteen teams including Lamar packed the Lamar Aquatic Park with almost 500 swimmers for the Lamar Invitational swim meet. That number does not include the parents, vendors and spectators who camped out and pitched their tents in nearly every square inch of the park surrounding the pool. Luckily Mother Nature held off the rain until Saturday night and the partly cloudy weather all weekend made for a nice change in this usually hot time of the year.
The Lamar Invitational was an A/B Meet. Basically this means that the swimmers are divided into the 2 groups based on their entry times. In the A division medals were awarded to first – third place and ribbons were awarded to 4 – 6 place. In the B division ribbons were given to first through sixth place.
In the 6 and under group Haydn Bartholomew placed 2nd in the 25 yard butterfly and 3rd place in both the 25 yard freestyle and 25 yard backstroke. Molly Kellenberger placed 2nd in the 25 yard breaststroke, 4th in the 25 yard freestyle and 5th in the 25 yard backstroke.
The 8 and under swimmers featured Griffin Leininger and Lincoln Kaderly leading the pack. Griffin took home a medal for his 1st place finish in the 25 yard breaststroke and ribbons for 5th place in both the 25 yard butterfly and 100 yard individual medley. Lincoln received a medal for placing 2nd in the 50 yard freestyle as well as ribbons for his 4th place finish in the 25 yard breaststroke and 6th place in the 100 yard individual medley.
Shelby Haskins led the way for the girls with a 2nd place finish in the 25 yard breaststroke, 3rd place in the 25 yard butterfly and 50 yard freestyle as well and placing 5th in the 25 yard backstroke. Jasmine Bello also placed 5th in 25 yard butterfly.
The 10 and under girls had a very strong showing. Madison Kellenberger placed 1st in the 50 yard freestyle and 50 yard breaststroke. She also placed 2nd in the 50 yard backstroke, 3rd in the 50 yard butterfly and 5th in the 100 yard individual medley. Hannah Moyer placed 5th in the 100 yard individual medley and 6th in the 50 yard breaststroke.
Kenna “Rockin” Roland received a 1st place medal in 3 events; the 50 yard freestyle, 50 yard backstroke and the 100 yard freestyle. She also placed 2nd in the 50 yard butterfly and 100 yard individual medley. She also placed 5th in the 50 yard breaststroke. Kenna earned the team 33 pts and Madison received 25 points!
In the 11-12 year old bracket Rose Compton just missed getting a medal with her 4th place finish in the 50 yard breaststroke. Also in the 11-12 year old bracket Brittany Steever had a strong meet. She placed 2nd in the 50 yard freestyle, 3rd in both the 50 yard butterfly and 50 yard freestyle, 4th in the 100 yard individual medley and 5th in the 50 yard backstroke. All together Brittany contributed 18 points for the Tiger Sharks.
In the 13-14 year old group Kailey Roland placed 6th in the 100 yard freestyle.
In the 15-18 year old group Ryan Pittsenbarger came out of retirement and helped his team with a 4th place finish in the 50 yard breaststroke. Also for the 15-18 year old group Megan Thieman earned 21 points with 1st place medals in both the 100 and 200 yard freestyle. She also placed 3rd in the 50 yard butterfly and 4th in the 50 yard breaststroke. Jennifer Marti was also awarded a medal for her 3rd place finish in the 200 yard freestyle.
The Tiger Sharks also placed 5 relay teams in the top 5 for the A division. The 10 and under girls finished 3rd in the 100 yard freestyle. Those swimming this relay were Madison Kellenberger, Josie Kaderly, Hannah Moyer and Kenna Roland.
The 11-12 year old girls awarded 4th place in the 200 yard medley were Rose Compton, Paige Pierson, Amber Carter and Brittany Steever. The same team went on to again finish 4th in the 200 yard freestyle.
In the 15-18 year old group ribbons were awarded to Jillian Leininger, Jennifer Marti, Mary Catherine Geddie and Megan Thieman for their 5th place finish in the 200 yard medley. Also receiving ribbons for 4th place in the 200 yard freestyle were Mary Catherine Geddie, Kimberly Marti, Megan Thieman and Jennifer Marti.
In the 8 and under division Kip Roland had a 3rd place finish in the 25 yard backstroke and placed 5th in the 25 yard breaststroke. Lincoln Kaderly placed 4th in the 25 yard butterfly and Grant Smith was 3rd in the 25 yard breaststroke.
For the girls Jessica White finished 6th in the 25 yard butterfly and 3rd in the 25 yard breaststroke. Grace Compton rounded out the girls with a ribbon for her 5th place finish in the 25 yard breaststroke.
For the 10 and under boys Jordon Steever placed 6th in the 100 yard individual medley.
For the 11-12 year olds Rose Compton placed 6th in the 50 yard butterfly.
Kyle Roehrs represented the 13-14 year old boys with a 5th place finish in the 200 yard individual medley and Kailey Roland represented the girls with a 6th place finish in the 50 yard breaststroke.
In the 15-18 year old bracket Sean Rhodes placed 1st in the 200 yard individual medley as well as 3rd in the 100 yard freestyle. Jennifer Marti placed 5th in the 50 yard freestyle and 6th in the 50 yard backstroke.
Eleven relay teams for the Tiger Sharks were awarded ribbons in the B division. Receiving 7 of the 11 ribbons were swimmers from the 8 and under group. The team of Lincoln Kaderly, Grant Smith, Griffin Leininger and Kip Roland placed 2nd in the 100 yard medley. Swimming all the way to a 1st place finish in the 100 yard freestyle were Griffin Leininger, Lincoln Kaderly, Kip Roland and Haydn Bartholomew. Donte Stahl, Grant Smith, Dominick Givens and Chase Kellenberger were awarded ribbons for their 5th place finish in the 100 yard freestyle.
For the girls, 2nd place ribbons for the 100 yard medley were handed out to Hattie Gilkey, Jasmine Bello, Shelby Haskins and Jessica White. That same team also went on to win 1st place in the 100 yard freestyle. Fourth place in the 100 yard medley went to Grace Compton, Jacey Stahl, Margaret Kellenberger and Morgan Cook. Placing 4th in the 100 yard freestyle were the team of Molly Kellenberger, Grace Compton, Morgan Cook and Jacey Stahl.
The 10 and under boys featured the team of Evan Moore, William Tennel, Jordon Steever and Zane Hull. They placed 1st in the 100 yard medley and 2nd in the 100 yard freestyle.
The 10 and under girls that placed 2nd in the 100 yard medley are Kenna Roland, Madison Kellenberger, Hannah Moyer and Josie Kaderly. Finishing 3rd in the 100 yard freestyle were Ryan O’Sullivan, Jerica Stahl, Emily Farmer and Margaret Kellenberger.
And last but not least the relay team of Sam Haag, Zach Fowler, Sean Rhodes and Cody Bryant placed 3rd in the 200 yard medley.
These Tiger Sharks also participated in the Invitational: Andrew Fowler, Ashton Kirkpatrick, Austin Gloodt, Emily Kremp, Erin O’Sullivan, Hannah Neely, Hope Crutcher, Jacob Haskins, Jantzen Davis, Jordon Finney, Kyle Compton, Lexa Curtis and Thomas O’Sullivan.
Although the Tiger Sharks finished 6th out of the 14 teams, the meet was a great success. Many Lamar swimmers received medals, ribbons or both.
The Tiger Sharks would also like to thank the City of Lamar and the staff of the Lamar Aquatic Park for all the extra work they did during the weekend.