Youngstown YMCA Neptunes

Congratulations to the group of Neptune swimmers who competed at the 2009 West End Pentathlon on Sunday, February 21. Lots of personal best times and many great swims were had.

Pictured here are the top winners in the 11 & 12 Girls age group. Congratulations to (from left) Sarah Heaven who placed 1st; Olivia Williamson who placed 2nd, and Zoe Sommers who came in 3rd. Congrats also go out to Sibel Sarac who finished 8th in this same age group and to Paul Graziano, who was 4th in the 8 & Under Boys age group.

Stephanie Case is the ATHLETE OF THE WEEK FOR DECEMBER 4, 2008 sponsored by WYTV Channel 33.  Click on the station to see the segment...click on 12.4.08.

Congratulations Stephanie.... Way to go NEPTUNES!

Some of our swimmers had a chance to see Natalie Coughlin this past week at Thiel College.  Here is some info from wikipedia:  Go to our photo page for some pictures. 

Natalie Anne Coughlin (born August 23, 1982) is an American swimmer who has represented the United States at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, and at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. At the Beijing Olympics, she became the first American female athlete in modern Olympic history^[4] to win six medals in one Olympics and the first woman ever to win a 100 m backstroke gold in two consecutive Olympics. She is known for her dominance in a short course pool and for her underwater kicking ability. She currently holds World, American and US Open records in various events and has eleven Olympic medals^[4].

These swimmers answered Coach Sue's call for an early morning practice to promote the Youngstown Neptune YMCA/USA Competitive swim team for 27 First News at 5am! August 14, 2008.

NEW:  If you missed the airing of our swim team and Coach Sue on the WKBN TV station simply click on their name (in green) to go to their web site, then click on the link they provided for us.  We have their permission for the link but they will not allow us to show the video on our site. 

Our own Ashley Emerson of Leetonia, Ohio representing the Youngstown YMCA Y-Neptune swim team was awarded the Paul Atkinson Scholarship naming her the 2008 Great Lakes YMCA Zone Female Swimmer of the Meet at the 2008 Great Lakes YMCA Zone Championships held March 14, 15 and 16 at Cleveland State University.  This is the first time a Youngstown Y-Neptune swimmer has received this award.

Graduating senior YMCA swimmers from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia were nominated for the Paul Atkinson Scholarship Award with one scholarship going to a female swimmer and one award going to a male swimmer.  Jeffrey Shade a swimmer from Michigan won for the boys. The scholarship is awarded based on the swimmer’s accomplishments, academic record, volunteer efforts, church activities, involvement with YMCA swimming and letters of recommendation submitted by individuals familiar with the nominee.

We are so very excited Ashley won this award.  There is no one more deserving of this honor than Ashley. She has swum for the YMCA since she was 4 years old and has qualified to compete in the Zone Championship meet every year since she was a 9-year-old. More importantly, Ashley is a wonderful person who gives back to her community through her volunteer efforts, is supportive of her teammates, and is a fantastic example of what the YMCA hopes to instill in their young adult members. The Paul Atkinson Scholarship Committee made an excellent choice when they awarded Ashley Emerson this honor.

I am  very proud to announce that the Youngstown YMCA Y-Neptune Swim Team qualified 29 swimmers to the 2008 Great Lakes YMCA Zone Championship meet held at Cleveland State University March 14-16 with several swimmers placing in the top twelve in their respective events. The Great Lakes Zone Championship consists of top YMCA swimmers from Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana, and West Virginia.  

Tom Boniface placed 4th in the 15-18 Boys 100 yard backstroke with a time of 54.54, and 10th in the Senior Boys 50 yard backstroke (26.36).  Nick Boniface placed 8th in the Senior Boys 50 yard breaststroke (28.77) and 10th in the 15-18 Boys 100 yeard breaststroke (1:03.68).  Ashley Emerson placed 11th in the 15-18 Girls 100 yard butterfly, 1:01.97 and 7th in the Senior Girls 50 yard butterfly in 27.58. Mikayla Morrow came in 7th in the 11-12 Girls 100 yard breastroke (1:15.92) and she placed 7th in the 11-12 Girls 50 yard breaststroke with a time of 34.93.

Neptune relays also did well with the Men’s 400 yard medley of Tom Boniface, Nick Boniface, Jeff Cowles and Ryan Nasci placing 10th with a time of 3:51.06. The 9 & 10 Girls 200 yard medley relay of Daniela Cabrera, Theresa Mikolay, Taylor Tofil and Jessica Morrow swam this event in 2:23.30 to place 11^th.

We coaches were very pleased with how well the kids did this year.  All of the ‘A’ relays re-qualified in their events for next year’s meet as did most of the swimmers who did individual events.