Chester Stingrays finish 5th at Shawnee conference meet
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Chester Stingrays Swim Team competed in their final meet of the year Saturday July 26 at Millstadt. The young Chester team swam well and finished fifth out of the six Shawnee Conference teams. The Stingrays just missed fourth place by 11-points as Pinckneyville edged them out 174-163.
All season long Chester had to swim short due to a lack of swimmers in the upper age groups. That problem plagued Chester all summer; however swimmers in the younger age groups gained a lot of valuable experience and swam hard throughout the season to remain competitive in all meets.
In spite of swimming short-handed at almost every meet, the Stingrays had a wealth of excellent individual performances and demonstrated that they would return to a position o prominence in years to come if everyone continues to swim and remain loyal to the sport.
At the conference meet Millstadt was the winner with 392 points. Millstadt swims year-round at various pools in the metro-St. Louis area and has a broader pool of swimmers to chose from, thus their dominance this year.
In second place in 2008 was Nashville who earned 354-points (only 38 points behind Millstadt). Carlyle came in third with 195-points and Pinckneyville edged Chester with 174-points. The Stingrays had 163-points with Red Bud bringing up the last position with 82-points.
In the conference there are only two swimmers from each team allowed to compete in each race. Points are awarded for the top six finishers in the following order: 1st, 7 points; 2nd 5 points; 3rd, 4points; 4th, 3 points; 5th, 2 points and 6th 1 point. Specific results are as follow:
MEDLEY RELAY:
Boys 8 & Under 100-Yard Medley Relay: Chester, 1st, 2:06.13; Joe Soellner, Nick Heffernan, Wyatt Roth and Calvin Clendenin. Girls 8 & Under 100-Yard Medley Relay: Chester, 3rd, 1:45.80; Karson Colvis, Ellen Blechle, Jessica Kattenbraker and Adrianna Fedderke. Boys 9-10 100-Yard Medley Relay: (Disqualified). Girls 9-10 100-Yard Medley Relay: Chester, 3rd, 1:23.79; Elizabeth Heffernan, Morgan Atchison, Mikayla Atchison and Logan Colvis.
Boys 11-12 200-Yard Medley Relay: (Chester no entry). Girls 11-12 200-Yard Medley Relay: Chester, 3rd, 2:50.34; Natasha Pulliam, Madison Connor, Sarah Bindel and Alex Fedderke. Boys 13-14 200-Yard Medley Relay: (Chester disqualified). Girls 13-14 200-Yard Medley Relay: Chester, 6th, 3:24.42; Sydney Haberberger, Olivia Robinson, Adrianna Fedderke and Allison Briggs. Boys 15-18 200-Yard Medley Relay: (Chester no entry). Girls 15-18 200-Yard Medley Relay: Chester, 3rd, 2:21.54; Kristy Pulliam, Nicole Search, Haley Riebeling and Megan Atchison.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY (IM):
Boys 9-10 100-Yard IM: Lucas Doiron, 6th, 1:47.81; Trent Doiron, 10th, 2:08.16. Girls 9-10 IM: Mikayla Atchison, 4th, 1:30.45; Morgan Atchison, 5th, 1:34.37. Boys 11-12 IM: Austin Redeker, 7th. Girls 11-12 100-Yard IM: Sarah Bindel, 4th, 1:31.28. Boys 13-14 100-Yard IM: (No Chester swimmers). Girls 13-14 100-Yared IM: Sydney Haberberger, 10th, 1:43.62. Boys 15-18 100-Yard IM: (No Chester swimmers). Girls 15-18 100-Yard IM: Nicole Search, 6th, 1:17.46; Megan Atchison, 8th, 1:18.47.
