Two Uni sophomores are back after spending a week in Florida competing against the top YMCA swimmers in the nation

By Yuzuko Nakamura
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2006, sports

Sophomores Michelle Mehnert and Andrea Park competed last week in the four-day YMCA Short Course Swimming and Diving National Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. They were part of the nine-member Champaign County Aquachiefs team. More than 1,400 swimmers from YMCA centers across the country took part in the event.

The meet started Tuesday. Each day, the swimmers got up at 5 a.m., and warmups began at 6. The preliminary heats and the time trials lasted until mid-afternoon.

On Wednesday, Park swam the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2 minutes, 31.80 seconds. She finished fifth in her heat and 66th overall out of the 96 breaststrokers. Later, Mehnert took part in the 400 freestyle relay. The team placed 47th out of the 66 freestyle relay teams, with a time of 3:41.78. That performance was good enough for Mehnert and her teammates to qualify for next year's 400 free.

On Thursday, both Mehnert and Park competed in the 400 individual medley, placing 65th and 89th overall respectively. Mehnert also competed in the 800 freestyle relay; she and her teammates placed sixth in their heat and 37th overall, with a time of 8:01.49.

The next day, Mehnert competed in the 200 freestyle relay. The Aquachiefs squad was fourth in its heat and 57th overall, with a time of 1:42.92.

Both Mehnert and Park competed in the Y Nationals last year. Their teammates this year were Urbana's Catharine and Sarah Danenhower, Mount Zion's Jess Day, Champaign Central's Mary Lockman, St. Thomas More's Maria Nelson, Centennial's Alyssa Petruzzello, and Urbana's Abbie Sterneman.

“As a team, we didn't swim as well as we wanted,” Park said, noting that her 200 breast was two seconds slower and her 400 IM was nine seconds slower than her best times. “I think, because we weren't swimming as well, our morale was down, but we stayed positive and kept each other motivated.”