BACKSTROKE:
Boys 8 & Under 25-Yard Backstroke: Joe Soellner, 3rd, 25.73; Calvin Clendenin, 7th, 28.84. Girls 8 & Under 25-Yard Backstroke: Karson Colvis, 5th, 25.37; Adrianna Fedderke, 11th, 30.77. Boys 9-10 25-Yard Backstroke: Brett Bunselmeyer, 7th, 25.89; Zach Conner, 10th, 28.25. Girls 9-10 25-Yard Backstroke: Mikayla Atchison, 3rd, 20.12; Logan Colvis, 4th, 20.86. Boys 11-12 50-Yard Backstroke: Nick Gross, 5th, 45.26. Girls 11-12 50-Yard Backstroke: Sarah Bindel, 1st, 42.31; Natasha Pulliam, 6th, 48.59.
Boys 13-14 100-Yard Backstroke: Zach Heldebrandt, 8th, 1:52.49. Girls 13-14 100-Yard Backstroke: Olivia Robinson, 9th, 1:38.97; Sydney Haberberger, 12th, 1:56.58. Boys 15-18 10-Yard Backstroke: Chad Koenegstein, 4th, 1:08.18. Girls 15-18 100-Yared Backstroke: Kristy Pulliam, 7th, 1:21.87.
BUTTERFLY:
Boys 8 & Under 25-Yard Butterfly: Nick Heffernan, 3rd, 25.18; Wyatt Roth, 4th, 26.60. Girls 8 & Under 25-Yard Butterfly: Karson Colvis, 3rd, 22.36; Ellen Blechle, 6th, 24.36. Boys 9-10 25-Yard Butterfly: Lucas Doiron, 4th, 21.04; Brett Bunselmeyer, 5th, 21.40. Girls 9-10 25-Yard Butterfly: Mikayla Atchison, 2nd, 17.59; Morgan Atchison, 6th, 18.52.
Boys 11-12 50-Yard Butterfly: Nick Gross, 7th, 47.75; Tyler Redeker, 9th, 1:20.70. Girls 11-12 50-Yard Butterfly: Allison Briggs, 8th, 48.20; Taylor McDaniel, 12th, 1:13.74. Boys 13-14 50-Yard Butterfly: Zach Heldebrandt, 5th, 49.97. Girls 13-14 50-Yard Butterfly: Olivia Robinson, 9th, 38.84; Alex Fedderke, 12th, 53.73. Boys 15-18 50-Yard Butterfly: Chad Koenegstein, 2nd, 27.06. Girls 15-18 50-Yard Butterfly: Megan Atchison, 4th, 31.95; Haley Riebeling, 8th, 33.56.
BREASTSTROKE:
Boys 8 & Under 25-Yard Breaststroke: Nick Heffernan, 2nd, 26.47. Girls 8 & Under 25-Yard Breaststroke: Karson Colvis, 1st, 26.11; Ellen Blechle, 5th, 30.90. Boys 9-10 25-Yard Breaststroke: Lucas Doiron, 2nd, 22.92; Trent Doiron, 10th, 28.06. Girls 9=-10 25-Yard Breaststroke: Morgan Atchison, 8th, 23.08; Logan Colvis, 9th, 23.92.
Boys 11-12 50-Yard Breaststroke: Nick Gross, 8th, 54.83; Austin Redeker, 9th, 58.29. Girls 11-12 50-Yard Breaststroke: Sarah Bindel, 3rd, 42.84; Allison Briggs, 5th, 46.55. Boys 13-14 100-Yard Breaststroke: Zach Heldebrandt, 6th, 1:47.56. Girls 13-14 100-Yard Breaststroke: Taylor McDaniel, 11th, 2:57.24. Boys 15-18 100-Yard Breaststroke: (No Chester swimmers). Girls 15-18 100-Yard Breaststroke: Nicole Search, 3rd, 1:24.96; Haley Riebeling, 11th, 1:33.60.
FREESTYLE:
Boys 8 & Under 25-Yard Freestyle: Wyatt Roth, 5th, 20.48; Nick Heffernan, 7th, 22.59. Girls 8 & Under 25-Yard Freestyle: Ellen Blechle, 3rd, 18.99; Jessica Kattenbraker, 4th, 19.72. Boys 9-10 25-Yard Freestyle: Zach Conner, 4th, 17.73; Brett Bunselmeyer, 5th, 17.92. Girls 9-10 25-Yard Freestyle: Logan Colvis, 5th, 16.81; Elizabeth Heffernan, 7th, 19.99.
Boys 11-12 50-Yard Freestyle: Austin Redeker, 7th, 41.95; Josh Grott, 9th, 47.06. Girls 11-12 50-Yard Freestyle: Natasha Pulliam, 7th, 37.47; Madison Connor, 9th, 38.00. Boys 13-14 100-Yard Freestyle: (No Chester swimmers). Girls 13-14 100-Yard Freestyle: Olivia Robinson, 10th, 1:21.81; Sydney Haberberger, 11th, 1:25.44. Boys 15-18 100-Yard Freestyle: Chad Koenegstein, 5th, 58.16. Girls 15-18 100-Yard Freestyle: Megan Atchison, 4th, 1:05.34; Nicole Search, 8th, 1:06.74.
FREESTYLE RELAY:
Boys 8 & Under 100-Yard freestyle Relay: Chester, 2nd, 1:24.57; Nick Heffernan, Joe Soellner, Calvin Clendenin, Wyatt Roth. Girls 8 & Under 100-Yard Freestyle Relay: Chester, 1st, 1:28.41; Karson Colvis, Jessica Kattenbraker, Adrianna Fedderke, Ellen Blechle. Boys 9-10 100-Yard Freestyle Relay: Chester, 3rd, 1:23.92; Brett Bunselmeyer, Trent Doiron, Lucas Doiron, Zach Conner. Girls 9-10 100-Yard Freestyle Relay: Chester, 2nd, 1:11.84; Logan Colvis, Elizabeth Heffernan, Morgan Atchison, Mikayla Atchison.
Boys 11-12 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: (Chester no entry).
Girls 11-12 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: Chester, 4th, 2:38.38; Natasha Pulliam, Allison Briggs, Jade South, Sarah Bindel. Boys 13-14 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: Chester, 3rd, 2:50.33; Nick Gross, Josh Grott, Austin Redeker, Zach Heldebrandt. Girls 13-14 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: Chester, 6th, 2:52.78; Sydney Haberberger, Taylor McDaniel, Alex Fedderke, Olivia Robinson. Boys 15-18 200-Yard freestyle Relay: (Chester no entry). Girls 15-18 200-Yard Freestyle Relay: Chester, 4th, 1:59.38; Megan Atchison, Kali Wingerter, Kristy Pulliam, Nicole Search.
In spite of a 5th place finish in the meet, several individual Stingrays and relay teams had great performances. Sarah Bindel was the Conference Champion in the Girls 11-12 50-Yard Backstroke with a time of 42.31. Karson Colvis was the Conference Champion in the Girls 8 & Under 25-Yard breaststroke with her 26.11 finish.
The final Conference Champion was the Girls 8 & Under 100-Yard Freestyle Relay Team consisting of Karson Colvis, Adrianna Fedderke, Jessica Kattenbraker and Ellen Blechle. Their time was 1:28.41.
There were five runners-up in competition. Chad Koenegstein was runner up in the Boys 15-18 50-Yarde Butterfly with his 27.06 performance. Mikayla Atchison was runner up in the Girls 9-10 25-Yard Butterfly with a time of 17.59. Nick Heffernan was the runner up in the Boys 8 & Under 25-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 26.47.
Lucas Doiron was runner up in the Boys 9-10 25-Yard Breaststroke. His time was 22.92. Finally, the runners up in the Girls 9-10 100-Yard freestyle Relay were Logan Colvis, Morgan Atchison, Elizabeth Heffernan and Mikayla Atchison. Their time was 1:11.84.